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August 22, 2008
‘Man on Wire’: Ode to the Olympics and the World Trade Center
I am not a sports fan, but when it comes to the Olympics, I am hooked. To see so much focused excellence is as thrilling to me as hearing the excellence of symphony orchestras and watching ballet. All of these human endeavors require years of practice, dedication, and talent that reminds us of the incredible abilities of the human mind and body.
The other aspect of the Olympics is its connection to antiquity. Every great culture has had circuses. The Greek Olympic Games that began in the 6th century BC, however, went beyond circuses. It was an international gathering, a religious celebration that would enable all Greek states to gather without war. Conflict would take the form of competition, not bloodshed. Along with athletics, the Olympics hosted theatrical competitions as well, from which we have inherited the masterpieces of Greek theater. How wonderful to have this heritage revived, as it was a century ago after millennia of neglect. It is even more important today to have a forum where every country, whether virtuous or troublesome, may gather to compete in peace.
I would suggest that anybody (and in particular, former President Jimmy Carter and his Secretary of State, Zbigniew Brzezinski) who suggests that we use the Olympics to “punish” a host have their mouth washed out with soap. This is a terrible idea that does nothing but punish young athletes and make us look petulant. Let us resolve our distaste another way.
During the Olympics, I also went to see a briefly-shown documentary called Man on Wire. This film was about French wirewalker Philippe Petit, who in 1973 broke into the World Trade Center and staged an illegal wire walk between the twin towers.
Philippe Petit, a young tightrope walker and Paris street entertainer (he buzzed all around Paris on a unicycle, dressed as a Dickensonian chimneysweep) had already done his wire-walking stunt between the towers of Notre Dame cathedral and the opera house in Sydney, Australia. By pure chance, in his dentist’s office, he read a magazine story about the soon-to-be-built World Trade Center. He immediately knew that he would walk between the two towers. This is indeed obsession, talent, and the quest for excellence that characterizes the Olympic athletes too.
Apparently tightrope walking evolved in the 18th century out of acrobatics (always part of European circuses) and chimney-sweeping, a job that requires balance and no fear of heights. The ultimate form of this skill is sky-walking - walking on a thick cable stretched high over a dangerous drop - such as walking across Niagara Falls or hundreds of feet in the air between buildings. It is impressive enough to watch young Olympic gymnasts walking on a narrow beam and doing a backward summersault without falling off; but to walk where a fall will kill one, to lie down on the wire, or perform ballet moves is something else. This takes courage that few of us have.
The enthusiasm of the now older Petit, recounting his story, which is illustrated by mostly black and white films taken at the time, is infectious. I could never figure out how he paid for his capers (these were expensive operations that required a team, materials, and unlimited daring). But somehow, he attracted friends who were perfectly willing to support his dream, crazy as it was. One of his team worried about being held responsible if Petit were to fall and die, which might be so; aiding and abetting madness may count as criminal indifference when disaster is the result. Nonetheless, they all supported him. Even the New York police were impressed, despite the merry chase he led them on. And the court was no different, giving him not much of a punishment. He touched everyone, apparently, who found his mischief delightful.
The film, which is also a memorial for the wonderful World Trade Center, had me laughing while being simultaneously sad. Petit was in love with those towers; he defied to law to embrace his love. And yes, he broke the law, but ultimately did nobody harm and provided great delight to his audience. Osama bin Laden and his young suicide-murderers were motivated by hate, and their caper left behind 3,000 dead and the destruction of a wonderful New York treasure.
We human beings sometimes reach for the stars; this is when we are at our best; but some are enmeshed in hatred and fanaticism and ultimately detest mankind - an ancient and very evil aspect of the human condition. See this film and rejoice in the former, and watch out for the latter.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman is an historian, lecturer, and author who also writes for the Santa Cruz Sentinel. You may contact her at Lfarhat102@aol.com or http://www.globalthink.net/.
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