Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Katrina-Reality TV , Most Real
I feel like a zombie. For the past 2 1/2 days, I've been glued to the set watching the Katrina events unfold. When I'm finished here, I'll probably go back to watching these amazing scenes unfolding along the Gulf-coast and in the city of New Orleans.
I watched a season of "Big Brother". I was a regular viewer for one season (the last) of "American Idol." A few years ago, I saw most of the "So You Want to be a Nashville Star", or whatever it was called. They have nothing on the "Katrina Show"!
From the beginning to the bitter end, the story of this unexpected hurricane is proving to yield the most fascinating look into attitudes of modern Americans. The orderly (at least what I saw) evacuation along the divided highways was truly a sight which I will remember for a long time. The discussions between the meteorologists, anchors/reporters, and emergency personel on the top three cable news networks was absolutely riveting. The lines of "refugees" lined up to seek shelter at the Superdome-that was sobering. Then, of course, theres the decisions that were made concerning evacuation or riding the storm out.
Sunday night, I left the tube on and slept on the sofa. Every hour or so I would wake up and get the latest. Hell, I MISSED the downgrade to category 4! Got up, got the kids off to teacher, and watched as Steve Harrigan of FOX NEWS did his usual "Geraldo wannabe" routine (my wife's description) next to his hotel in Gulfport, Mississippi. What a laugh!
You just knew....as it was going on....and as the reporters and anchors were saying things like-"It looks like it is not as bad as we feared"-...you just KNEW that there would be more to the story when the clouds blew on by.
Talk about "sobering"-today dawn broke upon a broken land. And the story grew throughout the day. The fears about the Big Easy were realized-though not quite in the predicted volume, and tonight virtually all of the city is under several feet of water.
The destruction! It makes "Andrew" look like a dust-devil, in a way. Shrimp-boats, high and dry, are strewn all along the coast between New Orleans and Biloxi. Neighborhoods.....TOWNS completely wiped off the face of the map!
Then, of course, the people. The stories of horror and tragedy will be filling our media for months-maybe even years to come. Men, women and children having to make unimaginable decisions concerning life or death. Fathers, Mothers, and kids looting anything useful.....and anything valuable-reality TV will never touch this type of programming!
I'm hooked!
I watched a season of "Big Brother". I was a regular viewer for one season (the last) of "American Idol." A few years ago, I saw most of the "So You Want to be a Nashville Star", or whatever it was called. They have nothing on the "Katrina Show"!
From the beginning to the bitter end, the story of this unexpected hurricane is proving to yield the most fascinating look into attitudes of modern Americans. The orderly (at least what I saw) evacuation along the divided highways was truly a sight which I will remember for a long time. The discussions between the meteorologists, anchors/reporters, and emergency personel on the top three cable news networks was absolutely riveting. The lines of "refugees" lined up to seek shelter at the Superdome-that was sobering. Then, of course, theres the decisions that were made concerning evacuation or riding the storm out.
Sunday night, I left the tube on and slept on the sofa. Every hour or so I would wake up and get the latest. Hell, I MISSED the downgrade to category 4! Got up, got the kids off to teacher, and watched as Steve Harrigan of FOX NEWS did his usual "Geraldo wannabe" routine (my wife's description) next to his hotel in Gulfport, Mississippi. What a laugh!
You just knew....as it was going on....and as the reporters and anchors were saying things like-"It looks like it is not as bad as we feared"-...you just KNEW that there would be more to the story when the clouds blew on by.
Talk about "sobering"-today dawn broke upon a broken land. And the story grew throughout the day. The fears about the Big Easy were realized-though not quite in the predicted volume, and tonight virtually all of the city is under several feet of water.
The destruction! It makes "Andrew" look like a dust-devil, in a way. Shrimp-boats, high and dry, are strewn all along the coast between New Orleans and Biloxi. Neighborhoods.....TOWNS completely wiped off the face of the map!
Then, of course, the people. The stories of horror and tragedy will be filling our media for months-maybe even years to come. Men, women and children having to make unimaginable decisions concerning life or death. Fathers, Mothers, and kids looting anything useful.....and anything valuable-reality TV will never touch this type of programming!
I'm hooked!
