‘Zero Dark Thirty’ audio footage upsets families of 9/11 victims

Zero Dark Thirty’s use of actual phone calls from 9/11 victims without permission from their respective relatives has sparked backlash.

Controversy followed Zero Dark Thirty since its inception. Last month, we reported that the scenes, implying torture was necessary to eventually discover the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden, were allegedly misleading and inaccurate, according to Senators Carl Levin, Dianne Feinstein and John McCain.

Moreover, until charges were recently dropped, the Senate was investigating whether there was unauthorized communication between filmmakers and the CIA.

Another scandal emerged concerning the movie’s content. According to CBS News, families who lost loved ones in the 9/11 tragedy are deeply upset that the film opened with actual audio from the victims.

One of those hurt families is the Fetchets. Mary and Frank, who lost their son Brad, describe his final voice message as a “treasured remembrance” that’s theirs alone.

“My first thought was, ‘isn’t anything sacred anymore?’” Mary Fetchet commented, appalled at the use of her son’s last words in the film without her permission.

Sony and Annapurna Pictures, Zero Dark Thirty’s distributor and studio, released a statement claiming the film should be considered a tribute to the 9/11 victims, and “before the film’s release, [they] initiated contact with a number of the family members.”

Although they have allowed Brad’s message to appear on TV news broadcasts, they disagree with its addition for commercial purposes. They believe the studio has not done enough to compensate for its negligence.

“To say they’ve reached out to families-yeah, reached out to say ‘come to the preview’ after the film is already completed,” Frank scoffed.

In the end, the Fetchets hope by speaking out they will prove that what the filmmakers did was not right and set a precedent so as to prevent this pain from re-occurring in the future.