It's been an exhausting, somewhat frustrating week - and a gratifying one, finally seeing my film, "The Old Man and the Storm" air. The press has been great, and the blogsphere response really gratifying, especially this one. I was particularly taken by the response outside of New Orleans It makes me realize how tired this whole idea of "katrina fatigue" really is, even if the ratings say that folks are tired of watching the same old stories of people trying to overcome, there is a hunger to know why they're still trying to overcome that involves doing some deep reporting that MSM has yet to address.
An interview with shock jock Mancow Muller reaffirmed this idea. Mancow lambasted me on air for not putting the camera down to help Mr. Gettridge, then never offereed me the chance to respond while he went on for the next three minutes playing a punch of sound effects meant to denigrate the people of New Orleans and particularly it mayor, C. Ray Nagin (who unfortunately presents an inviting target); but, here's the thing: Mancow assumed that the only way I could help Mr. G would have been by putting down the camera and picking up a hammer. He didn't know because he didn't ask, how often I brought food and beverages to a man living without a stove or refrigeration; he didn't know, because he didn't ask, whether Mr. G's electricity - and the ensuing outrageous electric bill for time he had no power - might have been mitigated by Frontline's persistent phone calls; he didn't know, because he didn't ask, whether the family's Road Home payments came through as a result of our inquiries.
My online chat with the Washington Post was way more encouraging. The questions I was asked by the online community were way smarter and interesting than many I received from MSM, and I had a chance to get into some topics that hadn't been included in the film. One of those is the insurance industry, which I've promised to explore in an outside web site katrinaroadhome.org . We've been having some technical difficulties migrating the site from the workshop to the server where it will live because it contains a huge amount of data, but hopefully that will get fixed by the weekend. Stay tuned.
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I don't know how many times my wife and I laughed with knowing recognition during your film. It's rare when "an outsider" really "gets it," and I sincerely feel you do. A million thanks.
I suppose you finished production before the bailout, but I laughed hard when I was reminded of the choice to not help Entergy because of doctrinare adherance to free markets.
Anyway, best of luck in your future endeavors, and I hope one of them is to expose the hidden insurance industry bailout with citizens being made the scapegoat.
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