Let’s Roll

I like Paul Greengrass. I should have known, after watching Bloody Sunday a few years ago, that he would approach the story of United Airlines Flight 93 appropriately. He understands that certain events are inherently dramatic and, to be exciting when filmed, don’t need emphatic dialogue or intense music. Still, I was reluctant, for many reasons, to see United 93. The many positive reviews I read eventually convinced me and, after watching it a few days ago, I’ve reflected on the movie often. I think it is an appropriate tribute to the passengers on board the plane.

I wonder what the folks at Wal-Mart think? It’s a question that, in the thinking about the movie, I’ve continually asked myself. While it may seem like a random connection, be assured that it is not.

Every spring, Wal-Mart holds it’s annual shareholders’ meeting at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I liked going because it was a day that I didn’t have to spend in the veal fattening pens (the work conditions at the home office are for another post). I did not specifically enjoy the meeting, however. It is Wal-Mart culture in its most pervasive, stifling, and sickening apex. The company’s management turns a business meeting into a multi-media spectacle. The focal point of the arena is a huge center stage where the executives speak about the company’s past year and prospects for the coming year. Their images are projected onto large screens on both sides of the stage so everyone can get a good look at the anointed. The experience is more closely related to a rock concert than a corporate meeting; the company likes its worker bees to be enthusiastic about Wal-Mart culture.

In 2002, Wal-Mart was a bit over zealous in its pursuit of that enthusiasm. Every year I attended the meeting, there were huge banners throughout the arena. Sometimes, they bore a slogan or information about the company. The year after 9/11, the banners bore the slogan, “Let’s Roll.”

If someone told me about it, I would hope that the company’s management didn’t intentionally debase the purported last words of Todd Beamer by using them to sell stuff. But they did. It made me sad. I didn’t have higher expectations from the company’s management, but none of the associates seemed to find it offensive. Granted, it wasn’t exactly an atmosphere that invited criticism. I still hope that some, if not the majority, were offended. I suppose I’ll never know.