Trouble the Water

Friday has become Documentary Night for me. Last week I watched and reflected on the film Objectified. Tonight I watched a documentary very different from that, Trouble the Water.

The tagline for the movie says it all "It's not about a hurricane. It's about America." The film takes us on a journey of Kimberly Rivers, a 24 year old African American who lived through Hurricane Katrina, and documented it all on her own camcorder. It really is an amazing film. It's upsetting and uplifting at the same time. It makes me angry to see how little the government did during the hurricane as well as after. And I'm angry at myself too, because the way the media portrayed the hurricane was that everything that could possible be done to help was being done, which I see now is so not true. Also, the state of New Orleans before the hurricane came is unacceptable, such poverty and an overall low quality of life. The 911 calls from Kimberly are especially upsetting, as she is told that they are not making rescues at the moment. She asks if she is going to die there, to no response. It's very moving and upsetting, but the faith that these people had is unbelievable. They had so much faith in God and in each other, and Kim and her husband were helping out both strangers and neighbors, doing much more than the government was doing, for so many people. It's just amazing to see people living in such terrible conditions, floating around (literally) trying to find a new home and start their lives fresh, but still being so positive because of their faith. The images of the hurricane and its aftermath did not look like America. In the words of Kim's cousins, it looked like a third world country. Garbage everywhere, people in the streets, on highways, setting up camp and just waiting and praying. It may sound strange, but I am jealous of these people because of the faith I have. I don't have faith. But, and this sounds terrible, but I don't need to have faith. Faith isn't something that should go away when there is no need for it, say when your life is on track, but I can't lie and say that that isn't the case. It is inspiring to see how someone's entire world can be broken and changed, but they aren't tainted.

Appropriately, Trouble the Water was nominated for an Oscar in 2008, for best documentary feature. It did not win, and I would love to see the film that did win, because I really thought that this was great. It did what I think a documentary is supposed to do - it made me angry, it made me feel for the people it was about, and it made me want to do something about it.

Documentaries sometimes get a mad rep for being "boring". I totally disagree with this, but I can see why people might think that - it isn't an action flick where cities explode, or a romantic comedy with unnaturally good looking lead actors. But Trouble the Water is a must see, even for those silly people who find documentaries boring. It is a funny, deeply moving, inspiring film that is told from the inside.