The Terrorist ‘Fighter’? How Marky Mark Insults the Memory of Flight 93

Mark Wahlberg has played many action characters, and his movies always promise copious amounts of bullets, explosions and tight-shirted, manly fighting scenes. Recently, he decided to go a step further and declare himself a would-be national savior. In a recent interview with Mens Journal, Wahlberg told the magazine that if he had been on flight 93, the plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania on 9/11, the result would have been much different.

While you read this, please keep in mind this is Mark Wahlberg, you know, from Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, “If I was on a plane with my kids…There would have been a lot of blood in that first cabin and then me saying, ‘OK, we’re going to land somewhere safely, don’t worry.’”

Mark Wahlberg went on to explain that his movie stunt training would have afforded him the necessary tools to take out four hijackers armed with box cutters and land the plane. To his credit, Mr. Wahlberg is in outstanding physical shape, and does in fact do all of his own stunts.

However, even with all of that training, I don’t believe he could have won an altercation by himself. One of many mitigating circumstances would have led to only half of Wahlberg’s prediction to come true; i.e. lots of blood.

Beginning with the most obvious, while Wahlberg may have a lot of on-scene training and be in great shape, with four against one in a hand-to-hand exchange, Wahlberg stands a snowball’s chance in hell at coming out victorious. While he is a type-casted actor, he is not a formally trained professional fighter. This theory is given weight when one adds in that the four hijackers were armed with box cutters, and even if the actor could disarm one of them, three others would be on him in seconds, poking razors into his jugular.

A phenomenon called Diffusion of Responsibility also almost certainly would have dashed any one of Mr. Wahlbergs’ heroic “50 dreams about it [9/11].” Any college student with a Gen. Psych. class under their belt is familiar with this occurrence, but for those that aren’t, a brief explanation: When a person is part of a group, the compulsion to act under times of duress is lowered. The bigger the group is, the less a person feels that they should take action. This is also referred to as the “bystander effect.”

With 40 passengers on the plane, 45 if you count Wahlberg and his children, responsibility is stretched thin. Not many people would have immediately stepped in, even if Wahlberg would have stood up and beat his man-chest like a gorilla. The result: If Marky Mark would have immediately begun to take action, it is likely many of the passengers who later attempted to take back control of the fight would still be trying to mentally process what was going on, and would still be too shocked and fearful to fight. Wahlberg stands and yells, “Hey, I’m gonna bash your terrorist faces in!” Passengers gasp, ducked heads look in his direction and the hijackers respond. A short scuffle ensues, and Wahlberg gets shanked like he’s on the yard in Sing Sing.

Other possibilities come into play as well, things that no one but those who were on the plane know. How the terrorists were positioned and how exactly they overtook the plane are important parts of the equation, as well as unknowns like Mr. Wahlberg’s projected seating assignment. These are all variables that would have directed the situation. His comments on flight 93 were selfish, cruel and completely asinine.

All the actor accomplished in his self-righteous fairy-tale was disregarding the truly heroic acts actually that took place.

The people that learned what was happening and decided to thwart their own piece of the 9/11 tragedy are the true heroes. The men and women who tried to storm the cabin and overpower the pilot are the people who we as a nation are indebted to, because while they were not able to save themselves, they made the ultimate sacrifice and saved countless other lives.

Mr. Wahlberg apologized last Wednesday, Jan. 18, for his comments in a statement: “To speculate about such a situation is ridiculous to begin with, and to suggest I would have done anything differently than the passengers on that plane was irresponsible. I deeply apologize to the families of the victims that my answer came off as insensitive, it was certainly not my intention.”

This apology came after he reportedly received serious backlash from a 9/11 widow. The written statement has the stench of agent-speak all over it, and I do not feel that Wahlberg was genuine in his apology. While I was not directly affected by the events of that day, what happened changed me forever. I believe that every sane American old enough to remember what happened on 9/11 was touched by those events. Everyone has probably thought about how horrible it would have been to be present during any of the events on 9/11, and how horrible it must have been for all the families who have lost loved ones.

While I am, in fact, a fan of Mark Wahlberg’s movies, (although not so much his musical endeavors) a last critique of the aforementioned apology: Be honest. I have thought about what I would do if I was a passenger on one of those planes thousands of times, but all of my speculations end with the same answer, ‘I don’t know.’ It’s impossible to know, and so, although I really do enjoy his acting, what he said was incredibly offensive, egotistical and made him worthy of the famous Tosh.0 skit, “Dick of the Week.”

David Adams can be reached at dadams@spartans.ut.edu.