Treme,’ Season 1, Episode 6

In The New Republic’s The Read, Ruth Franklin reviews “Treme” and raises the question, “When art is created out of catastrophe, where do we draw the line between inspiration and exploitation?” Franklin points to David Simon’s apparent obsession with New Orleans authenticity as proof of “Treme’s” creators’ sensitivity to the exploitation charge. Clearly the last thing Simon would want is to be compared to the driver of the “Katrina Tours” bus from a few episodes ago.

At any rate, it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good, and this week reveals a couple of characters who benefited from Hurricane Katrina – or at least, the attention Katrina brought from the rest of the nation. Creighton’s highly ambivalent to learn that the hurricane has boosted his literary career.  His agent informs him that his publisher Random House is eager to publish two books: a collection of his Youtube rants and his long-gestating novel about the 1927 flood, only with a fresh focus on modern New Orleans.