The twin Gulf disasters -- Hurricane Katrina and the oil spill -- were made-for-television events. They were on a human scale, on ground level, happening to real-life, blue-collar, average-Joe people. That helps explain why this is such a great week for TV.
The previous blog includes a full list (Aug. 22-29) and a story, interviewing Spike Lee and some Gulf people. (Some of these have already aired now, but Lee's wonderful documentary reruns from 7-11 p.m. Friday on HBO.) Since posting that, I've had a chance to see a couple of the things listed; a few comments:
-- "Frontline" airs from 9-10 p.m. Wednesday on most PBS stations. (Lansing viewers, alas, will have to wait until October to see this one, because WKAR has classical Wednesdays in the summer; the only solace I can offer is that Renee Fleming is luminous in the opera show that night.) It singles out one wretched case in which New Orleans police apparently let a man die, then burned the evidence. It also views the effect of rumor and fear: In the days following Katrina, the mayor, police chief and deputy chief spread rumors that turned out to be false. Some cops felt, incorrectly, that martial law had been declared.
-- "Forgotten on the Bayou" soars on the wondrous personality of Rockey Vaccarella. This is a 2007 documentary that airs from 8-10 p.m. Friday on the Weather Channel. It follows Vaccarella's quixotic attempt to take a FEMA trailer to Washington, D.C., and dine there with George W. Bush. In other hands, this might have been silly; with Rockey, it becomes a mad mixture of optimism, idealism and buoyant humanity. It typifies the best in Gulf coverage.
I want to invite everyone to revisit the events of
Hurricane Katrina closing in on the fifth anniversary, August 29. Please
share your stories if you were a victim, witness, first responder,
volunteer or any of the above of this major and tragic event in our
countries history. Share on this or any site.
Also visit us on facebook,
"FORGOTTEN ON THE BAYOU: Rockey's Mission to the White House"