Over and over again, out of the many images of horror and carnage that get recycled from the historic day that was September 11, 2001, the one that particularly haunts for its sheer absurdity and time capsule nature of giving us a glimpse into that year is an advertisement for Glitter set against the backdrop of the smoking towers.
For those who might have briefly believed the photo was taken by one of Mariah Carey’s devoted Lambily members in anticipation of using it later to blame the failure of Glitter on its poorly-timed release (the soundtrack itself being unveiled that very day), they would be sadly mistaken. Instead, as extensive research into the image (which has rightly attracted much interest over the years) has told us, it was sourced from a video taken by Luigi Cazzaniga. A clip that was ultimately collected by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The resulting, now iconic shot that was pulled from that footage, however, was the responsibility of Dylan Avery, who made the “conspiracy theorist” documentary Loose Change, citing 9/11 as an inside job (and yes, stickers around New York stating, “9/11 Was An Inside Job” can still be found to this day). Having uploaded the image to Glitter’s Wikipedia page in 2014, the photo has been the stuff of grotesque lore ever since. Grotesque, obviously, because, well, it’s so goddamn ghoulishly comical to see the disparity between one of the most catastrophic moments in U.S. history contrasted against the “fun” frivolity of Glitter, itself slated to become one of the most catastrophic moments in cinematic history.
And, speaking to that “fun” frivolity, so much of what this image means—particularly with regard to why it’s so shocking in its incongruity—is that the American public was, for quite some time, shielded from anything resembling the true horrors of reality as other countries had faced it. Contented with their mass media and their overly-hyped scandals (see: Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky), nothing really touched them at the level of, say, Bosnia in the mid-90s. Having evaded any such large-scale attacks on its own soil since December 7, 1941, when 2,403 Americans were killed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the travesty hit a generation that could never fathom something so heinous. Even in spite of the ills conveyed through their constant TV-watching and video game-playing.
In fact, the nation was in a complete cocoon of such activities during this period that Glitter might, as Mariah has stated numerous times, actually have had a chance at the box office were it not for the sudden shunning of “fluff.” Albeit a very brief blip before a proper return to placing emphasis on things like Britney Spears’ chastity and Paris Hilton’s sex tape (a.k.a. the joys of collective slut-shaming). Because yes, less than a year after, it was as though American society got right back into the groove of focusing on Glitter-esque entertainment. It was just a shame for Mariah that such focus returned after it was already too late for her movie.
The sting of it all was compounded by the now well-dredged up story of how Tommy Mottola, in an overt instance of retaliation, took Mariah’s “Firecracker” sample from “Loverboy” and gave it to Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule for “I’m Real” instead. A song that ended up having much more “firecracker” potential on the charts. If Carey’s bizarre appearance on TRL wearing an oversized “Loverboy” t-shirt and toting an ice cream cart wasn’t going to do her in, then, yes, apparently Osama bin Laden would. For these and so many other reasons, Carey wouldn’t even perform any of the songs from that soundtrack until 2016. Because maybe time does heal all wounds. Or maybe the internet, filled with stans crying #justiceforsuchandsuch, does.
Either way, this single frame, frozen in time, is a dark snapshot of 2001… and a moment in history, as FDR said of Pearl Harbor, “which will live in infamy.” So, too, will Carey’s acting performance, one that, to the Lambily’s chagrin, is not as redeemable as they would like to believe. Neither, for that matter, are the actions of the Bush administration in the wake of the attacks.
