This is a Dramatization

April 21st, 2006General2 comments

From The Great Quake, a National Geographic documentary on the 1906 San Francisco earthquake:

Narrator: “Mayor Schmitz’s corrupt past, his lack of investment in the city, and his rejection of prudent advice are catching up with him. Now, with no plan to fight the fire and no water, San Francisco is paying the price.”

Meanwhile, we see an actor portraying the historical mayor cowering in his makeshift underground command center, realizing that the narrator’s words ring true. He fucked up bigtime.

Actors portraying historical Mayor Schmitz and
Army Colonel Morris.

I like these dramatic re-creations that are becoming more and more commonplace in History Channel and National Geographic Channel documentaries. Just this past week I’ve seen dramatic recreations of the Scopes trial and the McKinley assassination.

I wonder if, a hundred years from now, documentaries will still carry out these dramatic recreations.

Will there be a documentary about Hurricane Katrina with a doughy actor portraying former FEMA director Michael Brown? Will a narrator soberly chastise him for his lack of experience and his inaction, then call attention to the fact that an ill-informed President inappropriately referred to him by the pet name “Brownie” as bodies floated past street corners?

I can just see the scene now: An actor portraying the President and another portraying Michael Brown; the President clapping him on the back as the camera closes in on Brown’s false attempt at a smug smile… And then the shot fades to black… And then fades in on real footage of the people of Louisiana clamoring for help of any kind.

If I were Michael Brown I’d be doing my best to become a champion hot dog eater or a full-time builder for Habitat for Humanity or something, anything that could give my historical legacy an uptick at the end.

I’d be looking for some kind of historical redemption so that the very last dramatically recreated scene of my past would be something wonderful and noble.

Narrator: “Despite all his failings as the head of FEMA, Michael Brown went on to surprise everyone by becoming a world champion ping pong player.”

Then you see the actor portraying Brown playing ping pong. That would be awesome.