Hurricane Hubris would have been a bettter name...

This week no smarmy comments, weary dismissals of American politics or ironic repartee.  This week I only have questions leading to more questions without easy answers; without any answer.  Always returning to the only question, WHY?

Why did no one order an evacuation of New Orleans PRIOR to Katrina making landfall.  Why did everyone in power ignore the warnings from Brendon Loy?  Why is human nature revealed at its best in the worst of times?  Why was Lt General Russell Honore overlooked for a Nobel Peace Prize?  "PUT THE GUNS DOWN! THOSE ARE AMERICAN CITIZENS"!

Why were the levees blown, without forewarning in the 9th ward?  Who was out of their rabbit ass mind; exacerbating the already unthinkable consequences of a force 5 hurricane making landfall in New Orleans? 

On our Forum post this week I included a comment about Chris Rose of the Times Picayune and his live broadcasts in the evening from their little old building in New Orleans. His citizen "first person” journalism, on the RADIO, offered a human voice alternative to the CNN/BBC Disasters-Are-Us coverage on the TV.  Broadcasting live on NPR Radio his graciously, self effacing southern recounting of his immediate situation gave the first inkling of the enormity of what transpired. 

Do we learn anything from the Corporate News Channels visually branding each new disaster or tragedy they Web-cast, Pod-cast, & Cable-cast?  Within minutes of every tornado, hurricane, flood or earthquake there is a headline logo, a tag line, theme music, a solemn voice over and a TV flicker of reptilian sincerity.  Then we 'go LIVE' to what ever locations provide visual shorthand for a real "Act of God Moment".  Gasp!  When people are interviewed "on camera", they are bewildered, in shock, in tears, talked over, manipulated, then assaulted by technology.  This is not digital media at it's finest. 

I do not believe a digital game can convey the immediacy of a tornado shredding livestock.  As much as I loved the interactive maps at http://www.bridgethegulf.info/ , the realtime photos available from science based web sites like NASA's showing Hurricane Katrina's roiling clouds are chilling http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/efs/atmo.htm.  Yet,I never want to have to wade in the water that covered New Orleans.

After rereading the first half of the Patricia Aufderheide assigned text, I am humbled by the enormity of the choices Spike Lee made in this long-form documentary.  We have 'guides for dummies' and categories and neat little names to describe what we do as documentary filmmakers.  But the emotional consequences of our films are paid by the participants we film.  When this film took on a life of its own. The filmmakers capitulated to the 'truth' of those we have watched over and over.  It was transformed from an established two hour HBO documentary format into an extraordinary broadcast, DVD, community website, learning tool, and epic Greek tragedy.  Maybe there is a time and place for choosing each of the digital formats we were asked to consider.

Maybe the questions I am still asking will be answered by other citizen journalists.  Maybe we will all live long enough to see MTV raise enough money to reunite the Diaspora of irreplaceable musicians, who carry more than a tune. 

Maybe Lt. General Russell Honore will be greeted by the archangel Michael, whom I have always envisioned as a winged John Wayne with a Sword of Truth.  

And maybe all those who lost their lives will have found peace and higher ground.