The Chris Moeller Archives

Oh, Doesn't he ramble

The season two finale of "Treme" poured my soul out tonight. Because of the holiday, I watched the episode an evening late, on-demand, but I realize I'm still way ahead of the curve. None of you have probably seen it yet, yet someday you will, and when you do, I predict that you'll be grateful just to be of an animal species that's capable of creating such an affirming piece of life, depth, and emotion.

No spoilers, but this episode was especially engaging for me because it centered around New Orleans' JazzFest, the purpose of our annual sojourn each spring down the river from Iowa. But like the other NOLA calendar events, the festival is just the backdrop. The show is really about these extraordinary inventions of character, so humanistically presented, from this very real place, that grow more and more appealing with each passing hour. I am amazed at the cast and crew's abilities to create drama without having at least one villainous character in the mix-- except perhaps for George Bush and Dick Cheney, though they're never seen. The entire package represents a new peak elevation for the stage and screen in terms of recreating reality in fiction. I'm not afraid to make that claim. One generation grows from the next. It's equal parts passion, joy, and tragedy, and greater than that, it is as close to an uncompromised artist's vision as TV has ever supported.

I'm really in no position emotionally right now to try to describe it more to you. What I'm really saying is that you people (you HBO-sponging cheapskates) need to start watching or catch up with this show so that I have somebody to talk to about it! OK, that was wrong of me to call you a name right there, even inside parentheses, and I'm sorry. You've got your own things going, I realize. But this program needs to become a priority right now. Season one (on DVD) will start off slow for you, but don't we say that now about all of the best dramatic series. The first season has a wonderful climax that helps to define the show's grand purpose, and then you can settle in and enjoy season two as it rockets into orbit. ("Treme" has been renewed for a season 3 in 2012.)

You need to understand what HBO is doing here. They are giving one man and his team full autonomy to create something. According to creator David Simon, there is absolutely no interference. And they certainly realize that this show will never be popular. It will never be lucrative for the network. It might even lose money. The network has given Simon this autonomy due to the artistic results of their previous investment in his series "The Wire"-- and that show had shitty ratings also. The honchos at HBO seem to be doing this for the most fucked-up reason that ever existed in art-- they respect you. It's almost enough to strip a guy of his long-entrenched cynicism.

It wasn't always apparent in season one, but the series is actually about making art. And it's about indifference to art in the sense that New Orleans is a most artistic city that the rest of the United States fails to fully understand and appreciate. Like "The Wire," it's about the importance of our urban life. It reveals the politicians' lies about small-town values being American values. As Simon has pointed out even this week, the war is over-- and the country life lost. Take it from your old pal, Joe Dirt from Newhall, we're not going back. Our future is going to be in how we build and re-build our cities, about whether we're going to gate ourselves off from our neighbors or share a sense of place. "The Wire" was about studying and explaining the city. "Treme" is about feeling for it. It's a kick. I don't know how you've been spending your Sunday nights for the last three months, but they haven't been more fun than mine. Join me.

posted by CM @ 9:38 PM