In contrast, the film September 5 plays like its Bizarro counterpart
Narrative
During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, an American sportscasting crew had to adapt to live coverage of Israeli athletes being held hostage by a terrorist group. Saturday Night was a film about the making of the first Saturday Night Live.
This is undeniably a powerful film, but it’s hard to imagine who the audience will be
While Saturday Night leaned into the humor of SNL’s creation, September 5 is, understandably, devoid of any comedy. Instead, it’s a sobering, true-to-life story about an ABC sports news team covering the Olympics, where an initially celebratory atmosphere turns to horror when gunmen attack the athletes’ village and begin shooting Israelis.
And let’s face it: neither the media nor Israel enjoy much popularity these days
Americans, not already known for their enthusiasm for history, might find a story in which the “good guys” are the only ones losing to be a tough sell. A film like this might have resonated a decade or two ago, but today, portraying faceless Palestinian killers and Israelis as strictly victimized won’t resonate as it once did.
They weren’t victims—of course they were
But modern audiences are increasingly aware that Palestinians have voices and grievances, too. Reducing them to one-dimensional villains ignores the broader context of the ongoing nightmare in the Occupied Territories.
Likewise, the events depicted on September 5 are factual, but they are also incomplete
It’s like portraying the story of Custer’s assassination at Little Bighorn without delving into why the Lakota and Cheyenne were angry. Sure, you could depict the Native Americans as murderers, but doing so would miss the larger reality of broken treaties, stolen lands, and genocide.
