Speaking the Unspeakable

Karen Randall's piece in Speaking the Unspeakable made a lot of points that I connect with. As we discussed earlier in the semester, photography was first used to preserve memories of loved ones & memories in general. This piece discusses that photography is not always necessary for our memories, especially horrific ones. As the article states about the "excess" coverage of 9/11, I can never forget the images of the buildings falling one by one that played so many times on every news station for what seemed like an eternity. Now, I don't need those images from news stations to remember what it looked like & what it felt like. Randall compares our minds to a television set, tuning into the terrible memories when we chose to or are reminded of them. It is ironic that we read this piece for next class with the tragedy of the bombings at the Boston marathon. Within hours I found myself no longer needing the television or the internet to remind me of what it looked & sounded like. No future hollywood movie or television reenactment can replace the real images that live in our minds of these type of horrors.