Monday, June 21, 2010
And Treme's First Season Comes to an End...
Posted by Alejandro de los Rios on Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 5:49 AM
Treme's first season came to a whirlwind end tonight. I don't want to give away any spoilers for those who haven't seen it, so I'd like to just touch on a topic that's been looming over this season: how is the rest of the country taking this show? New Orleanians are certainly pleased with David Simon's work, and while I'm admittedly biased in favor of the show (I think it's fantastic), I've had my doubts about its ability to hold a national audience.
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I fear that the show is failing in this endeavor. Take for instance, the rumblings online that the only reason there aren't more criticisms of this show is because it's taboo to criticize New Orleans. Or that, in spite of that claim, criticisms about the show abound (even tangentially). Or, worse yet, that when New York Magazine can't even take the time to get the musicians right in their episode recaps (see above). For the record, it was Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, not "Tuscon", that referred Antoine to Allen Toussaint. Anyone at the Big Apple's signature magazine ever heard of fact checking? The fact that Toussaint appeared (and was named) in earlier episodes makes you wonder if they could find anyone at NYMag.com who would watch the entire season.
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David Simon has said explicitly that this show is his attempt to get New Orleans right for the people that live here. And therein may lie the problem. God knows not everyone can live in New Orleans - you either completely love it and are invested in it or see its value in not much more than a great place to drink on vacation. People who live here watch Treme and are instantly satisfied by its dead-on portrayal of the people, places, characters, music and magical moments that make up New Orleans. But what is someone in Chicago or New York or Los Angeles going to think when they see Big Chief Lambreaux and his tribe emerging from their workshop on St. Joseph's Day. Hell, how many people outside of New Orleans (that aren't Catholic) even know the significance of St. Joseph's Day?
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It's the double-edged sword of New Orleans. I have friends who love coming down here for Mardi Gras or Halloween or Jazz Fest, but when I talk to them about the importance of, say, TBC getting told they can't play at Bourbon and Canal, I get blank expressions. There's a real side of New Orleans that you see by living here and the character of New Orleans the people see on television or film or in tourist-heavy times. How to make it appeal to everyone at the same time? Maybe it's just not possible.
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All that said, who gives a damn what the rest of the country thinks? That first season was awesome and I can't wait for the second. Thanks, David Simon. I tell people living in New Orleans is like living in a movie, it's nice to have that thought reinforced through a truly masterful television series.
Speaking of...
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Interview: Willie Robertson of A&E's Duck Dynasty
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Review: Treme: The Complete Second Season
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Battle of the Bands: Treme vs. The Wire
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Comments (9)
Showing 1-9 of 9
As a serendipitous first comment: I am from Seattle, Wa and I think the show is absolutely fantastic. I am a bit behind and am currently in the midst of the first season. In fact, I came upon this very blog after seeing The Gambit in the hands of Davis' mother as he discusses his campaign with his family. I was a big fan of The Wire and its ability to paint a picture of a place through the lives and stories of individuals. Yet, while that was one aspect, there was certainly the "crime drama" element, and that seems to be how everyone characterizes it these days. With Treme I feel like they simply focused on telling the story of a place, New Orleans, and from what I have seen so far, they have done a fantastic job. A Pacific Northwestern through and through who has spent 5 days total in the Crescent City, I'll admit I have to stop and do some wikipediaing every now and again and I'm sure I still miss all kinds of references. But that is what makes it great, it has so much information packed into so few scenes. It is one of the few tv series (along with the Wire and Rome) that reminds me of a good book. It is also good to hear that NO residents like the show. As an outsider, I have to take at face value all of the issues and challenges that face a post-Katrina city. It is good to know that the issues portrayed are factual and really do capture the reality of the situation (as best a tv drama can of course). Can't wait for season 2, and my next trip to the Big Easy of course! Sincerely, A Fan from Cascadia
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True. I find many of my New Orleans native friends who've moved away, and some who still live nearby, are also only interested in the "party" aspects of New Orleans. They see it as someplace to go on weekends and for festivals and events. Like one friend, a St. Martins's graduate, calls NOLA, "America's Tijuana". I do, however, think "Treme" is resonating with many around the country. But, I think it's the media, local and national alike, who seem to want to propagate only the "tourist" and "cliched" version of New Orleans that represents at best a charactiture of of the city. I never watched "The Wire", so maybe I'm guilty of what many around the country are regarding "Treme". But I do know it defines New Orleans like nothing I've ever seen. And hits the hot buttons and passion points of our city. We can have all the critiscms of the coverage, I'm just glad it will have a second season. With "Treme", and Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke" and the upcoming sequel, at least a small core of 'non-New Orleanians" will begin to understand a place many only knew as that strange city "New Orleeens". The city is so much more than music, food, and drink for tourists. I'm glad at least some will have to face this fact and learn more of what NOLA really is. For that, we can thank "Treme".
I will also say "Treme" captures one characteristic not often used to describe New Orleanians: Defiant. "Carefree", "Fun loving", "hospitable", etc. These are often how we are described. And all true. But sometimes I get the feeling these are used to describe us as a city of amiable dunces; dolts who are only here to serve drinks and change sheets for tourists. "Dance for me boy, play me a song". There was a slogan on shirts and stickers that emerged after Katrina: "New Orleans: F**K You if you don't like it". I think "Treme", for locals and those who know the city alike, has captured that and added a facet to the New Orleans persona. New York, Chicago, these are known as "tough towns". Well, you can't put up with, get through, and prevail from the s**t we do without being tough...and Defiant. It's time that word got out too. Laissez les bon temps rouler. :)
I think it's unfair to suggest critics of the show just don't understand NOLA. I enjoyed this blog post at The Awl of a snarky conversation between a lover and hater of the show: http://www.theawl.com/2010/06/treme-a-shouting-match (I particularly enjoyed the description of the show as a big NPR segment.) I'm watching the show *only because* of my deep love for the city and music, and not because it's Simon's best work of drama. It clearly does not have the same depth found in The Wire or Generation Kill. Generation Kill in particular didn't beat us over the head about the issue of the war in Iraq or the challenges of being a Marine -- it simply told a great story and shows these issues through great dialogue and sometimes tense sometimes hilarious scenes. On the contrary, the characters in Treme are constantly preaching the issues. For example, the cop *telling* the lawyer that it's bad out there in the city, rather than *showing* this through character-driven experience. There is a lot of that going on -- the old "telling not showing" thing, within incessant preaching and moralizing about post-Katrina things. Sometimes I wish is was JUST about the musicians. If Simon isn't going to tackle FEMA and be more honest about the spiraling crime problem after Katrina, then why address Katrina at all? Set is five years after Katrina, or five years before, for all it's worth!
@olegonzo, it's a good point that's been brought up that you don't have to understand every aspect of a show to enjoy it (surely not everyone picked up every nuance about Baltimore in "The Wire" or about Mormons and Utah in "Big Love", both HBO super hits) but someone with intimate knowledge of New Orleans is more likely than not going to like this show more because of it. Noticing that Annie and Sonny met for coffee at the Pirate's Alley Cafe or that Antoine was bantering with Big Sam at Toussaint's gig (not to mention how hilarious it was to see Ms. Irma Thomas as a poker shark) livens up what others have called a slow and plodding show. That said, I think Treme will get better on repeated viewings and there's just no way Simon can avoid the reality check of the violence in NOLA in Season 2. And, for the record, while the Awl piece does a lot to enlighten the struggles of the average viewer watching Treme, those conversation pieces are self-indulgent pieces of crap with writer's basically saying "LOOK HOW CLEVER I AM" instead of saying something of substance. (not that I haven't been guilty of the same, but still...their tag line is "Be Less Stupid" and those pieces make you more so).
On a recent trip to Athens, I had to explain to my Atlanta friends that I was, in fact, enjoying "Treem" on HBO. We live in a unique place; but we have to remember that it is the kind of place that most folks are convinced does not exist.
I don't care if it's too "made for New Orleans" -- for years, I've watched shows where people are hot and sexy and twentysomething and live in incredible big-city lofts on a pauper's budget, and I've never felt left out of that. I'm just glad there are nuances to be missed. It's more than you can say for, say, the Jim Belushi show.
Or; you're a local who does get everything and still questions some of the sacred traditions in the city. You see all of that energy going into beautiful and ephemeral things, and just know in your heart of hearts that if only 1/2 of that energy were spent on things that last and matter (like civic engagement, good governing, better urban planning, parks & rec, bike trails, economic development other than tourism, education) would really help the city it would be better for NOLA. You only see that after you've lived somewhere else (for me courtesy of that b**** Katrina). Yes, the culture should be preserved at all costs. Yes, more resources should be put into a better-functioning NOLA and less on things like 20 different parades on any given night and literally tons of plastic Mardi Gras beads that will land in the trash. IMO two weeks of MG would be plenty, one parade in each part of town. Put the rest of the money into things that last and are going to build up the quality of the city. Of course, people are gonna do what they wanna do, whether it's best for the city and its people or not. Only until you've lived elsewhere can you see that things can change in NOLA and still have the best of all the old. Another thing...take some of that Mardi Gras energy and preserve the St. Joseph Altar tradition...truly sad to see that die down as it has.
@Alejandro: Obviously people with a deep connection to the city is going to have a bias. My point was that if you took away the subject you can still make valid points of criticism about how the story is being told and you can't dismiss those criticisms by speculating on their intimate knowledge of the subject. In a way the whole Katrina thing hangs over the story like a yoke -- as soon as the story starts to be about the city and its people, you get a mouthful of exposition -- not just from the Goodman character, but from all directions. The lawyer can't just be looking for an inmate that's gone missing -- the lawyer has to explain to us, the viewers, through dialogue with another character, the hows and they whys of the missing inmate. We aren't allowed to come to conclusions ourselves as viewers. I think maybe Simon is just being too careful to walk all those ignorant folk that don't live in NOLA through the whole "Katrina process."
