When the Levees Broke: Requiem

[King PSYZ]

Or why I am ashamed to be an American.

Truly moving stuff, say what you want about Spike Lee. He has in my opinion righted all misteps and flubs one might account to him with this project. A truly ugly bright light shone on something a lot of people wish we would all just forget about.

Nothing more moving still about the last few minutes of tonights episodes with the still photos of the many dead found in New Orleans.

While it may bother some that it focuses on New Orleans, remember this area was hit the worst and also, it's something to consider. If this is the scope of just one city, imagine how widespread this horrible situation was. A whole region of America, destroyed...

If this doesn't stir your soul, then I submit you might want to consider finding your soul my friend.

[enree erzweglle]

Thanks for posting about this.

The first two parts premiered last night, I think, but they conflicted with something else that I wanted to watch, so I've got it queued up for Friday morning, when all four parts will be shown back-to-back.

I only heard about this last week, when I read an article about how the HBO documentary team had just given up on the project because they couldn't get it off the ground and then something like an hour later, Spike Lee called them out of the blue, I think, and it was a (lb) moment for them all.

I'm looking forward to watching it this weekend.

[King PSYZ]

anyone else halfway interested in this movie

[Dr Deaf]

i've recorded it and plan on viewing it at a later date.

is there any mention of the total body count? i thought for sure the hurricana katrina catastrophe would surpass the total 911 civilian body count.

they milked 911 as hard as they could, but tried to forget katrina ever happenened, before it was even over.

[skra75]

I am, I saw an ad about it & it sounded interesting. Question though, is it on DVD or is it an HBO thing? I like Spike Lee and I'd love to see it.

The whole mess in New Orleans is another good example of our shit media whitewashing over something tragic to distract the public. It's a terrible shame and I'm glad someone took the time to give the victims of the hurricane the respect they deserve.

[abcdefz]

anyone else halfway interested in this movie


I'll see it on DVD. (y)

[YoungRemy]

I saw last night and I will be tuning in tonight...

I was watching it, screaming at the television, "This is America, and those are human beings!"

when they showed the dead bodies it was an uncomfortable moment I forced myself to watch...

seeing the interviews with the principals of this disaster was interesting, to see them realize their mistakes in hindsight or simply relive those moments...

Eddie Compass, Ray Nagin, Gov. Blanco, etc.


hearing that man talk about leaving his dead mother at the Convention Center...

hearing the CNN anchor rip Mike Brown for his lack of intelligence on the matter...

CNN and the public knew more than the government did... how can Mike Brown say that he didnt know people were stuck at the Convention Center?

knowing where our officials were at the time was sickening- Bush was in San Diego playing air guitar, Chertoff was in Atlanta at a fundraiser...

where was Condeleeza Rice? buying designer shoes and watching a Broadway play...


listening to the president of our nation trying to talk his way out of the situation, WHILE SMILING TO THE CAMERA AND TO HIS AUDIENCE...


and finally, seeing the communities 12 months later and not a damn thing has been done...

[enree erzweglle]

I don't know that it's gotten a lot of widespread publicity. But then again, I don't often watch commercials. I only knew about it from chancing across a CNN or BBC article online.

I think it'll benefit from word of mouth.

they milked 911 as hard as they could, but tried to forget katrina ever happenened, before it was even over.Katrina preparation and aftermath/reaction was such a huge embarassment to the government and it was embarassing on so many levels that it's no wonder talk of it gets buried. There was very little that was noble about that entire ordeal.

I haven't seen the Spike Lee documentary yet, but I still have a lot of images stuck in my head from before, during, and after that storm hit.

[Documad]

I thought that last night's show would be repeated tonight and so I put off watching it. My dumb cable guide didn't show it as being a separate episode tonight. If so, I'm fucked because I never can get through a whole HBO series in one go.

[Dr Deaf]

I saw last night and I will be tuning in tonight...

I was watching it, screaming at the television, "This is America, and those are human beings!"

when they showed the dead bodies it was an uncomfortable moment I forced myself to watch...

seeing the interviews with the principals of this disaster was interesting, to see them realize their mistakes in hindsight or simply relive those moments...

Eddie Compass, Ray Nagin, Gov. Blanco, etc.


hearing that man talk about leaving his dead mother at the Convention Center...

hearing the CNN anchor rip Mike Brown for his lack of intelligence on the matter...

CNN and the public knew more than the government did... how can Mike Brown say that he didnt know people were stuck at the Convention Center?

knowing where our officials were at the time was sickening- Bush was in San Diego playing air guitar, Chertoff was in Atlanta at a fundraiser...

where was Condeleeza Rice? buying designer shoes and watching a Broadway play...


listening to the president of our nation trying to talk his way out of the situation, WHILE SMILING TO THE CAMERA AND TO HIS AUDIENCE...


and finally, seeing the communities 12 months later and not a damn thing has been done...

oh shit. looks like i'll be watching this alone then.




Katrina preparation and aftermath/reaction was such a huge embarassment to the government and it was embarassing on so many levels that it's no wonder talk of it gets buried. There was very little that was noble about that entire ordeal.


not to toot my own horn, but i truly believe i could have handled the evac and post-disaster ops 200% better than mike brown and whoever else was a sleep at the wheel. their collective responses and reactions were so terrible, you can't help but wonder if maybe they were successful in achieving their objectives ---the permanent displacement of a million poor black americans.

[enree erzweglle]

their collective responses and reactions were so terrible, you can't help but wonder if maybe they were successful in achieving their objectives ---the permanent displacement of a million poor black americans.I've thought the same thing and a lot of people down there more than think it--it's like they know it, expected it. They felt helpless to do anything about it because they're an unwanted demographic.

In November and December, there were still loads and loads of Katrina evacuees living in government-sponsorred motels in Houston. Some of them were bad, interstate types of motels that probably rent rooms by the hour.

[Documad]

not to toot my own horn, but i truly believe i could have handled the evac and post-disaster ops 200% better than mike brown and whoever else was a sleep at the wheel. their collective responses and reactions were so terrible, you can't help but wonder if maybe they were successful in achieving their objectives ---the permanent displacement of a million poor black americans.
I'm sure you're right about how you could do it much better.

I tend to give the federal government less credit for smarts than you do though. I believe that they dismantled FEMA with malice before the event and put a bozo in charge so that any major disaster would have been handled badly. I believe that our the president and others in charge of our government did this because they have no respect for the career experts who usually keep our government operating. They've done the same damage to all the civil rights departments, the FDA, the EPA, etc. And of course, the whole thing happened because a long series of federal administrations has failed to ensure that the basic infrastructure of our country is sound. That's the scary bit.

[YoungRemy]

as far as the filmmaking, Spike Lee doesnt preach.. his voice is heard a few times off screen... he lets the residents do the talking... there is one guy who was talking about coming home to his neighborhood prepared with two pistols and a shotgun, Spike says offscreen, "Yo, were you looking for Bin Laden?"

Terence Blanchard, a native New Orleanian and a victim of the flood, composed the haunting score for the film, and of course there are hymns, jazz standards, and original blues pieces throughout...

"When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts... An American Tragedy"

[King PSYZ]

I have never watched something that made me so angry, I can only hope that HBO stands the fuck up and screams that this thing is being aired. Because I have seen zero promotion for it.

I hope it's put on DVD soon, as far as I'm concearned it should be handed out to every citizen before being allowed to vote.

[cosmo105]

wow. this is the first i've heard about this. i don't watch much hbo, but i'll definitely record this.

[Documad]

There was a positive review in Entertainment Weekly.

I used to love Spike Lee, but it's been at least a decade since I saw anything of his that was watchable, so I have to admit that my first instinct was that I'd pass on this. His other documentary (Four Little Girls) wasn't as good as the average PBS show on civil rights.

I really appreciate this thread. Hopefully, the show will be available via On Demand soon.

[Laver1969]

Just thinking about Katrina makes me angry. I'm hoping this comes out on dvd since I don't have HBO.

[King PSYZ]

if you have HBO - West, parts 3 and 4 start in just over an hour.

[kaiser soze]

I hope to see this someday, New Orleans is still rotting and millions of Americans have no idea. I told my friend about it a couple days ago and she was shocked.

Our Residence Halls donated money to an Alternative Spring Break and we're working on doing one considering they will more than likely still need help.

The inaction by the government is an abomination towards the citizens of the United States.

IMPEACH bush STILL!!!!

[ET]

I don't know if I can watch that (no HBO and it still pisses me off) but it sounds interesting. Oh yeah I'm sure you've all heard about Mike's former job too. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/2/34622/68348

I know New Orleans had it bad but I rarely saw major news stations mention the losses in Mississippi except at the beginning of the disaster. Hopefully this gets addressed in the film????

[Dr Deaf]

I know New Orleans had it bad but I rarely saw major news stations mention the losses in Mississippi except at the beginning of the disaster. Hopefully this gets addressed in the film????

there is mention of the losses in mississippi and they include that famous clip of that guy telling dick cheney to go fuck himself, but unfortunately, the focus is on new orleans for the most part.

so i finally watched both parts. i was moved to say the very least. i can admit i welled up a few times. esp. when that dude shared his story about his mom dying right before his eyes.

for the duration of the presentation i felt a wide arrange of emotions. sympathetic, angry, sad, frustrated, furious, helpless, guilty, enraged and disgusted. i think spike lee did a great job on this doc. at first, i thought it was going to be too long, but he covered all the bases nicely. i wouldn't have edited anything out. it was all pertinent.

new orleans will never be the same. i realize katrina was a natural disaster, but the response (or lack of) of the us govt was what really destroyed new orleans.

when that shit unfolded i remember reading about a group of floridian boaters that formed a convoy of trucks and boats and headed down thurr to help with the rescue efforts, only to be turned away. i read about tractor trailers full of water and dry goods (from walmart) sitting 50 miles outside the disaster zone waiting for the green light that never shone. its instances like these that makes me think there were alterior motives at work. like orders to stand down on 911.

fucking rcmp from vancouver bc was on site before a lot of key US govt agencies, ffs. (AND THEY RIDE HORSES, lolz.) the lack of response was deliberate and it completely disgusted me.

</end rant>

[The Notorious LOL]

I downloaded it, still havent watched it.

[QueenAdrock]

when that shit unfolded i remember reading about a group of floridian boaters that formed a convoy of trucks and boats and headed down thurr to help with the rescue efforts, only to be turned away. i read about tractor trailers full of water and dry goods (from walmart) sitting 50 miles outside the disaster zone waiting for the green light that never shone. its instances like these that makes me think there were alterior motives at work. like orders to stand down on 911.

I know! People needed water down there, trucks were LOADED with bottles and jugs, and they weren't let in to the city. No one was allowed in without proper documentation which sometimes took a while to get...so they sat. Made me angry.

We tried to do a lot around here. We bought stuff for the victims and donated it to the Red Cross. My mom and I went and bought about $100 worth of pet supplies, because the Animal Rescue Shelter that was getting all the dogs and cats didn't have nearly enough stuff. We got litter pans and collars and food and stuff for them. There were a lot of heartwarming stories when it came to pets of the victims. Families who thought that their beloved dogs had drowned were reunited, and to see them cry tears of joy definitely was something great to see. A lot of people without pets don't realize how they truly are a part of the family, and seeing that just helped confirm it.

I think this disaster brought out the best in humankind, and the worst in our government and bureaucracy.

[beastieangel01]

I haven't even seen it, and I don't have cable, but I too think it's necessary for EVERY single person in this country to see the film. In the day to day, I never saw much of what the situation was really like, or how dire it was/is. I had to go out of my way and search and look. I also knew someone that lived in New Orleans when all this happened and got to hear first hand from her what was going on.

It's heartbreaking, and it's also fucking disgusting to me that we have the "leaders" we do.

I think a lot of people missed it, but I posted a thread in Sure Shots called Signs of Life (http://www.beastieboys.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=70373). It gets a really strong message across (http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/7531/3qp2.jpg).

[SobaViolence]

i said it before;

there should be mass riots across the country, and heads should roll.

literally, it's time for the guillotine.
what happened/didn't happen is treason in the grandest sense.

[Documad]

I'm bumping this to recommend renting the DVDs.

I only got halfway through so far, but the Spike Lee commentary adds a whole new layer -- some genuine outrage and some funny bits too.