A fictional crime drama based on the premise that the Bush administration ordered the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington aired this week on German state television, prompting the Green Party chairman to call for an investigation.
"I think absolutely nothing of the conspiracy theory that has been hawked in this series. I hope this particular TV movie will be discussed very critically at the next supervisory board meeting of ARD [state television]," said Green Party Chairman Reinhard Buetikofer, who acknowledged that he had not seen the show.
Sunday night's episode of "Tatort," a popular murder mystery that has been running on state-run ARD-German television for 35 years, revolved around a German woman and a man who was killed in her apartment.
According to the plot, which was seen by approximately 7 million Germans, the dead man had been trained to be one of the September 11 pilots but was left behind, only to be tracked down and killed by CIA or FBI assassins.
The woman, who says in the program that the September 11 attacks were instigated by the Bush family for oil and power, then is targeted, presumably to silence her. The drama concludes with the German detectives accepting the truth of her story as she eludes the U.S. government hit men and escapes to safety in an unnamed Arab country.
As ludicrous as it may sound to most Americans, the tale has resonance in Germany, where fantastic conspiracy theories often are taken as fact.
Many Germans think, for example, that the 1969 moon landing was faked, and a poll published in the weekly Die Zeit showed that 31 percent of Germans younger than 30 "think that there is a certain possibility that the U.S. government ordered the attacks of 9/11."
In fact, three of the hijackers who seized control of commercial airlines on September 11, 2001, including the ringleader, Mohamed Atta, purportedly had ties to a Hamburg, Germany-based al Qaeda cell.
ARD, and ARD-produced television shows, are funded by a monthly tax on German televisions. The network plays a role similar to the British Broadcasting Corp., or the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, which is nominally independent but funded by taxpayers.
"Tatort," which translates to "Crime Scene," is a drama with a rotating cast of actors solving mysteries in weekly episodes set throughout Germany.
The U.S. Embassy in Berlin was not impressed with the latest episode, which seemed to use haunting Arabic music to portray Arabs and Muslims as innocent victims of American aggression.
I think the main word in this whole article is fiction. Nobody is or was making the claim that Bush actually really did this it is just a story that was atched by a very small number of the German population nearly 76 million did not watch it. And as for the fact that German people believe that the moon landing was faked and that the US government was behind the 9/11 attacks well those ideas are not exclusivly German are they
Point is that this was not an allegation just make bleieve and I cant imagine that it has in the least bit done any real damage to anyone.
Um, because a tv show used artistic license, you're gonna run away from the country where it was aired? In my opinion, that's weak. It's weak to use this as any reason for anything. It's simply a tv show. We've all seen tv shows that glamorize crime and criminals, make certain professions seem more exciting than they really are. Lies are told everyday in tv, but the idea is that we're supposed to recognize that it's FICTION. If the US pulls troops out of Germany over something that is OBVIOUSLY artistic license in fiction, then I've got a fresh new reason to laugh at Bush.
Exactly. Dance around it and never actually have the balls to come out and SAY it. Artistic license is a beautiful thing, but I can't think of many reasons why one would take it so seriously as to pull troops out of a country like Germany. I don't know of any current political tensions between the two countries, but even if there are, pulling troops out of the country over something like this, isn't enough of a reason imho.
Are there actually any troops left in Germany because I thiught that the Pentagon sent the majority to Iraq, back to the States and some to Eastern Europe.
Curley Joe said this in post #10 : The TV show accurately reflects the overwhelming mentality of the Germans. That' the point—use 'artistic license' to dance around it all you want.
A co-worker's son in law working in Germany had his car bombed with eggs because he was known to be an American. There's your 'artistic license' hard at work for ya.
Complete U.S. troop withdrawal from German soil is already in the planning stages and will be initiated very soon. All of the 30,000 U.S. troops will wave goodbye to a Germany that does not want them, does not need them, does not deserve them. The withdrawal will be completed in stages over the next few years. Come on home, boys, you're welcome here.
Signature Suspended: Violates signature rules.
Last edited by Curley Joe on 06-12-2005 at 05:17 AM |
You can't prove that thid guy getting egged was due to the TV program or due to him being an American ( you want that to be the reason though) fact is it could have been any number of reasons like kids playing about.
A co-worker's son in law working in Germany had his car bombed with eggs because he was known to be an American. There's your 'artistic license' hard at work for ya.
The act itself can't be artistic license. That just doesn't make sense. If you're saying that the influence behind the egging was because of artistic license, then that's really hard to prove. I understand that life imitates art, but the quandry with that is regarding the right to free speech. People have to use discernment and judge for themselves what's up. I hate seeing how easily people can take on the opinions of others at the drop of a proverbial hat. Makes me quite frustrated, actually...
06-09-2005 07:44 PM
