Boooo Hbo!

[PakiDan]

Way to politicize a deeply human tragedy (When the Levees Broke). Shame on you Spike Lee! I mean - comparing the evacuee buses and plains to slave ships???? I am deeply dissapointed.

[RashoFan]

Way to politicize a deeply human tragedy (When the Levees Broke). Shame on you Spike Lee! I mean - comparing the evacuee buses and plains to slave ships???? I am deeply dissapointed.
He did that??? :spless:

[CuckingFunt]

Don't have HBO and didn't watch the doc, but it's not as if Spike Lee is the first person to have politicized the event. I, personally, would rather see more specials on the good that may come out of it or the rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast area, but there are some very legitimate political and racial issues that came out of the hurricane that should not be ignored. And, even if they should, you certainly shouldn't expect Spike Lee to be the one to ignore them.

[PakiDan]

Yup. Very tacky.

[RashoFan]

At least there is no threat of a hurricane on the Katrina anniversary....But I wonder...was there any appearances by the mayor Of N.O. on that special???
If so, how did Spike Lee spin it?

[willie]

sometimes it's heaven, sometimes it's hell
and sometimes i don't even know

[IceColdBrewski]

You're suprised?! Spike Lee's films are usually aimed at some sort of agenda. This one is no different.

[FromWayDowntown]

Better to ignore the horrendously inept governmental responses to Katrina forever than to politicize a film, I guess.

:rolleyes

[PakiDan]

You're suprised?! Spike Lee's films are usually aimed at some sort of agenda. This one is no different.

So are Oliver Stone's films... but he did a great job of leaving politics out of World Trade Center.

Some areas addressed by this Spike Lee joint:

1. The levees were blown up by the Federal Government
2. The govt. sanctioned evacuations were akin to the slave trade.

[PakiDan]

Better to ignore the horrendously inept governmental responses to Katrina forever than to politicize a film, I guess.

:rolleyes

EMBELLISHMENT

[CharlieMac]

Yeah, that was a huge let down. I enjoyed reading about him sue over the Spike TV name more than watching this documentary.

[IceColdBrewski]

Some areas addressed by this Spike Lee joint:

1. The levees were blown up by the Federal Government

:lmao

If true, this tells you all you need to know about Spike Lee. :lol

[FromWayDowntown]

So are Oliver Stone's films... but he did a great job of leaving politics out of World Trade Center.

Some areas addressed by this Spike Lee joint:

1. The levees were blown up by the Federal Government
2. The govt. sanctioned evacuations were akin to the slave trade.

Some other areas addressed by this Spike Lee joint:

1. The apparently willful (or grossly negligent) disregard at all levels of government for the facts of a doomsday scenario in New Orleans, apparently spelled out with rather significant specificity in a study done 2 years before Katrina.

2. The seeming ineptitude of Ray Nagin's leadership in NOLA in failing to order evacuations until the last minute, speaking to business leaders as a political gesture before speaking to the public, and then utterly failing to make transportation available to remove the more than 150,000 who couldn't independently move (as found in the study done 2 years earlier).

3. The ostrich-like ignorance of the levee problem before, during, and after the storm, despite constant warnings about the consequences of a major hurricane making landfall near NOLA (again, illustrated by the 2 years' previous study as well as direct statements by the head of the National Hurricane Center less than 48 hours before Katrina made landfall) and nearly 100 years of history concerning the significant problems associated with flooding in and around NOLA.

4. The seeming ambivalence of a federal executive branch in which every significant officer was tending to matters other than Katrina -- issues of national importance like fly fishing and attending Spamalot -- while the government claimed to have virtually no idea about what was going on down on the Gulf Coast.

5. A grossly-misplace power struggle between a governor and mayor who had become political enemies because of endorsements in the previous gubenatorial race.

6. The abject suffering that so many faced because the local, state, and federal government could not or would not -- whether by incompetence, poor planning, lack of information, or the absence of a sense of urgency -- provide simple necessities like water and food to those who desperately needed the same.

7. The total squalor in which those who could not or would not evacuate faced in the days immediately following the storm.

8. The degree to which people on the ground in NOLA exacerbated the situation by making unfounded and inaccurate statements about certain aspects of the situation there.

9. The rather unconvincing answers of local, state, and federal government officials asked to explain the slow response times, particularly in light of the comparatively rapid responses to similar emergencies (like the tsunami) in far-flung parts of the world.

10. Some of those most directly affected by the hurricane don't trust the government and see much of what happened as a vestige of a long history of oppression and discrimination.

11. And, oh yeah -- the fact that a number of people lost their lives because of a variety of combinations of the foregoing. That some people were stupid and paid in flesh, but that others did the best they could, but never really had a chance.


But I think you're right -- the most important things that the documentary pointed out were the conspiracy thoughts about the levees and the single off-handed remark about the evacuation process resembling the slave trade.

[PakiDan]

Some other areas addressed by this Spike Lee joint:

1. The apparently willful (or grossly negligent) disregard at all levels of government for the facts of a doomsday scenario in New Orleans, apparently spelled out with rather significant specificity in a study done 2 years before Katrina.

2. The seeming ineptitude of Ray Nagin's leadership in NOLA in failing to order evacuations until the last minute, speaking to business leaders as a political gesture before speaking to the public, and then utterly failing to make transportation available to remove the more than 150,000 who couldn't independently move (as found in the study done 2 years earlier).

3. The ostrich-like ignorance of the levee problem before, during, and after the storm, despite constant warnings about the consequences of a major hurricane making landfall near NOLA (again, illustrated by the 2 years' previous study as well as direct statements by the head of the National Hurricane Center less than 48 hours before Katrina made landfall) and nearly 100 years of history concerning the significant problems associated with flooding in and around NOLA.

4. The seeming ambivalence of a federal executive branch in which every significant officer was tending to matters other than Katrina -- issues of national importance like fly fishing and attending Spamalot -- while the government claimed to have virtually no idea about what was going on down on the Gulf Coast.

5. A grossly-misplace power struggle between a governor and mayor who had become political enemies because of endorsements in the previous gubenatorial race.

6. The abject suffering that so many faced because the local, state, and federal government could not or would not -- whether by incompetence, poor planning, lack of information, or the absence of a sense of urgency -- provide simple necessities like water and food to those who desperately needed the same.

7. The total squalor in which those who could not or would not evacuate faced in the days immediately following the storm.

8. The degree to which people on the ground in NOLA exacerbated the situation by making unfounded and inaccurate statements about certain aspects of the situation there.

9. The rather unconvincing answers of local, state, and federal government officials asked to explain the slow response times, particularly in light of the comparatively rapid responses to similar emergencies (like the tsunami) in far-flung parts of the world.

10. Some of those most directly affected by the hurricane don't trust the government and see much of what happened as a vestige of a long history of oppression and discrimination.

11. And, oh yeah -- the fact that a number of people lost their lives because of a variety of combinations of the foregoing. That some people were stupid and paid in flesh, but that others did the best they could, but never really had a chance.


But I think you're right -- the most important things that the documentary pointed out were the conspiracy thoughts about the levees and the single off-handed remark about the evacuation process resembling the slave trade.

All the points you addressed are valid, important pieces. Why not leave it at that?? Why add the loony conspiracy theory aspects.?

[willie]

so a few people repeated an urban legend and it was presented as such, with the origin of that legend presented. the 2nd act has started and it hasnt been real political yet.

[Ocotillo]

All the points you addressed are valid, important pieces. Why not leave it at that?? Why add the loony conspiracy theory aspects.?

There are people within the African American community who believe the feds were behind the development of crack and AIDs. To leave out extreme conspiracy thoughts in a documentary examining the NOLA tragedy would not show a complete story of the people.