Cutting Edge (TV Series) The 9/11 Faker (2008) User Reviews

The 9/11 Faker

[a_baron · 8/10 · 15 July 2014]

This is the remarkable story of Tania Head, the woman who claimed to have been one of the people to escape – in her case seemingly miraculously – from one of the Twin Towers on that fateful day while her fiancé perished when the other building collapsed. Or was it her husband? One of the merits of telling the truth is that you can be consistent; people who make up stories – especially elaborate ones – usually end up embellishing inconsistencies.

It was not inconsistencies so much that led to her unmasking, as her tireless activism on behalf of survivors and the fame that came with it. There was also the little matter of the "New York Times" story 9 months after the attacks; the paper published what was said to be the definitive account of the last minutes of the Twin Towers. This included interviews with everyone from the South Tower who survived from the impact floors and above. But where was Tania?

Incredibly, by the time her charade was unmasked, she had risen to the Presidency of the World Trade Center Survivors' Network.

This documentary speaks to one of the journalists who exposed her, the people she betrayed, and genuine survivors of the 9/11 attacks. There is also archive footage of the lady herself who was claimed to have committed suicide in February 2008, although four years after this documentary was released she was still very much alive.

Extremely Torn!

[adaptiveplanner · 5/10 · 27 June 2018]

I watched this and immediately afterward felt as though I needed a shower.

Although this is a nice piece of investigative journalism that had to be done, it was also a very toxic experience.

Nice job to the people behind this documentary. But I not only would not recommend it to anyone, I would not even be inclined to tell anyone I watched this.

Some real low points here that had absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the journalism ...

1) The father of a man killed in the attacks speculating that this women's motives were fueled by low self-esteem because "she was not physically attractive."

2) The sight of relatives of victims relating their emotional highs and lows while participated in survivor meetings as they slowly became aware that this women's version of events was not adding up.

3) The documentary ending with a report that an anonymous email sent to all survivor's in her inner circle that she had committed suicide.

I believe this one's conduct was not so unique. Although she supposedly did not make any money from her misguided actions, in a post-9/11 world many people are still out there and making a respectable living by pretending to be somebody they are not.