Comments on: Tremé: Feels Like Joy and Pain http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2011/06/01/treme-feels-like-joy-and-pain/ Responses to Media and Culture Fri, 12 Feb 2016 19:35:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5 By: Lynnell Thomas http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2011/06/01/treme-feels-like-joy-and-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-91439 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:01:04 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=9543#comment-91439 I would add that not only do great food and music not fix those problems, but they can actually exacerbate them when all of the city’s attention and resources are relegated to maintaining the image of exceptionalism. I think Hurricane Katrina made this disconnect devastatingly visible.

Unfortunately, I recognize, too, the reticence post-Katrina to acknowledge the wounds that you mention. Given the trauma that New Orleanians have experienced, the feelings of abandonment and vulnerability, and the desire for healing and unity, this reticence is understandable…but not acceptable.

]]> By: Julia Leyda http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2011/06/01/treme-feels-like-joy-and-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-91123 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:52:49 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=9543#comment-91123 I agree with your point that the show is trying to achieve a balance between NO exceptionalism and the mundane (and often unpleasant) realities. Even before Katrina, that balance could be hard to find; afterwards, it’s even harder. By trying to show “the new normal” in the city this season, it has shown the mundane fact that some damage cannot be completely repaired and some wounds don’t ever fully heal: Sophia’s (justifiable) anger at her mother, Ladonna’s trauma, the grief of lost loved ones. Great food and music don’t really fix those problems, and the constant strain and stress of the post-K nightmare don’t help matters. But there are as you say some balancing flashes of hope: Delmond and Albert’s improving relationship, to name one. Joy and pain indeed!

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