Three years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, it remains to be seen whether America will ever be normal again.
Though the government quickly defined the event, America is still in the process of changing and working through the meaning of Sept. 11, said Michelle Brown, an Ohio University sociology and criminology professor who researched media images of Sept. 11.
From a social scientist's perspective
we're still very much constructing the event she said. Americans seem very quick to memorialize things. Given we're still in the middle of a war on terror the end is not apparent.
Over time, the war on terror is more likely to leave a bigger impression, Brown said.
A prolonged war with no foreseeable end is more likely to change the configuration of cultural life
she said.
And though people continue to seek closure, attempting to define the event socially could be dangerous, Brown said.
I think we can move on without trying to close off the interpretation for what it means
she said.
Churches were flooded immediately after the attacks, most likely with people searching for answers, comfort or to make sense of the situation, said Rev. Lynn Miller of Christ Lutheran Church.
Faith of all kinds was definitely affected after Sept. 11, but it is impossible to gauge whether those changes stuck. Religious habits are personal decisions and are also affected by other aspects, such as politics, Miller said.
I don't think
as a whole
we can ever go back to the way we were
she said.
And after being personally affected by changed cultural attitudes Sept. 11, art student Gergmontigue Witts believes there is no such thing as a normal culture, and America can never be the same because it is always changing.
Witts produced a piece shortly after Sept. 11 during the anthrax scare. The exhibit included taped body outlines on the floors and elevator in Seigfried Hall. A colleague's photos of herself dressed in a wedding gown and wearing a gas mask hung in the elevator, and two of Witts' body outlines contained white flour, symbolizing chemical dependency.
A passerby saw the flour and reported it, wondering if it was anthrax. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the situation and requested Witts remove the flour, citing it as inappropriate at that time.
Artists are constantly reacting to their surroundings, and the art community was flooded with works after Sept. 11, Witts said.
Life and art must remain fluid
he said. Art is a very powerful thing and it always will be.
Music also has been heavily influenced since the attacks, with musicians taking sides and signing up for politically charged tours, said Chris Pyle, owner of Donkey Coffee and Espresso, 17 1/2 W. Washington St., and 3 Elliott Studio. He cited http://moveon.org's Vote For Change Tour as one example.
There hasn't been division like this for politics it seems like since the '60s
he said. But music and art has always been kind of prophetic.
And if anything definitive has emerged from post-Sept. 11 culture, it is music.
The best punk rock is made is when people are upset with the government
he said.
