Ground Zero: A Contested Market

Abstract

This article provides a theoretical reflection on the documentary Selling Tragedy, which relates to the commodification of Ground Zero. It discusses the theoretical framework that has inspired our understanding of this place, and the methodological choices that have informed our ways of filming and editing it. This account explores the extent to which the documentary results from iteration between research, filming, screening, filming again, and editing. It leads to a discussion of the particularities of film‐making, and culminates in a call for the recognition of the film as means of entering academic debates.

Keywords:

• Ground Zero
• Memory
• Sacredness
• Consumption
• Visual Anthropology

Acknowledgements

A film comes alive through discussions. Earlier versions of this film were presented at the 3rd ACR Film Festival in Portland, Oregon (US), in the course of the Pocket Visions’ Screenings at the University College London (UK), at the University of Victoria (Canada), and l'Université Paris V (France) in October 2004. It was also presented in the course of the Sensory Collections and Display Conference in March 2005 in Montreal (Canada). We would like to thank the people who have organized these screening sessions. We are also grateful to the participants of the events for their critics, comments, and invaluable suggestions. We would like to thank Russell W. Belk for inspiring a new field of research, and for paving the way to a wider and more creative exploration of consumption. We would also like to thank Jonathan Deschênes for his precious help in the field, Philippa Parks for reviewing this article, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions. Above all, we are grateful to the many people who accepted to share their memories and experience on this delicate issue. The film only indirectly alludes to the tragedy of 9/11, but our thoughts are with the people who lost relatives.

Notes

[1] The New York State Senate passed the bill S.6250, the Veteran vendors legislation in New York City, in March 2004. This bill prohibits all vending in areas around Ground Zero.

[2] For instance, New York City Vacation Packages (http://www.nycvp.com.ground_zero1.html) offers guided historical tours of the Lower Manhattan every week. A significant portion of the tour is devoted to Ground Zero.

[3] We are thinking, here, about WTC Families For Proper Burial.