Treme Debuts

The premier episode of that new HBO series, Treme, was shown this weekend They cut me out of the first episode. (I was a homeless drunk asleep on the street) That might be a plus for the series. Hmmmmmmmm Next time I should skip alcohol and drink milk instead. They wouldn't dare edit out a milk drinker!

I think the pilot was way too confusing for outsiders to the culture of the city. So many unfamiliar events were thrown in the face of viewers in rapid succession It introduced all the main characters (too many) of the next 10 season episodes (the first season has all been shot now) to the extent that the viewer never grasped any of them individually. It seemed to be more instructive than entertaining. Too, some were stereotyped and an image that the city is mostly peopled with black residents and defined by them is not a correct one. But then, the series does not pretend to be an inclusive one. It purports to show one segment of it.

On the positive side, Treme showed the poor area of the city fairly well, and the traditional music culture of the city that largely emanated from that section(Treme). I think once viewers understand the city they should like the series because the people in it it are highly unusual, as New Orleans is itself. The centered of the series is the working class area called Treme, but all sections will get at least a brief glance. For example, I worked one episode that was shot entirely in the French Quarter area in Jackson Square, and another in a more upscale neighborhood near the wealthy Garden District.

Too, the day after the premier HBO announced it has renewed Treme for another season of episodes (which will start shooting after hurricane season here in October or November). It's almost unheard of to order a second season of episodes before the first has even premiered.
Some background about the "real" Treme in case you happen to watch any of the episodes should include the fact that Treme, is not only America's oldest mainly black neighborhood but was the site of significant economic, cultural, political, social and legal events that have shaped the course of events in the past two centuries. Yet, few outside of New Orleans know its enormous cultural importance to the country as a whole.

For example, Jazz was founded in Treme. Treme is named after Claude Treme, a hat maker and real estate developer who migrated from Saugivny in Burgundy, France, and settled in New Orleans in 1783. Treme section was heavily French and Spanish speaking into the 1900's since the population that lived there and in New Orleans as a whole came from those two countries (who originally settled the whole region ).

After 1800, free blacks and eventually those African slaves who either obtained, bought or bargained for their freedom were able to acquire and own property in Treme, so it became more of a "black area" of the city of New Orleans. The ability to acquire, purchase and own property during an era when America was still had slavery was remarkable and only in New Orleans did this occur with any regularity and consistency. It is one reason that people in New Orleans have always had many mixed neighborhoods of all races and income status. I think also, it is why there has always been less racial prejudice and discontent here in New Orleans.

So that is the background of both the real section of New Orleans called 'Treme' and the HBO TV series named after it. Both are a different animal from the usual stereotypical United States images.