Philippe Petit, Fears of Children and Freud's Home Movies

Dispatches From the Past

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DISPATCHES FROM THE PAST

The Artistic Crime of the Century

Fifty years ago this morning, a 24-year-old French high-wire artist named Philippe Petit walked three-quarters of a mile across a tight rope, 1350 feet over the sidewalks of NYC.

No net.

He spent 45 minutes walking and playing across the sky, waving to the weather and birds. He lay down and breathed it all in.

Never say the dentist’s office doesn’t inspire feats of imagination, because it was there, in the waiting room, he saw the 1968 drawing of the proposed twin towers, and an idea took shape.

If I see two towers, I have to walk.

Philippe Petit

I’m not a daredevil. I’m the opposite. I am somebody who wants to affirm life and inspire people to look up, look at the birds and start flying.

Phillipe Petit

There is an event tonight and tomorrow called TOWERING at Saint John the Divine. If you want to get tickets, you can do so here.

The 1950s were awash in educational films. From the terrifying Duck and Cover films (what to do during a nuclear explosion)…

Psychiatrists alone cannot solve the mental health problems of our nation…More and more it will be the responsibility of parents, teachers, nurses, doctors, and ministers.

Spokesperson for the film, NYT, Dec. 12, 1951

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