On 'Treme': A Shouting Match
I think all this preoccupation with the authentic is going to lead to nowhere but disappointment. Being in New Orleans after the storm doesn't mean anything other than an experience of what the city was like immediately after the storm which is sort of like going to ground zero after 9/11 and claiming to understand what that event was like. It feels like carpetbag critique.
Who cares if the show is taking a while to get rolling? Lest we forget, the first season of The Wire sort of sucked. Even Deadwood took a while to become really good. There is a lot of really interesting and important leg work Treme has done that while not always super dramatic, has been compelling and nuanced.
I think it IS hard to identify with these characters because they are almost all broken with no clear sense of how or why. Of course it's the storm but you can't have a climactic scene between Katrina and Antoine like Lt. Dan and a thunderstorm. Nothing in New Orleans made sense after Katrina. I'm ok with watching the characters and show try to find their identities in that wake.
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On Being Female
This is a fantastic piece.