Tuesday, August 22, 2006

When the Levees Broke

Last week I was in Killeen. I was visiting with a cousin, and our conversation turned to movies, as it usually does at some point. I recommended "World Trade Center" as a powerful experience. She was concerned that Oliver Stone would have imbued it with the same political messages he likes to put in a lot of his films. I didn't get that from the WTC. For me, it was about the two Port Authority Cops featured and what happened to them and their wives on 9/11/2001. So, I recommended the movie without reservations.

Tonight, the first part of a Spike Lee documentary aired on HBO. I was all set not to like it, but I watched it anyway, just so I could complain about how Spike had slanted it to throw a "pity-party" for all those dipsy-doodles who didn't see the dark clouds in the sky and get out of N'Orlens when they had a chance. Well, I was mostly wrong. There were some scenes of people full of self pity. But there were more, lots more scenes of people who got out, but then came back too soon. People who worked long and hard to help their neighbors and strangers.
There are scenes of praise for the Coasties, condemnation for all levels of government, and praise for others at the same levels of government. I did want to gag whenever that self-serving, ineffectual, lying, arse Nagin was on screen. But he is a shining beacon of leadership compared to the portraits of the actions of Bush, Brown, Rice, Chertoff, et al. So bring your barf bag.
There are also scenes of some obvious malcontent race card shaps, but I think Lee was trying to let them be themselves, and let the audience make their own judgements, so maybe I'm just a racist. Nah. They are malcontents.
I'll let y'all know how the second installment goes.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Was going to respond to the part about the adminstration not responding how people may think they should have but my blood pressure went north and I got woozy!

Insisting on living in natural hazard zones IS NOT the guvment's problem. Go ahead - live along the coast where chances of being blown into the Gulf are 50/50 any given season. Not leaving town when the National Hurricane Center had, for three days prior to touchdown, urged everyone to get the hello outta town IS NOT the guvments problem. Not reading the fine print in your homeowner's policy that clearly sez it won't cover wind driven storm surge waters is not the guvments problem! Whatever happened to the old spirit, the old pride in self and community that would rise up and be damned before they'd accept a dime from the guvment? Guess it's just easier to take whatever the Feds (read taxpayers) will pony up, whine that it wasn't more, then re-elect the LOCAL guvment that didn't even implement its OWN disaster plan while there was still time.
*sigh*
love, Cait

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