|
 I
watched the first part of Spike Lee's four-hour Katrina documentary
"When The Levees Broke" last night. Not a Happy TV Night, to be sure. I
opened a bottle of wine when the show started and I think I took one sip
in two hours. Jeez, it was heart-wrenching (the film was, not my lack of
drinking).
And although I'm not a Spike Lee fan, I think
Lee really does a fantastic job in detailing the all-encompassing
atrocities during and immediately following the hurricane and the
breaching of the levees. It's powerful stuff. I gotta admit: he's one
hell of a filmmaker.
Yet, that being said, the documentary does have
some flaws. Instead of having a narrator, Lee lets the interviewees
(residents, local and state officials, journalists, community leaders,
etc) do all the talking--which is good and bad. The first-person
accounts are great (in terms of personalizing the disaster), but all of
these different talking heads have wildly differing opinions on what
happened and how and why it happened, not to mention who's to blame for
it happening. At many points in the film, Lee needs to highlight the facts
a little bit better--even if those facts are few and
far between. Of course, all of these opinions do underscore and mirror
the chaotic events of that week, so it does work on some level. But I
found myself talking to the TV, telling these people, "Dude, I know I
wasn't there and all, but that's only half right."
Also, nothing is mentioned about the media's
role in the aftermath of the hurricane. News outlets were eating up any
and all information coming out of New Orleans--whether it was true or
not. Rumors were everywhere and were often reported as fact and I think
the media did contribute (albeit a small contribution) to the chaos and
the resulting slow response of disaster relief. When reputable news
organizations like CNN and CBS falsely reported that Coast Guard
helicopters were under constant gunfire, well, that got into a
lot of people's heads.
Anyway, Part 2 is on tonight at 9:00. It's hard
to watch, but it's hard not to. |
2000-2006