“From the beginning Spike Lee knew that Hurricane Katrina was a story he had to tell.”
That’s how The New York Times begins Agony of
That’s right. HBO wanted to make “the film of record” on
Could reporter Lee (no relation, I hope) simply have not been aware of director Lee’s conspiracy theories? They’re not hard to find. The director went on CNN and said: “I don't put anything past the
He told Reuters the government could have deliberately flooded the city: “There is too much history ... going back to when the
So it’s hard to believe reporter Lee didn’t know about the director’s conspiracy musings. She, and her editors, must simply have decided keep it out of the 1,438-word article. As for the film itself -- “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts,” to be shown on HBO this month -- there is no narration, so any conspiracy theories will have to be espoused by the people director Lee interviews. Of course, he could coach them. The article notes that:
On the set Mr. Lee asked all the questions from a typed list. (“You have to say the question in the answer,” he said to those he interviewed…)
Slick. So if a subject says, “Republicans tried to drown me,” it may be the person’s view. Or, the subject may have been asked, “Do you think Republicans tried to drown me?” with orders to repeat the question in the answer.
While the article makes several references to Malcolm X (the man and the movie) its subject sounds more like Louis Farrakhan, who also believes the levees “may have been blown up to destroy the black part of town and keep the white part dry.”
The article quotes Douglas Brinkley, author of a book on the hurricane, who says Lee is “grappling with the larger question of why so many African-Americans distrust government.” Maybe, just maybe, the lack of trust has something to do with the fact that one of the nation’s most influential directors -- with the implied support of two of the nation’s most influential media outlets -- is telling them their government is trying to kill them. Just a thought.