It’s a familiar scene: A sickeningly faux drawl fills the humid air of Bourbon Street, which teems with Voodoo-practicing locals at a perpetual Mardi Gras parade.
World-renowned actors and their dialect coaches slaughter the New Orleans accent. Set designers prop shop at tourist joints.
This is the legacy of Hollywood’s representation of the Crescent City. This is the confirmation of what endless remakes have already hinted: The geniuses of filmmaking have gotten lazy.
And this is the stage set for the entrance of HBO’s post-Hurricane Katrina drama “Treme,” of which the sophomore season began Sunday. After countless on-screen portrayals that were misguided at best and insulting at worst, New Orleanians deservedly dread every new Big Easy-based production.
I know I do. Don’t let my byline fool you — I may have suffered the misfortune of growing up in Mississippi, but being born in the Crescent City to a family who originated there makes me a New Orleans lady through and through.
I’ve craved an accurate depiction of my hometown’s modern condition that also honors the New Orleans my ancestors knew. “Treme” gets it right, finally serving the city some justice in pop culture with an impressive fusion of past and present, fact and fiction, realism and romanticism.
It’s ironic, but pleasantly surprising, that a scripted cable drama conveys more truth than its “reality TV” counterparts.
The critically acclaimed series’ success lies most obviously in its indigenous soundtrack, but more fundamentally in its implementation of locals on both sides of the camera.
Season one featured natives like chef John Besh and musician Kermit Ruffins; for season two, LSU’s own professor Mari Kornhauser joined a writing staff that boasts former Times-Picayune columnist Lolis Eric Elie.
New Orleans, and therefore “Treme,” is defined by its people. Cast selection is crucial, and the show cleverly escapes the dialect disaster while capturing the city’s multicultural society by blending hometown actors with “transplant” characters.
Another credit to its achievement is co-creator David Simon’s news industry experience. Thirteen years as a Baltimore reporter bestowed upon him the knowledge, integrity and drive to go to the story’s heart for the truth. His journalistic background underscores the importance of research and establishing a relationship with one’s source, which in this case is also the audience.
Simon addressed New Orleanians in an open letter to The Times-Picayune the day “Treme” premiered, acknowledging previous Hollywood blunders and his own artistic liberties. By establishing and maintaining an honest, good-faith effort, the creators have succeeded where predecessors disappointed.
The show compensates for fictionalized recounting of post-Katrina events with authentic depictions of the city’s soul. New Orleans’ story is relayed and its personality depicted through those of the drama’s complex characters.
Other complaints against Simon’s series include its focus on artists and its relatively slow plot. But “Treme” doesn’t ignore the city’s dark realities — it reflects them via the cultural methods New Orleanians use to cope. This psychological exploration of leisure and response when one’s way of life is interrupted is the drama’s greatest feat.
Season two promises to be grittier, expanding from the artistic emphasis to examine the city’s corrupt infrastructure.
The transition will determine the fate of “Treme.” New Orleans, which alone lays claim to the proverb about liking our rice and our politics dirty, deserves more than just another urban crime show.
Forget the less-than-riveting story line, the conclusion to which we ourselves are still writing in many ways. My favorite character, Creighton Bernette, inadvertently explained the best way to watch: “Don’t think in terms of a beginning and an end. Because unlike some plot-driven entertainments, there is no closure in real life — not really.”
Well spoken, Cray. And well done, “Treme.”
Kelly Hotard is a 19-year-old mass communication junior from Picayune, Miss. Follow her on Twitter @TDR_khotard.
 
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Contact Kelly Hotard at [email protected]