Too Soon for a Mark Wahlberg Movie About the Boston Marathon Bombings?

Exactly how soon is “too” soon? Mark Wahlberg announced plans to make a movie about the Boston Marathon Bombing, only to be greeted with nearly riotous opposition. Apparently Wahlberg’s plan to help the country remember the events of that awful day are being widely condemned by the Boston area.

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Columnists, pundits and others say the pain and suffering caused by the attack is still too fresh and too real for the families of the three killed and the hundreds of people injured to think about making a movie. And Wahlberg, who grew up in Boston, is taking a beating.

“How does someone who markets himself as ‘a Boston guy’ not see that it is far too soon, that the city is still far too sad for its trauma to be transformed into mass entertainment?” wrote Eileen McNamara, a former columnist for The Boston Globe who now teaches journalism at Brandeis University.

CBS Films said the movie will be based on a firsthand account from former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis of the investigation and massive manhunt for Tsarnaev and his brother, who died during a gun battle with police.

Liz Norden, the mother of two sons who each lost a leg in the bombing, said it’s “way too soon” to make a movie about the attack and she believes Hollywood won’t be able to capture the agony of that day.

“I don’t think that could ever be re-created,” Norden said.

“I’ve sat in the courtroom with survivors and family members and seen what everybody is going through,” she said.

Mark Wahlberg’s timing might be almost as poor as his acting, but let’s be honest: It will always be “too soon” for the poor souls who suffered through that act of evil in Boston. Some wounds are simply not heeled by time. Mark’s heart is likely in the right place, but he might want to recalibrate his perception of public opinion if he wants his hometown’s support on this project.

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