The new “monster” movie Cloverfield is getting some fallout for painting a too real picture of a destroyed NYC too soon after Sept. 11.

And yes, I agree—There is an eerie chill that comes over the audience when we see the ash filled sky and panicked New Yorkers fleeing the city. We know what that looks like; especially with the amateur handy-cam feel of the movie. This could be footage taken on that scary September morning.

Too soon? Insensitive?

I think that is why Cloverfield works. Cloverfield takes a subject we are all interested in, and makes it completely farfetched. Running through a destroyed New York… not from terrorists but from a huge Godzilla-like monster.

As a 27 year old male with a hero complex (who’s heroic adventures peaked when I pulled a pair of skis out of a jammed luggage carousel). I wonder how I would have handled myself on Sept. 11.

Cloverfield is a ridiculous monster movie. A ridiculously entertaining movie about a destroyed NYC. It allows me to have fun with a sensitive subject.

Go see the movie, and don’t be weirded out by the “destroyed NYC.” Use it as a catalyst to ponder how much courage you could muster in that situation.

SIDENOTE: This is also how I felt during Saving Private Ryan when Jeremy Davies (now on LOST) character sits frozen & crying during the final battle. I’d like to think I’d be a good soldier. But there is a good chance I would fetal up and wait for it to pass.