Mark Koehn: The first movie to tackle the real-life horrors of 9/11, United 93 made an impressive debut taking in $11.6 million. But some people believe that a movie about what happened aboard the plane might be too emotionally draining to see.

Katy Sai: Professor Joanne Cantor of University of Wisconsin’s Department of Communication Arts has studied emotional reactions to TV, film, and news, and she joins us now with her take on this motion picture.  Thanks so much for being here. . . .You know, you hear so many opinions, and they’re just that – opinions – because at the end of the day, it’s about the person who goes.  What is your thought about the appropriateness of this movie at this time?

Joanne Cantor:  Well, I don’t think it’s so much about the time, because we’ve had five years – we all remember it, though.  I think it’s more that the movie actually puts the viewer into the plane at that moment in time, without any distance.  So I think it’s extremely draining and extremely stressful. And there are stories that a lot of viewers are ending up sobbing at the end of the movie.  I thought about going to see the movie this afternoon myself, and I decided not to, because I react very strongly to these kinds of movies and a lot of people do.  One of the things that research says is that if you have a really intense reaction to a movie, it stays with you for a very long time. . . . I was talking to a lot of people in the press when there were beheadings on the Internet, and reporters were trying to decided whether to see them or not for themselves.  And one of these reports said sadly  to me afterwards, “unfortunately, you can’t ‘unsee’ something.” . . . Our brains really store these things.  So they stay with you.  So it’s really important for people to decide (in advance) if they want to see it enough that they want to carry it with them forever.

MK:  I’m one of those people who hangs on to that stuff, but I still have a desire to see this movie.

JC: Well, I can understand that because, for one thing, it’s supposed to be a very good movie, very well done. . . . Some people think they should see it, that they owe it to the victims.  But I would say, there are other ways to pay tribute to the victims than this, if you feel it’s going to really stay with you.  For example, people say they never want to forget.  Well, one way (to not forget) would be to automatically transfer money to the victims’ funds every month; or to volunteer, or do something for peace as a way to remember the victims, if you don’t want to spend many sleepless nights and have a lot of stress for long periods of time.

KS: Isn’t it possible that it might be cathartic? You mentioned people sobbing at the end. But sometimes that’s also a release.

JC; Well, as I said, I haven’t seen the movie, but I don’t think it’s designed to be cathartic because it ends with the tragedy.  Most other movies don’t end with the “crash,” but they go on to show how people have come together afterwards and what they’ve learned from a tragedy.  So I wouldn’t expect this one to be particularly cathartic.

MK: The important thing is to make up your own mind about whether to see it.

JC:  I agree.

KS: But that's great advice . . .