By Noemia Young THIS YEAR MARKS THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF SEPTEMBER 11 2001 when more than three thousand civilians were murdered by terrorists in the worst-ever attack on US soil. It’s one of those times when we all remember what we were doing, when two planes were deliberately flown into the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center, one flew into the Pentagon and a fourth, bound for the White House, was forced to crash
in Pennsylvania. In remembrance of the tragedy, I asked a few celebrities to give me their impressions. Ten years later, are we
safer? Could this happen again? Here are their replies: Matthew McConaughey We have to be more secure because we’re that much more aware. We were
completely unaware. it was not even in someone’s vernacular of thinking, before.
So, now, people’s radar is sensitive to the possibility of it. I hope that something
else doesn’t have to happen. ‘Cause it’s been ten years and people start to
relax. I hope that behind the scenes, there is a quiet way, of protecting us. We
don’t know if this wouldn’t happen again. I hope we don’t have to have something
else happen, to get people as active. Emily Blunt It was just shocking and terrifying. I think it can happen again. I think so! It
feels like the security is up to the ‘nth degree and rightly so. When it comes to
airport travel, when it comes to anything like that, it feels safer but I’m an optimist
though. So, I hope, that it will keep getting more safe. Johnny Depp: I don’t know if we are safer now. I’d certainly hope so. I would hope that the
powers that be, can be more aware of things, if something like that, is headed
our way. Ten years onward, I’m sure it’s the same for everyone, it feels like (it
was) yesterday. It was such a devastating moment. Something that was beyond
human comprehension. It was such a vicious and vile thing and the loss of life so
great, that it still feels like yesterday. I, certainly have my fingers crossed, that it
never happens again. Diane Kruger Those are pretty heavy questions. I was devastated. It’s one of the greatest
tragedies that happened in this country, for sure. I don’t know what that means
being safe. I think yes, of course, it could happen again, if someone is evil and
tries to hurt someone. Where there’s a will they’ll always find a way. Liam Neeson We can try to be as safe as we want but events, since then, have proven this
could happen at any second. We have to trust our advisers or military, that the
world has changed forever, certainly in America. Growing up in Northern Ireland,
in the ’60s and ‘70s I got very, very used to it and you adapt. It’s amazing how
the human spirit adapts to atrocity, that happens, 200 meters up from your street.
But the scale of what these terrorists want to inflict on us, I say us, as a new
American citizen, is very, very scary. We, all of us, have to be vigilant and look
after each other. I felt violated, in a really deep, sense, the way everybody did. Blake Lively 9/11 was one of the most horrific days as a nation. It was one of the most incredible
nights of my life. Watching the second tower go down, was devastating and
the closest, warlike thing, that I had ever felt, in my life. I remember seeing the
way that everybody came together, as a nation. It was one of the most beautiful
things I’ve ever experienced. I wish that we could remember that patriotism more
often and carry that, through our daily lives, because the power of many, coming
together, it’s unbreakable. Tom Hanks I don’t feel less safe. What happened on 9/11 was the great tragic anomaly that
comes out of twisted theology and practice. Every now and again things come
along, in this world, that completely alters the social and national fabric of every
nation in the world and that’s what happened 10 years ago. Little acts of terror-
ism, go on every day, all over the place. You can only hope that as the history of
the world has shown, those movements wax and wane. It would be very nice if
we could all look back on the year 2011 and say, “Oh, that was one of the waning
periods of that brand of insanity.” Julianne Moore. People were really shaken up. Nothing like that had ever happened in the United
States. I went to high school in Germany. So, I’m aware of what it’s like to live
in a culture, where there’s been a war. All over Europe, there’s that history. But for the United States, we had felt invulnerable. So it was really the first time that
we were like, “Oh my gosh, it’s right here!” I think people are aware that it could
happen again. Terrorism is something all of us globally, fear and are opposed to.
But it’s always worth remembering. Mel Gibson I never cease to be amazed by some of the things that happen. Of course there
is always going to be something horrible happening but not that specific thing.
It’s the way it always has been, through history. There’s wars. There’s tragedies.
People do unspeakable things, usually, for a buck. Yeah, we’ll see more horrors.
[sighs] But if you know that it’s coming, you can, at least, get prepared. I don’t
think we’re necessarily any safer but there’s more safeguards, surely. We’re
filmed everywhere we go. It’s (become) this observation society, we live under
the pretext, to make it safe. But it’s scary as well. It’s Orwellian. Big Brother,
always having a peek-a-boo at you. From that aspect, it would make one more
secure, I suppose.Cameron Diaz Well, I can’t really live my life in fear so, I put my faith in all of the people who are
doing what they can to, hopefully, not have that happen again. In the meantime,
I just live as much of life as I possibly can. The landscape of the world is very,
very different, since the day that happened. It’s all pretty obvious, as to what, that
is. I certainly hope that the world is moving towards better things than worse but
even if I had all the information, I still wouldn’t be able to say whether or not, I
knew that, for sure. Justin Bieber I was coming home from school, when it happened and everyone was freaking
out. My mom turned on the TV and she actually saw the second plane hit, so me
and my mom, were praying. It was crazy to us. We didn’t know what was hap-
penning. We didn’t know the reality of it. It was crazy. I don’t know (if it’ll happen
again), no-one knew it was going to happen then and no-one, really knows, now. Anna Paquin If you weren’t someone who specifically lost a loved one, life goes on. (But) it
had a massive effect on everyone, whether you lost someone or not. (Feeling
safer), I don’t know if that’s even a real concept. Not to get into anything sort of
touchy but I feel like sometimes we’re made to feel, safe or unsafe, to validate
things that politicians want to do for their own reasons. I feel like as a city, New York, has sort of rebuilt and become really strong. (Could it happen again?) I
have no way of answering that question. Jason Sudeikis (Horrible Bosses) Gosh. I won’t even entertain the idea of it happening again . It was bad but it did
raise the awareness, of the evil in the world. We will have an opportunity, if we
haven’t for the last 10 years, to reflected on, we certainly will and hopefully some
of the healing.from it, will become just as evident, as the pain from it. VIOLA DAVIS (The Help. Is doing a movie on 9/11) September 11th meant to me the end of this general sense of safety and infalli-
bility that we had. I don’t feel safe ever. Maybe that’s how I grew up. I’ve never
felt the sense of security in anything. The one thing that came out of September
11th, is, people have got to take responsibility for their life. It was the first time
that everybody woke up. Everybody, even people who had never talked about
politics, decided to be informed. What I took out of 9/ 11, is that, I’m not going to
leave it up to someone else to decide what my lifestyle was going to be. Ewan McGregor I have no idea. I don’t know if we’re safer or not. I’d like to think that we are but
the nature of terrorism is so sporadic and random that, we couldn’t say that for
sure. I don’t know.