Post by Jeff on Aug 23, 2006 2:26:09 GMT -5
I finally got to see this week’s Deadwood. Fuckin’ great. Season 3 is the best season of Deadwood by a very, very wide margin. In fact, I’d say it has been the best thing on HBO since season 5 of the Sopranos in 2004, and that is saying something since I thought season 4 of SFU was pretty damn good, especially the last three episodes.
But what I really wanted to ask you guys about was Spike Lee’s When the Levees Broke. I watched all four hours of it and was sorely disappointed. I only learned one thing that I didn’t already know (bodies are still being found), and I was shocked by some of the omissions especially the (well-founded) accusations of embezzlement of Federal funds stemming from the no bid contracts. There was almost nothing about the reconstruction effort and the injustice that was rampant there, e.g., hiring illegal immigrants for the most dangerous work and housing them in unairconditioned semi trailers. (Oh the irony.) Further, the places where I had thought obvious clarification would have been forthcoming, e.g., the issue of state’s rights in Governor’s Blanco’s initial refusal of federal help, were set aside with just a little hand waving.
Instead, we get four hours of, it must be admitted, pretty tame first-hand testimonials. Three or four of the stories did stand out. But most of the show was just venting by victims of the hurricane and its aftermath. I expected a little of this. Some was necessary, I think. But the whole show?
I was left with the impression that I simply misunderstood the purpose of this documentary. What was it? Any ideas? Why did I have to listen to Wynton Marsalis' apparent racism regarding creoles in order to understand Katrina? Why did I have to see the New Orleans funeral march FIVE times to understand it?
What am I not getting here?
Jeff
PS I just checked Technorati where the film is being almost universally praised. I know that I am missing something.
But what I really wanted to ask you guys about was Spike Lee’s When the Levees Broke. I watched all four hours of it and was sorely disappointed. I only learned one thing that I didn’t already know (bodies are still being found), and I was shocked by some of the omissions especially the (well-founded) accusations of embezzlement of Federal funds stemming from the no bid contracts. There was almost nothing about the reconstruction effort and the injustice that was rampant there, e.g., hiring illegal immigrants for the most dangerous work and housing them in unairconditioned semi trailers. (Oh the irony.) Further, the places where I had thought obvious clarification would have been forthcoming, e.g., the issue of state’s rights in Governor’s Blanco’s initial refusal of federal help, were set aside with just a little hand waving.
Instead, we get four hours of, it must be admitted, pretty tame first-hand testimonials. Three or four of the stories did stand out. But most of the show was just venting by victims of the hurricane and its aftermath. I expected a little of this. Some was necessary, I think. But the whole show?
I was left with the impression that I simply misunderstood the purpose of this documentary. What was it? Any ideas? Why did I have to listen to Wynton Marsalis' apparent racism regarding creoles in order to understand Katrina? Why did I have to see the New Orleans funeral march FIVE times to understand it?
What am I not getting here?
Jeff
PS I just checked Technorati where the film is being almost universally praised. I know that I am missing something.