Treme: Too Real?

April 12th, 2010

I really enjoyed the premiere of Treme last night, although it confirmed one of my mild apprehensions about the show:  People won’t believe how authentic it is.

It’s a weird contradiction that at the same time we don’t want people believing that there’s a parade every five minutes here, like a lot of pop culture would suggest, but at the same time, they’re pretty damn regular, and Treme captures that.

I can see people around the country simultaneously having their stereotypes of the city confirmed and yet not believing that what they’re seeing is real.  In fact, we do support a lot of their stereotypes on a superficial level, but not on a deeper level.  Yeah, second lines happen regularly, but they’re still a big deal that people make a point of catching.  Yeah, we cut loose a lot more than most folks, but the tit-flashing is for non-locals only.

I’m really happy with the job Treme did.  It’s tough to get real musicians to be real actors, and not all of them got it done, but it’s a blast to see some local heroes get into the spotlight.  I hope it doesn’t change them!

Chronology error?  Anyone remember when Jockamo IPA came out?  I actually wrote about it after first discovering it in late 2007, so I’m pretty sure that Vaughan’s neon sign is out of place.  Not that I really care, I’m just never the one to spot that stuff.

Hurry up with that next episode, HBO!

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