The Television series Treme gives an idea of the types of emotions and events that occurred when residents returned to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Although this is a fictional drama I think that this is not only an interesting way to view the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina but also an important way to view this disaster as it allows the audience to focus on the loss of art and tradition that is so prevalent in this topic. One of the first scenes that viewers are thrown into is New Orleans being degraded by an interviewer who was interviewing a survivor of hurricane Katrina. This interviewer says that New Orleans is nothing like the other great cities in the United States as it only has meaning to those who like a specific type of music and fattening American cuisine. This scene sets the tone of how outsiders feel about New Orleans and also foreshadows how little help they would get from the government and other U.S citizens to get back on their feet. It would just be the community left there and those that decided to come back that would be helping build New Orleans.
Immediately the art of New Orleans is showcased in this series as a way for the community to come together and revive what was lost of New Orleans tradition and art. The series opens up on the day of the first Jazz funeral since Katrina. It kind of represented the hope and commitment that there is to go back to normal after all these years. What was oddly symbolic about this scene was how this funeral parade was walking down streets full of abandoned and destroyed houses, some still containing the bodies of their owners. It was almost as if the parade was for all of those that were also lost. Another scene where New Orleans art is at work is when one of the main actors puts on his Mardi Gras Indian costume and parades down the street by himself singing and dancing until he fades into the black. What is so powerful about this scene is that although there is hardly anyone left on the street, there are no lights or running water, the only things left standing are those things that are not always tangible such as art, tradition, and identity. It also shows the resiliency the New Orleans citizens have as they “won’t back down” when it comes to their unique community. This series is showing its viewers how the art and tradition found in New Orleans is complicated as it is so intertwined with its citizens that the three couldn’t be taken apart.
Lauria: What a lovely post. I was also struck by the two scenes you describe: the jazz funeral and second line amidst the destroyed houses and the Mardi Gras Indian Chief in full costume in the dark streets.