Comments on: I Saw God and/or Treme*

By: Jeffrey Jones

Jeffrey Jones — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:46:37 +0000

I need to watch the second episode (tonight perhaps), but I do think the larger point about narrative strategies is an interesting one. The first few episodes of a show and the first 20-30 pages of a book are very significant, as we know. After your response, I guess I’ve been trying to mull the differences between the two. With such a sensitive topic as this (or maybe I should say given the history here), does fictional TV have a greater social responsibility in the narratives it tells than does a fictional book? Certainly Simon’s journalist background shows here (I do think he is trying to be accurate in his depiction of month 3). Maybe the question is his audience: by your reading, is he driven too much by the desire to craft a narrative acceptable to N.O. residents, at the expense of telling stories that might prove more riviting to wider audiences interested in entertainment?

By: Ethan Thompson

Ethan Thompson — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:08:59 +0000

“Crazy” was a poor word choice–and I definitely don’t mean crazy in the sense of character a la those you mention. Just using it as a shorthand complaint about the predictability and color-by-numbers feel. Episode 2, sadly, felt even more plodding and heavy-handed…the Wisconsin church do-gooders, for example. Indeed, it feels painfully socially responsible to me and more than a little condescending. Except for when the aforementioned Chief takes it out on the guy who stole his tools! Still, I hear you on resisting the pull of some sort of magic-realism, voodoo cliche…bottom line: I’m bored.

By: Jeffrey Jones

Jeffrey Jones — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:52:43 +0000

I hear you, Ethan, but respectfully disagree. As a Southerner, “crazy” is the last damn thing we need more of in television and filmic representations. Honesty and realism seem a nice change of pace. Sorry, but I’ve sat through one too many “crazy,” from Forrest Gump, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Cookie’s Fortune to Designing Women (and the 27 others from the last three decades that I can’t remember on only one cup of coffee). One of the reasons I have always recommended Ashley Judd’s first film, Ruby in Paradise, is not because the plot or acting is all that great, but that it really captures the Florida Panhandle nicely and honestly.

From an interview I saw with Simon on the Tavis Smiley Show, I think “more crazy” is on the way (Ray Nagin, anyone?). But 3 months out, I am fine with just having an M.G. Indian Chieftan walking down the street at night in full regalia with no electricity and running water as crazy enough. Perhaps it is also a bit more socially responsible NOT to go with crazy right off the bat, given the politics of the situation, not to mention issues of race and representation.

In the meantime, then, it is great to see Simon representing the irrepressible spirit and culture of the people of N.O. For me, he has captured it nicely, and what a nice change of pace that turns out to be.

By: Davis and Defictionalization: Treme’s Inherted Crisis of Continuity « Cultural Learnings

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:39:34 +0000

[…] him in any way. However, I’ve since that point read a lot of comments from others (including Ethan Thompson at Antenna) which have started to paint Davis as something more intriguing, something which speaks to both the […]