The Day That Changed... Very Little

Five years on, we're not as different as we want our 9/11 movies to tell us we are

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 were an assault as much on America's pop culture as on its people. Islamic radicals' disgust for consumer America runs as deep as their hate of its policies. "We love death. The U.S. loves life," Osama bin Laden famously said after 9/11, but an Afghan militant perhaps made the point better: "The Americans love Pepsi-Cola. We love death." The sweet, decay-promoting fruits of the American pleasure machine are, to fundamentalists, a threat to their way of life as powerful as any aggressor's army.

We should be proud, then, that while ground zero is still being rebuilt,...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!