On Friday night I went to see the documentary Trouble the Water. The documentary is based on Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina killed 1,836 people and left thousands homeless. The documentary was mainly filmed by twenty-four year old Kimberly Rivers Roberts. She documented the day leading up to the storm, and the day the hurricane hit, and the aftermath. Kimberly Rivers Roberts documented her husband, her uncle, friends from the street, children and neighbors. Kimberly and her husband were living in a very low income neighborhood in New Orleans. The levees broke four blocks from their house. When Kim, her husband, and their neighbors were told to evacuate, they unfortunately didn’t have the means, like many families in New Orleans. As the Robert’s home went underwater they moved into their attic. In their attic they had an elderly neighbor, about five children, and two other neighbors. Their dogs were a floor below them floating on mattresses. Eventually they were all evacuated, except for the dogs. Two weeks after the storm the Robert’s returned to their home with a professional documentary film team, to find their home still filled with water, fortunately their dogs ran to them from across the street, they survived the storm. Kim unfortunately found her alcoholic uncle dead and decaying in his home and also her grandmother.
I enjoyed this documentary because it was very insightful. It made me gain a view of Hurricane Katrina that was about 75% different then the view the news projected. Hundreds of families with their children died of suffocation in their attics because they couldn’t break the wood out into the roof. After calling 911, they were told rescue was not available at that time. I find that so heartbreaking because I wanted those people to be able to survive, but at the same time I remembered it was a category 4 hurricane and rescue teams and soldiers just couldn’t fly through the storm. During the documentary I also noticed that most of the people of New Orleans were poor and uneducated. Had Kim and her husband been educated they most likely would have had some type of jobs, which would allow them to pay for a car. Since Kim was unemployed, and her husband was a drug dealer they just didn’t have the money or means to leave before the storm; and this was a pattern I recognized throughout most of the movie. The documentary also pointed out how much Americans in general, respect the work of our soldiers. Many young soldiers flew back from Iraq to help the people in devastation. One point; however, was definitely clear: the people of New Orleans no longer have respect for FEMA, and don’t approve of the way the aftermath of the storm was handled. I never really comprehended why FEMA had been so negatively criticized until I watched this movie. Many people who were living in half-way homes or in church run organizations in New Orleans did not receive any relief money because they didn’t have a legit address in New Orleans.
From the documentary I definitely learned that no matter how much you lose, as long as you’re surrounded by at least one person you love, you are extremely lucky. Just like how strangers became family on September 11, 2001, those same relationships were formed during Hurricane Katrina, which shows Americans set aside their differences and come together in times of trouble.
I really enjoyed this documentary and would recommend anyone to see it. The only negative I have to say about this documentary, is a good 45min of the movie is filmed on Kim’s camera, and the image is very shaky; so if that kind of view makes you dizzy, like it made me, I would suggest just closing your eyes and listening or trying to focus on one point in the image. Also the language throughout the documentary, may be found disrespectful by some people because the “F” and “N” word are said a lot. Other than those two things I thought Trouble the Water, was an excellent documentary, and I now understand why it has won so many awards since its release date on August 22nd, 2008.
