I’ve lost track of how many hours of horrific TV footage and news coverage I’ve seen in the last 96 hours, but this is the first piece I’ve seen that made me just lose it.
Thank you - you and Andrew are my heroes for doing this.
Do you think this is funny? To turn what’s happening in New Orleans into a reality t.v. show?? Or is this an audition tape to show off Amanda’s acting skills?? Why not report on what’s really going on instead of blurring the lines between reality and fiction and sitting in New York pretending like you have any clue what people are really going through.
NO one knows whats what but from a blurb at designated news times.. to see and realize the pain and anguish not only of those who went thru it those who are left behind.. relief IS pouring in as fast as it can I CURSE the damn oil compaines n shieks who thrive on rapping the us whne shes been hit. IT will not be forgotten what you are doing n blaiming katrina.. NO OPEN YOUR EYES lard asses.. see whats the root cause.. then OPEN up your VAST wallets youre NOT that poor nor are you hurting for cash… THIS IS america. THIS is this.. WE care for oour own. and at times we care for many others… 9-11 opend out eyes. katrina has opend our hearts…. what will you open?????
HUGS amanda
Emerging Artist
‘LEN’
Why do people use times of crisis to bring out the horrible drama theatre?! You could have used this time to report on aspects of the situation that the major media networks are glossing over, instead of showing of your broadway skills…
i dont think people should criticize this piece simply because it shows something that the news coverage doesnt, even if she wasnt there it seemed to ring true and if people want to see simple destruction footage or 10 second interviews they can turn on the news channels, its very rare to get a close up personal view of the effects these storms take on individuals and i think amanda represents that side of the disaster well. and for those that complained, you can chalk it up to error of judgment and still give to the red cross instead of just talking about what a shame it is.
Sure, this is drama. But sometimes it takes a different perspective to get people to see some of what’s going on. Is it a portfolio piece for Amanda? Maybe, but that doesn’t reduce its power and ability to get people’s attention. Rocketboom is part of a growing experimental medium, so it makes sense to do something like this.
How much longer can we talk about it before we see this side? Drama is cathartic and also good for reaching people’s wallets and getting them to donate to the Red Cross, etc.
Amanda - good going. Thanks for showing this from a personal side, even if it was fiction.
Until we internalize what’s happened and continuing to happen in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the rest of the places that were destroyed by Katrina, then we won’t truly understand the situation. Screw nationalism, patriotism, racism, et al — all those petty things that unite and divide us — and freaking feel, just feel, for one moment the stories that are coming out right now. Let it in.
In an age where technology unites, we’ve never seemed further apart from one another as a global community. Rather, we see instead how truly divided and factious we all are.
I lost no one in the attacks of 9/11. Yet I still weep to this day when I open my heart to the stories of grief that continue coming on 4 years later. I lost no one in the tsunami this past December, or the Madrid and London bombings, or on that bridge in Iraq. And I lost no one to Katrina, but I am devastated with sorrow by the images and words coming across the wires. Open your hearts, people, and feel the pain. I lost no one, but I lost my husband, my wife, my children, my family, and everything I owned. This is the pain we all must share. We all suffer this loss. And we all must help each other grieve and perservere.
For anyone that calls this “acting” or “shameful” or a “performance,” then I weep for your callousness. If you can’t read these stories and watch the videos and look at the stills and recognize the pain of your own brothers and sisters, our own pain, then I mourn what is truly the demise of those things that make us beautifully human: empathy and sympathy.
A wonderful episode and a fitting tribute. Leave the headline-picking for tomorrow. Let today be about the people still stuck in a disaster zone. Congratulations on what you continue to achieve in this medium.
I’ve been a fan of Rocketboom for quite some time now, but this piece really missed the mark. What’s most disturbing about the piece isn’t the lack of judgment and tact displayed; it’s how self-serving the whole thing seems.
Some of you commented on how drama helps spur people to act, but I can’t help but think that this docu-drama version of the victims in Mississippi and Louisiana disrespects the actual victims, and will do little more than alienate viewers.
The piece trivialized the tragedy. Rocketboom seems to have forgotten that the victims are real people, not flat characters reduced to 15 second monologues. The people at Rocketboom are so much more capable than what they showed today. You can do better than this.
I could’nt wait to see some real news! Then we get this crap. Bad timing. Maybe do something like this in a few months. What I want to see is real interviews and real stories.
I think the timing for this was off. I can see what they were trying
to do. But I think it would be better to show “real news”. Maybe in a few
months do something like this. People are really going to
misinterpret this. I think for this topic it would have been better to get
information that we can’t get in the main stream media. I do believe
rocketboom had good intentions, but they missed the mark. That is just the way I feel. I could be wrong.
Seriously, I usually love what you guys do but what is this? Thousands have lost their lives. People are dying in the streets and your doing a demo reel? I think you guys meant well and i understand its an art piece. but at this time trying to be controversial to get more web hits is kind of over the line.
Sorry, this was really cheesy …it’s a hollywood cliche-riddled interpretation of events. In a few months when everything has calmed down, it will probably be pretty funny. The problem with it is that it aims to provoke a sentimental, emotional response — which is one of the big problems with mainstream journalism in the US, emotion over critical analysis. And you’ve confused emotion with empathy; there’s a disconnect between this interpretation of someone’s sadness and the horror and shock we see in the pix on the internet. You can cry ‘misinterpretation’ all you want, it doesn’t obscur the fact that this is a video of a priviledged white girl acting out what is mostly a poor black person’s experience.
You guys should stick to light and funny, it’s what you’re good at.
well then you would agree that the timing may be off for this video. just like laughing at funeral would not be appropriate. maybe this would be interpreted better after we gain some control over the situation…
here is my main point…a wise man once said:
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
A piece of art, because after watching it you still don’t have a clue whether it’s serious or a satire.
Anyway, my favorite part is being saved because of waving the american flag for hours.
Yeah, this re-enactment or impersonation of something that’s still unfolding is in bad taste. Experiment failed. It’s okay, just give a quick apology and move on.
Well I wouldn’t mind if it was good acting, but while you seemed to really work hard, it looked fake. It should have looked like you really fighted *against* your traumatised emotions, but it looked like you really fighted *for more* emotions.
People that can read body language will look at this appalled and revolted. Please, Amanda, seriously consider removing it for the sake of your own good, as otherwise the people that were really hit will look at you like you’re exploiting the tragedy to show off your average acting skills.
I love Rocketboom, but this is wrong. To all of those who think the media isn’t covering everything, are you f***ing watching it. It is 100 times more heartbreaking than pretend theatre.
I understand the angle, but it is in such poor taste I’m at a loss for words. I fear living in a world where someone has to fake suffering so we can all understand. I DO understand and I’m not impressed with your exploitation of it.
Well, if you were trying to create an ambiguous feeling in the viewer, you have succeeded. Perhaps this will wake up the culturally numb who are looking at this catastrophe as if it were just another thing that happened “over there”.
When you started the monologue, I really thought you’d been there and some how gotten out. When I realized this was a dramatization, I felt I had been had.
We are all still in the middle of the event unfolding. This will be a long incident. It’s too soon to make a movie of the week out of it. Save that for a year or two down the road.
This is really awkward. The piece seems at once self serving, and a provoking commentary.
Drew and Amanda,
Could you guys post more links and ways for folks to donate and contribute to the relief. Perhaps this will divert their emotions about your piece.
Amanda, your heart was in the right place, just seems a bit awkward watching a *sorry* “pretty white girl” crying and acting, when the blacks are suffering so horrifically.
Didn’t want to make it seem racial……I am just startled by the images on CNN and MSNBC and that there are almost no other races represented. This is a devistating blow to New Orleans and the Black population, which is the heart and soul of the city.
It is so sad to know there are so many destitute people in this great country, whom now have less than nothing.
That was adventurous of you. It took two viewings to sink in. After several hours consideration, I think rocketboom is the wrong medium for this style of comment. Your remembrance piece on Lefteye Lopez worked brilliantly, but this is still breaking news. If there is an unspoken convention in media for a respectful time lapse between event and dramatisation, then it is for a good reason, and this issue was too quick off the mark. I still respect the integrity of rocketboom and it was a close call. But remember that you are “media”, albeit nascent, and that profession carries responsibilities that are already flouted enough. Having said all that, I can’t wait for the next boundry-busting issue and at least you’re focusing attention in the right places, which is more than I’m doing this Friday afternoon. You remain an inspiration.
Darling … there’s something seriously misguided about dramatizing factual events as if they were scenes from The Young and the Restless. It offended me – and I hope you’ll accept my honest opinion with some open-mindedness: It’s embarrassing and worse. Self-indulgent pap. Shame on you.
whoa people,
you all have to understand rocketboom’s real genesis.
drew is a musician and a real artist, amanda is also an artist (actress),
rocketboom is not a megalithic giant media outlet that just can go cover any national tragedy, i sincerely believe in all honesty they were trying to portray the horror and tragedy and evoke a sense of compassion and empathy from “their” audience in the best means they could (remember folks, jeez, amanda and drew are the only ones who own this site, this is basically an artistic website not CBS) and they don’t have a Giant Rupert Murdoch budget to work with…
also i live along the Gulf Coast and have been through Hurricanes and Floods…folks you have to understand that place (New Orleans) is under Martial Law and in mandatory Evacuation…no reporter, other than maybe a giant media outlet with satellite uplink can go out there, less alone an artist and small budget operation like this, even residents are being Forced Out, no one is being Allowed In to cover this national disaster, do
you expect drew and amanda to merely regurgitate the clips the mainstream media is already broadcasting…
give them a break! an artist always finds it difficult to express to others or attempt to interpret what they are feeling, or their means to evoke compassion or empathy from others…
they did put links to Aid Relief Organizations…and on their small-scale operation all the way in NY the best way they know how!
to the anti-rocketboom posters: YOU are OFF MARK…
Amanda and Drew are Nice, Caring, and Compassionate people…
forgive my typos on this, but wanted to post as soon as possible, my heart almost stopped when i saw how some viewers misinterpreted this piece…
take it easy Drew and Amanda, do not fear, there are plenty of our kind here to support and praise you, there are some out there who will or may be jealous of you and seek any means to criticize your work, as any artist has their critics whether they feel wrong or right as to artistic interpretation…
i’m ready to help you see things the way others may see them and my opinion as how things may appear to others…and your true purpose and intent…i am drew’s age and i see what is happening…
It’s bullshit. She claims to be in the Superdome, which currently has no electricity, but you can see studio lights reflecting in her eyes??? And nice edited music track, how do you lay that it in without electricity??? She might very well have been rescued, but trying to pass off a bogus location shreds all of her credibility, now and forever. This is the end of her blogger status…
Amanda and Andrew have every right to do what they did, although I do not like the piece, they themselves are good people. This will not end RB. This was never intended to Foll “Fools” into thinking that she was there.
You have to know a bit more of the history of RB to understand the piece. Again, I did not like it, but I understand there view of the event and I am sure (POSITIVE) it was done with 1000% respect to those suffering in New Orleans.
RE: Peacemaker’s Assumptions. Take that ‘deep breath,’ and listen again: The piece has little to do with artistic intentions. If that was the goal, they’ve failed. There are brilliant plays being produced, which elaborate and provoke all manner of temporal crisis  this is more a trailer for a soap-opera; except that the events are real and ongoing. It’s offensive. My prediction concurs with someone else’s previous comment; wherein the footage will be downloaded and mirrored month from now … and mocked mercilessly for it’s insensitivity and selfishness. Do yourself a favor and cauterize it now. Just saying.
I am shocked at thursday’s vlog. I have watched rocket boom daily (during the week) for the past 6-7 months. Always a laugh or a thoughtful bit of information to digest..
This is absolutely horrible…way too early to be acting out fustrations, even if it is meant to convey to people the calamity in N.O. through the eyes of one person. Right now it comes accross as tasteless and pointless.
Looking forward to more Rocketboom regardless of my feelings on this vlog.
Well, I like many others disagree with the appropriateness of this broadcast. I actually have not and will not watch it in its entirety. However, I do see from the comments that others were touched by the piece. Which brings me to this point: Rocketboom is Andrew and Amanda’s platform to do what they like. It is my decision to watch and participate or not. I am a huge fan of Rocketboom. Even so, Andrew and Amanda owe me nothing. If there is something I want to see in a broadcast about the Katrina tragedy then I would do well to go produce that broadcast. Simple put, I can agree to disagree with Andrew and Amanda about the quality of this broadcast. Again, I am happy that some viewers got something out it.
Please donate what you can to aid those in need at this perilous time.
That showed incredibly poor taste. Leave the dramatic re-enactments to bad t.v. crime dramas where they belong. You’ve trivialized the intense sufferings of thousands and their loved ones while the catastrophe continues to rage. I feel sick.
I really, really did like your show before today.
It’s a little early for re-enactments, don’t you think? It’s the inherent condescension that offends me — can you possibly think anyone watching the news doesn’t already get it? Or needs your to help to feel the pain? We’re watching it 24/7, and I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t get more real than that.
Really that was sick. Made me lose it totally. Made me think Amanda was really there. Somone we all have gotten attached to as we watch her day in day out on this fantastic vlog. I gotta say tho this realy is way off mark. I mean cmon your messing with peoples emotions here. Yes your intention was to get people to see what people are going through in these hard times. But truelly this wasnt the way to do it. Get your asses down there on the ground and do some real reporting if you want to bring it home. Acting like this isnt going to win you any votes.
Its not going to stop me watching the vlog but please please keep it witty, keep it fun, keep it vibrant and most of all keep it REAL!!!!
That was repugnant. Rocketboom’s piece exhibits a lack of judgment so severly callous to the situation to be appalling. Stick with humor. The real world, leave to those who understand what it is to be real.
Kevin
I did not like what you did for Thursday. I think it was a mistake. But I consider rocketboom to be experimental, progressive, reaching, TRYING THINGS. I applaud that. We NEED that. Keep going, keep learning, stay different, and thank you!
What this is is a expression of arrogance. That you know better and dictate to others how to feel and react about the situations in New Orleans, other areas in Lousianna, Arkansas and refugees in Texas.
The music? The color palette? The acting? All so transparently designed to try to push the viewers’ buttons and wring an emotion response from them.
I prefer real people telling their own stories. The media is airing them, bloggers are posting emails and reporting on phone calls. The reality is there, fabricating a dramatization was completely unnecessary.
“make something we find meaningful”….this says it all. Amanda created something meaningful to her. She didn’t say it was good or bad. It provides meaning to her. Not the viewer. Her.
This is her portrayal of her grief. I don’t think she was trying to portray an undereducated, destitute, deep South, African-American female. She knows a caucasian, well educated, East coast female could never portray those feelings.
it’s just her method to express her grief. at least, i am giving her that benefit of the doubt…
Of course this fills me with mixed feelings. But that was the point, wasn’t it? If Amanda Congdon and her team did not anticipate all the kinds of responses this video would elicit I’d have to say I’m really disappointed in them.
Thanks for getting us thinking about what’s appropriate, what the role of the media should be and all for all the other questions this video raises about how one should behave in the face of such a disaster.
regardless, people insulting the individuals that did this need to notice a few things, as many adjectives as are thrown around, “arrogant, stupid” it really just makes it clear not that you aren’t entitled to your opinions but that you can’t express them in a way that would perhaps shed some light rather than sling some mud.
Rocketbloom should be ashamed of themselves. There are enough sad stories out there without anyone making up a phony story. Newspaper reporters get fired for doing this.
If you guys did this after everyone was safe and ok down there, then it would be an extremely powerful tool to create awareness and promote progress towards systems and societies where these atrocities don’t occur.
I think that’s your intent but dramatizing an event while it’s happening seems disingenuous. There really are people going through what you’re acting out…you can see it right on television and on the web. They’re right there…telling about real events…as they just happened or sometimes while they are occurring.
It seems that this is really a political statement against the current president. And I agree with that. I think it could have been done better by showing what you did on Friday. Seeing an entire city filled with water and people clamoring for help on rooftops is astounding. Even more astounding and OUTRAGEOUS is that we should see U.S. MILITARY BOATS STREAMING ALL OVER THE PLACE WITH FOOD AND WATER, RESCUING U.S. CITIZENS. Instead there are just the people…all alone. That’s reality. That’s powerful.
I do agree with many that this is you’re right…this is your show and you do what you want. But hey, there’s a reason there’s a comment section right?
BTW I will continue to watch RB everyday. Like a marriage or partnership, it is surviving the arguments and making an effort to stay together that makes it stronger. Long live rocketboom.
You look very good and well rested for just going through a tragedy like the one in New Orleans. I think your pretty sick for making fun of such a terrible tragedy. Nice background music in your video, very touching.
see my above post…
and get off it republican pro-bush bloggers, angry cause rocketboom shows what a deception bush is, now is the time to shut down the war in Iraq and bring all that money, aid, and assistance back here!
did you not see the CBS evening news and Business Week article on RocketBoom (or its past Vlog editions). This is more of an Artistic Web Site for Artistic Expression, than some CNN, and Amanda has her Right to Artistic Expression, I personally view this site to get away from the everyday redundant news on every channel and having to watch half the length of the major news’ 30min block devoted to Senile Male (Bob Dole) Impotence and adult diapers.
I personally think there are a bunch of white boy republicans working for bush posting here claiming they’re Black, and posing as pseudo-intellectual republican Prof. Klumps and Clarence Thomas’s. why doesn’t republican Oprah Winfrey go down and assist with HER BILLIIONS. I am a Black Democrat myself, I find this broadcast far from racist, some of these Bloggers are just some white republicans here posting as blacks (and don’t like because this show makes fun of bush), and because they are too uncreative to make their own Website or VideoLog to express themselves, (and like anyone would ever watch them anyways, those republican idiots!)
as Madonna says, “Express Yourself”
now end the bloodshed and racism in Iraq and concentrate the Aid and Money here!
As a Louisiana resident my first reaction was like most…gasp… But I have to tell you that the accounts cannot be more accurate….Thanks Amanda/Rocketboom for giving these individuals a voice…they would otherwise go unheard…It is as bad as you think here.
and Thanks Mat Lat…your post was exactly what I was thinking, but didn’t know how to put in words.
I saw this episode early this morning, and it’s been haunting me all day. I was shocked, it’s true, and not surprised by some of the more vicious comments. It was incredibly brave, powerful and, for me, extremely meaningful. But I do understand how others could feel otherwise.
The one thing that does surprise me is the number of racial references, words which in essence mean “Amanda has no right to portray a woman in this situation because she is white and many of them are not”. So what if Amanda is white. Aren’t we all human beings, don’t we feel and hurt just the same? And shouldn’t the viewers of this site know that? Really, very surprising, and disappointing.
I saw your site for the first time today, ironically. After seeing the first post… I was confused. Once I realized that it in fact was a dramatization, I was disappointed. I, like a few others here, understand what you were going for as well and I do believe that the intentions were well. However, I think that this early it comes off a bit arrogantly naive to assume you understand what is going on for the people there. I don’t know how many subscribers you have… apparently quite a few. It would seem to me that focusing on providing a solid set of information to those subscribers on how to help the people going through this terrible tragedy would have been a better route at this point in time.
I’m glad you can act Amanda but this is NOT ABOUT YOU. It disgusts me that you’re using Rocketboom and the pain and suffering of those truly affected by the hurricane to enhance your petty career goals. What’s even worse is that you attempt to cover it up as a promotion for donating money to those who are in the greatest need. As if you truly know what those people are going through–and don’t pretend that you do. Stop sensationalizing the news and maybe try reporting it.
Keep up the good work Rocketboom, don’t let these GOP Trolls boss you around. Someone needs to tell the stories of the victims. Keep up the good work, keep reporting. God Bless the survirors. I hope someone helps them. Please help these people, because Republicans in Power don’t care if you die!!!!!
Yeah, I have to agree with some of the general sentiment here. Your acting is great. BUT you seem to me to be a fairly rich white girl from the Northeast, not a poor black girl from the 9th parish. While I appreciate the spirit of your performance and understand and was moved by the connections and impressions it made on me, I feel your timing was awful. You could have waited a while.
But at the same time, it’s your vision. It’s your website. It’s your art. So keep doing what you’re doing, all in all I think it’s great, but this video really rubbed me the wrong way.
It’s not a matter of conservative or liberal/republican or democrat. It’s promoting values through holding people emotionaly hostage and guilty that’s questionable. The emotional accusations for Shiavo by conservatives where just as bad or worse.
Part 2 stunk,I respectfully suggest you take it off the site. You were not there and while I know what you are trying to do, it back fired as far as I am concerned.
I love rocketboom. I will continue to check you out every day. Kudos to you for trying something risky. Unfortunately, this just did not work for me, although I understand it was a heartfelt attempt at raising awareness of a tr4agety. Thanks for trying.
After watching RocketBoom for a while and especially with this episode, I have come to the conclusion that Amanda is narcissistic to the point that she needs professional help.
I am shocked at the insensitivity of today’s vid, you have left me speechless- I have a hard time believing that someone on the Rocketboom Production Team didn’t point out that it might come off as insensitve to do a dramatic reenactment, regardless of your good intentions.
I understand Amanda is also an actress among many other things (great vlogger, excellent reporter), however I don’t think this was the best time to use your acting skills - however excellent they are. It is moments like these where the reporting and coverage of the event speaks for itself - because what happened is SOOOO Numbing and Mindblowing to the victims that ACTING is not necessary. To do so makes you come off as if you are treating this like a PLAY - a SHOW.
usually Rocketboom has a high standard, which is why I love to watch, however your post has disappointed me.
everyone copes with shock in their own way. Amanda I see that you “reenact” as a coping mechanism - you do what you need to do. However, I am not sure if it was a good idea to post your coping method - it just came off as completely insenstive to the real tragedy. Artists “reinterpret” life - however in the MIDDLE of a FREAKIN DISASTER it might be more appropriate to wait till after the disaster has passed. It’s all to real to play theatre. I too wish it were a play sweety.
Right On to Amanda and Rocketboom for doing something really different and wanting to capture the human essence of this. Sorry to the complainers for not giving them something they understand and are used to — but cable is still there for you.
David S
ROCKETBOOM has fallen way low,
I am appalled that you’d even have the audacity… “now I am in this superdome hellhole?” who wrote this?
You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Rocketboom - is this a joke? could you all in nyc be this insensitive? are you numb to how blatantly inappropriate this at? I don’t care how good the acting is - this is so sad that you all dared post this.
I spent one night downloading and watching most of your vlogs. This one is by far the BEST so far. It brought a tear to my eye. You should very proud of what you did here! Thank you ROCKETBOOM.
I know your acting wasn’t meant to be racial -but this is just another example of how people from priveledged background act as if they have the privledge to take what isn’t there’s. In this case - you acted out what isn’t yours. This hurricane has affected all of us in different ways - but to act out the experience of being stuck in New Orleans in the middle of this crisis isn’t your experience to take! You all must be from very well off backgrounds - because I see people with lots of money acting with good intentions, but not always aware of when they are “taking” what isn’t theirs. i am slightly disgusted Rocketboom - you all should really think twice about how your actions effect others - however well meaning they are.
I was in last year’s streams of hurricanes. I doubt you know what it’s like to have to sleep on the floor next to someone you’ve never met before and wake up every day wondering if you still have a roof.
I wrote yesterday evening after I first saw this and I was pretty ticked. After some reflection a couple of things came to mind.
For those of you saying we naysayers are “misinterpreting art,” that is a very calllous thing to say. We merely interpreted it different than you did and you are no authority to decide who is “misinterpreting” anything. Especially if you call it art.
Second, what made me the most angry about the episode is that it took someone FAKING they were a victim to affect some people. “I wasn’t affected by it until I saw your Thursday episode”
What is that? I don’t care how bad the media coverage is, the images we have seen on TV this past week have been absolutely heartbreaking. And you can’t get emotional about it until a actress acts it out for you? For God’s sake, are we so devoid of compassion in this country that we need this to make us FEEL? Put yourself in those people’s shoes!
Amanda forget about the naysayers. Having survived Hurricane Floyd when I lived in North Carolina, I know you captured the essence of what it’s like to go through something so horrible. I lost every possession I owned and my best friend of 11 years, my dog Bueller. Although it was dramatized it wasn’t hyperbole.
I was a bit phased by the beginning of this one - Amanda doesn’t live in New Orleans! Oh yeah, I get it - a dramatisation of all the salient, human bits of the news.
OK I guess it left Rocketboom open to criticism, but it did boil things down somewhat. Everything that you highlighted is what matters, and the response of big government is not good enough. I remember watching the Tsunami, gobsmacked and weeping. I remember the talk of setting up an early warning system. Well Bush etc knew what was coming and had good warning. They knew that they didn’t have plans in place to get thousands of poor people out, who had no cars and no access to public transport, nowhere to go.
Well, this is the result. People in distress. Chaos. Helicopters landing and slinging out trays of bottles of water for people to fight over. The army rolling in 5 days after the event. Pathetic, but then time and time again do we not get it? This sort of government does not care about poor black people whether they are in Africa, Thailand or New Orleans.
Sitting here in Britain I see a president that got elected by keeping ballot boxes (oh sorry - I mean ballot machines owned by Republican sympathisers) out of black neighbourhoods, and hiring people just to object to people on provisional lists of voters - IN BLACK NEIGHBOURHOODS. Well this is the result, there you go. Just watch George appear with his sleeves rolled up, looking like he means business and is a man of the people. Just wait for the avoidance, for the what could we do about this natural disaster stuff. Just wait for the government officials saying that now is not a time to divide, but to unite when a TV interviewer asks whether the response has been adequate, whether it has been fundamentally flawed.
Heaven help us if a ‘dirty bomb’ or somesuch city threatening terrorist attack occurs, because you can see that the US government wants to scare us all about such threats, but has no capability, no proper plans and doesn’t care about the little people enough to be able to deal with ANY major catastrophe in its own country. All Georg Bush can do is invade another country so that his dad can profit from the oil and weapons contracts.
Good luck in next years elections all of you lovely US citizens. I advise you to take cod liver oil and keep those memories fresh!
for all the people who said your acting moved them - my question is what is it about the REAL ACTUAL EVENT that didn’t move you?
Like Commenter Ian said, “drama is useful when reality fails to move.” How cold and numb has our society become? I know we live in a mediated reality - but to mediate the mediated in this situation is inappropriate. We outsiders only know about Katrina from what has been mediated for us, however I think the coverage has been pretty visceral - so how does acting out the horror give any new insight?
I am not dissing your acting - BUT THIS IS THE MOST BLATANTLY INSENSTIVE response I have seen to Katrina - because I expected more from you all. I have expectations because I have been a fan since the beginning - and your coverage of news have shown a senstivity and awareness of what is important. This counteracts the standard you have set yourself up to. So yes - it seems a lot of people are disappointed. You haven’t lost me as a fan - I still believe you will produce great things - but COME ONE - how could you go to bed at night knowing that you reenacted a disaster that is SOOO REAL?
btw Amanda - most of the people you are acting out are BLACK BLACK BLACK - I know you meant to empathize with them folks - but be aware of how it looks when a priveldged light skinned woman who isn’t in New Orleans acting out an experience that is mainly of poooor blacks. Yes, many light skinned and affluent people lost their homes - but they at least had the means to GET OUT!
I have a hunch that all the people who say they now understand the horror after watching your reenactment is that they are all white people upper class Americans - because once they saw a WHITE person acting out the horror, they could relate and empathize. But they couldnt’ feel the pain of watching the actual footage of thousands of blacks in pain. That’s because they see the blacks as “others.” So I guess
Hi Amanda,
That was very touching. You expressed in a couple of minutes what will take a lifetime of sorrow to digest and extinguish.
You did good, even though I do like the head twirl side of you.
All the best!
B-man
I’ll leave you with this quote:
“All nature is at the disposal of mankind. We are to work with it.
Without it we cannot survive.”
- Hildegard of Bingen
Jesus, Amanda… I don’t know what to say.
I’ve lost track of how many hours of horrific TV footage and news coverage I’ve seen in the last 96 hours, but this is the first piece I’ve seen that made me just lose it.
Thank you - you and Andrew are my heroes for doing this.
andy
Wow.
Breath-taking.
…
Do you think this is funny? To turn what’s happening in New Orleans into a reality t.v. show?? Or is this an audition tape to show off Amanda’s acting skills?? Why not report on what’s really going on instead of blurring the lines between reality and fiction and sitting in New York pretending like you have any clue what people are really going through.
NO one knows whats what but from a blurb at designated news times.. to see and realize the pain and anguish not only of those who went thru it those who are left behind.. relief IS pouring in as fast as it can I CURSE the damn oil compaines n shieks who thrive on rapping the us whne shes been hit. IT will not be forgotten what you are doing n blaiming katrina.. NO OPEN YOUR EYES lard asses.. see whats the root cause.. then OPEN up your VAST wallets youre NOT that poor nor are you hurting for cash… THIS IS america. THIS is this.. WE care for oour own. and at times we care for many others… 9-11 opend out eyes. katrina has opend our hearts…. what will you open?????
HUGS amanda
Emerging Artist
‘LEN’
Why do people use times of crisis to bring out the horrible drama theatre?! You could have used this time to report on aspects of the situation that the major media networks are glossing over, instead of showing of your broadway skills…
Um, what’s the music on this one?
watch the actual news to see this happening to actual people.
it’s surprising that you guys would take this route.
i get it, but seriously…a little taste.
i dont think people should criticize this piece simply because it shows something that the news coverage doesnt, even if she wasnt there it seemed to ring true and if people want to see simple destruction footage or 10 second interviews they can turn on the news channels, its very rare to get a close up personal view of the effects these storms take on individuals and i think amanda represents that side of the disaster well. and for those that complained, you can chalk it up to error of judgment and still give to the red cross instead of just talking about what a shame it is.
Sure, this is drama. But sometimes it takes a different perspective to get people to see some of what’s going on. Is it a portfolio piece for Amanda? Maybe, but that doesn’t reduce its power and ability to get people’s attention. Rocketboom is part of a growing experimental medium, so it makes sense to do something like this.
How much longer can we talk about it before we see this side? Drama is cathartic and also good for reaching people’s wallets and getting them to donate to the Red Cross, etc.
Amanda - good going. Thanks for showing this from a personal side, even if it was fiction.
To those who don’t understand:
Until we internalize what’s happened and continuing to happen in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the rest of the places that were destroyed by Katrina, then we won’t truly understand the situation. Screw nationalism, patriotism, racism, et al — all those petty things that unite and divide us — and freaking feel, just feel, for one moment the stories that are coming out right now. Let it in.
In an age where technology unites, we’ve never seemed further apart from one another as a global community. Rather, we see instead how truly divided and factious we all are.
I lost no one in the attacks of 9/11. Yet I still weep to this day when I open my heart to the stories of grief that continue coming on 4 years later. I lost no one in the tsunami this past December, or the Madrid and London bombings, or on that bridge in Iraq. And I lost no one to Katrina, but I am devastated with sorrow by the images and words coming across the wires. Open your hearts, people, and feel the pain. I lost no one, but I lost my husband, my wife, my children, my family, and everything I owned. This is the pain we all must share. We all suffer this loss. And we all must help each other grieve and perservere.
For anyone that calls this “acting” or “shameful” or a “performance,” then I weep for your callousness. If you can’t read these stories and watch the videos and look at the stills and recognize the pain of your own brothers and sisters, our own pain, then I mourn what is truly the demise of those things that make us beautifully human: empathy and sympathy.
It’s too wierd that a massive typhoon has hit the coast of china and is creating horrid conidtions there.
See story here
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WEATHER/08/14/china.typhoon/
A wonderful episode and a fitting tribute. Leave the headline-picking for tomorrow. Let today be about the people still stuck in a disaster zone. Congratulations on what you continue to achieve in this medium.
No I think we need to be open as other say. Not just our problems, but to the world’s.
I’ve been a fan of Rocketboom for quite some time now, but this piece really missed the mark. What’s most disturbing about the piece isn’t the lack of judgment and tact displayed; it’s how self-serving the whole thing seems.
Some of you commented on how drama helps spur people to act, but I can’t help but think that this docu-drama version of the victims in Mississippi and Louisiana disrespects the actual victims, and will do little more than alienate viewers.
The piece trivialized the tragedy. Rocketboom seems to have forgotten that the victims are real people, not flat characters reduced to 15 second monologues. The people at Rocketboom are so much more capable than what they showed today. You can do better than this.
I thought I had seen it all with the way the network news exploited people’s pain for their ratings. Then I saw this…
I could’nt wait to see some real news! Then we get this crap. Bad timing. Maybe do something like this in a few months. What I want to see is real interviews and real stories.
Jamie,
I think the timing for this was off. I can see what they were trying
to do. But I think it would be better to show “real news”. Maybe in a few
months do something like this. People are really going to
misinterpret this. I think for this topic it would have been better to get
information that we can’t get in the main stream media. I do believe
rocketboom had good intentions, but they missed the mark. That is just the way I feel. I could be wrong.
Seriously, I usually love what you guys do but what is this? Thousands have lost their lives. People are dying in the streets and your doing a demo reel? I think you guys meant well and i understand its an art piece. but at this time trying to be controversial to get more web hits is kind of over the line.
something more like this would be better (tsunami coverage):
http://www.rocketboom.com/vlog/archives/2004/12/rb_04_dec_30.html
amanda would have been IN new orleans if rocketboom was making enough $$ to get her there and back.
RocketBoom did what they could with what they had, well done guys!
the negative feedback on these comments don’t suggest an alternative (except the people who want CNN regurgitated?!?), do they ever watch RocketBoom?
yeah, that’s just really offensive.
Realy very touching, here in Italy we only see footage-horror from CNN. Thank you for you emotional video
Sorry, this was really cheesy …it’s a hollywood cliche-riddled interpretation of events. In a few months when everything has calmed down, it will probably be pretty funny. The problem with it is that it aims to provoke a sentimental, emotional response — which is one of the big problems with mainstream journalism in the US, emotion over critical analysis. And you’ve confused emotion with empathy; there’s a disconnect between this interpretation of someone’s sadness and the horror and shock we see in the pix on the internet. You can cry ‘misinterpretation’ all you want, it doesn’t obscur the fact that this is a video of a priviledged white girl acting out what is mostly a poor black person’s experience.
You guys should stick to light and funny, it’s what you’re good at.
if i’m a comedian…do i make jokes about it..
better yet if i’m a clown do start…
Anonymous person above, it doesn’t apply for all positions obviously.
I assume comedians think about how it applies to their work and can incorporate the inspiration. Some people laugh at funerals. Clowns are sad.
well then you would agree that the timing may be off for this video. just like laughing at funeral would not be appropriate. maybe this would be interpreted better after we gain some control over the situation…
here is my main point…a wise man once said:
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
This is the 2nd video I’ve watched of yours. The 1st I thought was cute, too mainstream and pointless and so I didn’t bother watching more.
This I’d watch every day.
If it wasn’t on RocketBoom nobody would know it wasn’t real. Actually, my first thought was ..”She was there!?”
A piece of art, because after watching it you still don’t have a clue whether it’s serious or a satire.
Anyway, my favorite part is being saved because of waving the american flag for hours.
Yeah, this re-enactment or impersonation of something that’s still unfolding is in bad taste. Experiment failed. It’s okay, just give a quick apology and move on.
Thanks, this was moving my heart in a way normal news reporting miss, it was brethtaking.
Well I wouldn’t mind if it was good acting, but while you seemed to really work hard, it looked fake. It should have looked like you really fighted *against* your traumatised emotions, but it looked like you really fighted *for more* emotions.
People that can read body language will look at this appalled and revolted. Please, Amanda, seriously consider removing it for the sake of your own good, as otherwise the people that were really hit will look at you like you’re exploiting the tragedy to show off your average acting skills.
I love Rocketboom, but this is wrong. To all of those who think the media isn’t covering everything, are you f***ing watching it. It is 100 times more heartbreaking than pretend theatre.
I understand the angle, but it is in such poor taste I’m at a loss for words. I fear living in a world where someone has to fake suffering so we can all understand. I DO understand and I’m not impressed with your exploitation of it.
This is not the way guys, really its not.
Well, if you were trying to create an ambiguous feeling in the viewer, you have succeeded. Perhaps this will wake up the culturally numb who are looking at this catastrophe as if it were just another thing that happened “over there”.
When you started the monologue, I really thought you’d been there and some how gotten out. When I realized this was a dramatization, I felt I had been had.
We are all still in the middle of the event unfolding. This will be a long incident. It’s too soon to make a movie of the week out of it. Save that for a year or two down the road.
This is really awkward. The piece seems at once self serving, and a provoking commentary.
It’s really just too soon for this.
You really talented, and in a few minutes you have expressed all the katrina-emotions…better than any of the other news networks.
Drew and Amanda,
Could you guys post more links and ways for folks to donate and contribute to the relief. Perhaps this will divert their emotions about your piece.
I get it, I don’t like it. Wrong time.
Amanda, your heart was in the right place, just seems a bit awkward watching a *sorry* “pretty white girl” crying and acting, when the blacks are suffering so horrifically.
I get it too Amanda. I understand Wurx too. I does seem a bit awkward.
Amanda, great job, but it’s a bit awkward.
I am lost for words.
Didn’t want to make it seem racial……I am just startled by the images on CNN and MSNBC and that there are almost no other races represented. This is a devistating blow to New Orleans and the Black population, which is the heart and soul of the city.
It is so sad to know there are so many destitute people in this great country, whom now have less than nothing.
That was adventurous of you. It took two viewings to sink in. After several hours consideration, I think rocketboom is the wrong medium for this style of comment. Your remembrance piece on Lefteye Lopez worked brilliantly, but this is still breaking news. If there is an unspoken convention in media for a respectful time lapse between event and dramatisation, then it is for a good reason, and this issue was too quick off the mark. I still respect the integrity of rocketboom and it was a close call. But remember that you are “media”, albeit nascent, and that profession carries responsibilities that are already flouted enough. Having said all that, I can’t wait for the next boundry-busting issue and at least you’re focusing attention in the right places, which is more than I’m doing this Friday afternoon. You remain an inspiration.
Darling … there’s something seriously misguided about dramatizing factual events as if they were scenes from The Young and the Restless. It offended me – and I hope you’ll accept my honest opinion with some open-mindedness: It’s embarrassing and worse. Self-indulgent pap. Shame on you.
whoa people,
you all have to understand rocketboom’s real genesis.
drew is a musician and a real artist, amanda is also an artist (actress),
rocketboom is not a megalithic giant media outlet that just can go cover any national tragedy, i sincerely believe in all honesty they were trying to portray the horror and tragedy and evoke a sense of compassion and empathy from “their” audience in the best means they could (remember folks, jeez, amanda and drew are the only ones who own this site, this is basically an artistic website not CBS) and they don’t have a Giant Rupert Murdoch budget to work with…
also i live along the Gulf Coast and have been through Hurricanes and Floods…folks you have to understand that place (New Orleans) is under Martial Law and in mandatory Evacuation…no reporter, other than maybe a giant media outlet with satellite uplink can go out there, less alone an artist and small budget operation like this, even residents are being Forced Out, no one is being Allowed In to cover this national disaster, do
you expect drew and amanda to merely regurgitate the clips the mainstream media is already broadcasting…
give them a break! an artist always finds it difficult to express to others or attempt to interpret what they are feeling, or their means to evoke compassion or empathy from others…
they did put links to Aid Relief Organizations…and on their small-scale operation all the way in NY the best way they know how!
to the anti-rocketboom posters: YOU are OFF MARK…
Amanda and Drew are Nice, Caring, and Compassionate people…
forgive my typos on this, but wanted to post as soon as possible, my heart almost stopped when i saw how some viewers misinterpreted this piece…
take it easy Drew and Amanda, do not fear, there are plenty of our kind here to support and praise you, there are some out there who will or may be jealous of you and seek any means to criticize your work, as any artist has their critics whether they feel wrong or right as to artistic interpretation…
i’m ready to help you see things the way others may see them and my opinion as how things may appear to others…and your true purpose and intent…i am drew’s age and i see what is happening…
deep breath…
It’s bullshit. She claims to be in the Superdome, which currently has no electricity, but you can see studio lights reflecting in her eyes??? And nice edited music track, how do you lay that it in without electricity??? She might very well have been rescued, but trying to pass off a bogus location shreds all of her credibility, now and forever. This is the end of her blogger status…
TV Shooter………
Amanda and Andrew have every right to do what they did, although I do not like the piece, they themselves are good people. This will not end RB. This was never intended to Foll “Fools” into thinking that she was there.
You have to know a bit more of the history of RB to understand the piece. Again, I did not like it, but I understand there view of the event and I am sure (POSITIVE) it was done with 1000% respect to those suffering in New Orleans.
RE: Peacemaker’s Assumptions. Take that ‘deep breath,’ and listen again: The piece has little to do with artistic intentions. If that was the goal, they’ve failed. There are brilliant plays being produced, which elaborate and provoke all manner of temporal crisis  this is more a trailer for a soap-opera; except that the events are real and ongoing. It’s offensive. My prediction concurs with someone else’s previous comment; wherein the footage will be downloaded and mirrored month from now … and mocked mercilessly for it’s insensitivity and selfishness. Do yourself a favor and cauterize it now. Just saying.
I am shocked at thursday’s vlog. I have watched rocket boom daily (during the week) for the past 6-7 months. Always a laugh or a thoughtful bit of information to digest..
This is absolutely horrible…way too early to be acting out fustrations, even if it is meant to convey to people the calamity in N.O. through the eyes of one person. Right now it comes accross as tasteless and pointless.
Looking forward to more Rocketboom regardless of my feelings on this vlog.
Well, I like many others disagree with the appropriateness of this broadcast. I actually have not and will not watch it in its entirety. However, I do see from the comments that others were touched by the piece. Which brings me to this point: Rocketboom is Andrew and Amanda’s platform to do what they like. It is my decision to watch and participate or not. I am a huge fan of Rocketboom. Even so, Andrew and Amanda owe me nothing. If there is something I want to see in a broadcast about the Katrina tragedy then I would do well to go produce that broadcast. Simple put, I can agree to disagree with Andrew and Amanda about the quality of this broadcast. Again, I am happy that some viewers got something out it.
Please donate what you can to aid those in need at this perilous time.
That showed incredibly poor taste. Leave the dramatic re-enactments to bad t.v. crime dramas where they belong. You’ve trivialized the intense sufferings of thousands and their loved ones while the catastrophe continues to rage. I feel sick.
I really, really did like your show before today.
It’s a little early for re-enactments, don’t you think? It’s the inherent condescension that offends me — can you possibly think anyone watching the news doesn’t already get it? Or needs your to help to feel the pain? We’re watching it 24/7, and I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t get more real than that.
My God.
Really that was sick. Made me lose it totally. Made me think Amanda was really there. Somone we all have gotten attached to as we watch her day in day out on this fantastic vlog. I gotta say tho this realy is way off mark. I mean cmon your messing with peoples emotions here. Yes your intention was to get people to see what people are going through in these hard times. But truelly this wasnt the way to do it. Get your asses down there on the ground and do some real reporting if you want to bring it home. Acting like this isnt going to win you any votes.
Its not going to stop me watching the vlog but please please keep it witty, keep it fun, keep it vibrant and most of all keep it REAL!!!!
Best wishes
That was repugnant. Rocketboom’s piece exhibits a lack of judgment so severly callous to the situation to be appalling. Stick with humor. The real world, leave to those who understand what it is to be real.
Kevin
I did not like what you did for Thursday. I think it was a mistake. But I consider rocketboom to be experimental, progressive, reaching, TRYING THINGS. I applaud that. We NEED that. Keep going, keep learning, stay different, and thank you!
What this is is a expression of arrogance. That you know better and dictate to others how to feel and react about the situations in New Orleans, other areas in Lousianna, Arkansas and refugees in Texas.
Disaster porn.
The music? The color palette? The acting? All so transparently designed to try to push the viewers’ buttons and wring an emotion response from them.
I prefer real people telling their own stories. The media is airing them, bloggers are posting emails and reporting on phone calls. The reality is there, fabricating a dramatization was completely unnecessary.
I thought it was great, and very brave. Here’s my manual trackback:
http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/archives/2005/09/two-unusual-videos-on-katrina.html
“make something we find meaningful”….this says it all. Amanda created something meaningful to her. She didn’t say it was good or bad. It provides meaning to her. Not the viewer. Her.
This is her portrayal of her grief. I don’t think she was trying to portray an undereducated, destitute, deep South, African-American female. She knows a caucasian, well educated, East coast female could never portray those feelings.
it’s just her method to express her grief. at least, i am giving her that benefit of the doubt…
Of course this fills me with mixed feelings. But that was the point, wasn’t it? If Amanda Congdon and her team did not anticipate all the kinds of responses this video would elicit I’d have to say I’m really disappointed in them.
Thanks for getting us thinking about what’s appropriate, what the role of the media should be and all for all the other questions this video raises about how one should behave in the face of such a disaster.
regardless, people insulting the individuals that did this need to notice a few things, as many adjectives as are thrown around, “arrogant, stupid” it really just makes it clear not that you aren’t entitled to your opinions but that you can’t express them in a way that would perhaps shed some light rather than sling some mud.
Rocketbloom should be ashamed of themselves. There are enough sad stories out there without anyone making up a phony story. Newspaper reporters get fired for doing this.
Timing is everything.
If you guys did this after everyone was safe and ok down there, then it would be an extremely powerful tool to create awareness and promote progress towards systems and societies where these atrocities don’t occur.
I think that’s your intent but dramatizing an event while it’s happening seems disingenuous. There really are people going through what you’re acting out…you can see it right on television and on the web. They’re right there…telling about real events…as they just happened or sometimes while they are occurring.
It seems that this is really a political statement against the current president. And I agree with that. I think it could have been done better by showing what you did on Friday. Seeing an entire city filled with water and people clamoring for help on rooftops is astounding. Even more astounding and OUTRAGEOUS is that we should see U.S. MILITARY BOATS STREAMING ALL OVER THE PLACE WITH FOOD AND WATER, RESCUING U.S. CITIZENS. Instead there are just the people…all alone. That’s reality. That’s powerful.
I do agree with many that this is you’re right…this is your show and you do what you want. But hey, there’s a reason there’s a comment section right?
BTW I will continue to watch RB everyday. Like a marriage or partnership, it is surviving the arguments and making an effort to stay together that makes it stronger. Long live rocketboom.
You look very good and well rested for just going through a tragedy like the one in New Orleans. I think your pretty sick for making fun of such a terrible tragedy. Nice background music in your video, very touching.
see my above post…
and get off it republican pro-bush bloggers, angry cause rocketboom shows what a deception bush is, now is the time to shut down the war in Iraq and bring all that money, aid, and assistance back here!
did you not see the CBS evening news and Business Week article on RocketBoom (or its past Vlog editions). This is more of an Artistic Web Site for Artistic Expression, than some CNN, and Amanda has her Right to Artistic Expression, I personally view this site to get away from the everyday redundant news on every channel and having to watch half the length of the major news’ 30min block devoted to Senile Male (Bob Dole) Impotence and adult diapers.
I personally think there are a bunch of white boy republicans working for bush posting here claiming they’re Black, and posing as pseudo-intellectual republican Prof. Klumps and Clarence Thomas’s. why doesn’t republican Oprah Winfrey go down and assist with HER BILLIIONS. I am a Black Democrat myself, I find this broadcast far from racist, some of these Bloggers are just some white republicans here posting as blacks (and don’t like because this show makes fun of bush), and because they are too uncreative to make their own Website or VideoLog to express themselves, (and like anyone would ever watch them anyways, those republican idiots!)
as Madonna says, “Express Yourself”
now end the bloodshed and racism in Iraq and concentrate the Aid and Money here!
As a Louisiana resident my first reaction was like most…gasp… But I have to tell you that the accounts cannot be more accurate….Thanks Amanda/Rocketboom for giving these individuals a voice…they would otherwise go unheard…It is as bad as you think here.
thank you … a powerful piece.
Thanks, Jay
and Thanks Mat Lat…your post was exactly what I was thinking, but didn’t know how to put in words.
I saw this episode early this morning, and it’s been haunting me all day. I was shocked, it’s true, and not surprised by some of the more vicious comments. It was incredibly brave, powerful and, for me, extremely meaningful. But I do understand how others could feel otherwise.
The one thing that does surprise me is the number of racial references, words which in essence mean “Amanda has no right to portray a woman in this situation because she is white and many of them are not”. So what if Amanda is white. Aren’t we all human beings, don’t we feel and hurt just the same? And shouldn’t the viewers of this site know that? Really, very surprising, and disappointing.
Thank you.
I saw your site for the first time today, ironically. After seeing the first post… I was confused. Once I realized that it in fact was a dramatization, I was disappointed. I, like a few others here, understand what you were going for as well and I do believe that the intentions were well. However, I think that this early it comes off a bit arrogantly naive to assume you understand what is going on for the people there. I don’t know how many subscribers you have… apparently quite a few. It would seem to me that focusing on providing a solid set of information to those subscribers on how to help the people going through this terrible tragedy would have been a better route at this point in time.
I’m glad you can act Amanda but this is NOT ABOUT YOU. It disgusts me that you’re using Rocketboom and the pain and suffering of those truly affected by the hurricane to enhance your petty career goals. What’s even worse is that you attempt to cover it up as a promotion for donating money to those who are in the greatest need. As if you truly know what those people are going through–and don’t pretend that you do. Stop sensationalizing the news and maybe try reporting it.
Maybe off the mark today but in a couple of months or years this might have more weight.
Really bad taste. First time here, last too.
Keep up the good work Rocketboom, don’t let these GOP Trolls boss you around. Someone needs to tell the stories of the victims. Keep up the good work, keep reporting. God Bless the survirors. I hope someone helps them. Please help these people, because Republicans in Power don’t care if you die!!!!!
You were talentless before..now your more talentless… you should be ashamed…
Last time im ever here.
Yeah, I have to agree with some of the general sentiment here. Your acting is great. BUT you seem to me to be a fairly rich white girl from the Northeast, not a poor black girl from the 9th parish. While I appreciate the spirit of your performance and understand and was moved by the connections and impressions it made on me, I feel your timing was awful. You could have waited a while.
But at the same time, it’s your vision. It’s your website. It’s your art. So keep doing what you’re doing, all in all I think it’s great, but this video really rubbed me the wrong way.
best
Matthew Dunn
It’s not a matter of conservative or liberal/republican or democrat. It’s promoting values through holding people emotionaly hostage and guilty that’s questionable. The emotional accusations for Shiavo by conservatives where just as bad or worse.
Hi Amanda,
Part 2 stunk,I respectfully suggest you take it off the site. You were not there and while I know what you are trying to do, it back fired as far as I am concerned.
I love rocketboom. I will continue to check you out every day. Kudos to you for trying something risky. Unfortunately, this just did not work for me, although I understand it was a heartfelt attempt at raising awareness of a tr4agety. Thanks for trying.
you silly, misguided, selfish, egomaniacle, cow.
SEE CHRIS’S COMMENT ABOVE
that was very touching and made me realize what was going on
After watching RocketBoom for a while and especially with this episode, I have come to the conclusion that Amanda is narcissistic to the point that she needs professional help.
I am shocked at the insensitivity of today’s vid, you have left me speechless- I have a hard time believing that someone on the Rocketboom Production Team didn’t point out that it might come off as insensitve to do a dramatic reenactment, regardless of your good intentions.
I understand Amanda is also an actress among many other things (great vlogger, excellent reporter), however I don’t think this was the best time to use your acting skills - however excellent they are. It is moments like these where the reporting and coverage of the event speaks for itself - because what happened is SOOOO Numbing and Mindblowing to the victims that ACTING is not necessary. To do so makes you come off as if you are treating this like a PLAY - a SHOW.
usually Rocketboom has a high standard, which is why I love to watch, however your post has disappointed me.
everyone copes with shock in their own way. Amanda I see that you “reenact” as a coping mechanism - you do what you need to do. However, I am not sure if it was a good idea to post your coping method - it just came off as completely insenstive to the real tragedy. Artists “reinterpret” life - however in the MIDDLE of a FREAKIN DISASTER it might be more appropriate to wait till after the disaster has passed. It’s all to real to play theatre. I too wish it were a play sweety.
Right On to Amanda and Rocketboom for doing something really different and wanting to capture the human essence of this. Sorry to the complainers for not giving them something they understand and are used to — but cable is still there for you.
David S
ROCKETBOOM has fallen way low,
I am appalled that you’d even have the audacity… “now I am in this superdome hellhole?” who wrote this?
You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Rocketboom - is this a joke? could you all in nyc be this insensitive? are you numb to how blatantly inappropriate this at? I don’t care how good the acting is - this is so sad that you all dared post this.
Amanda,
I spent one night downloading and watching most of your vlogs. This one is by far the BEST so far. It brought a tear to my eye. You should very proud of what you did here! Thank you ROCKETBOOM.
I know your acting wasn’t meant to be racial -but this is just another example of how people from priveledged background act as if they have the privledge to take what isn’t there’s. In this case - you acted out what isn’t yours. This hurricane has affected all of us in different ways - but to act out the experience of being stuck in New Orleans in the middle of this crisis isn’t your experience to take! You all must be from very well off backgrounds - because I see people with lots of money acting with good intentions, but not always aware of when they are “taking” what isn’t theirs. i am slightly disgusted Rocketboom - you all should really think twice about how your actions effect others - however well meaning they are.
I was in last year’s streams of hurricanes. I doubt you know what it’s like to have to sleep on the floor next to someone you’ve never met before and wake up every day wondering if you still have a roof.
Rocketboom lost so much of my respect today.
Nice try though. Risky.
I wrote yesterday evening after I first saw this and I was pretty ticked. After some reflection a couple of things came to mind.
For those of you saying we naysayers are “misinterpreting art,” that is a very calllous thing to say. We merely interpreted it different than you did and you are no authority to decide who is “misinterpreting” anything. Especially if you call it art.
Second, what made me the most angry about the episode is that it took someone FAKING they were a victim to affect some people. “I wasn’t affected by it until I saw your Thursday episode”
What is that? I don’t care how bad the media coverage is, the images we have seen on TV this past week have been absolutely heartbreaking. And you can’t get emotional about it until a actress acts it out for you? For God’s sake, are we so devoid of compassion in this country that we need this to make us FEEL? Put yourself in those people’s shoes!
Amanda forget about the naysayers. Having survived Hurricane Floyd when I lived in North Carolina, I know you captured the essence of what it’s like to go through something so horrible. I lost every possession I owned and my best friend of 11 years, my dog Bueller. Although it was dramatized it wasn’t hyperbole.
Thank you.
Nate
Wow, well you’ve drawn a very mixed and emotional response from this one. Personally I don’t really know what to make of it, but well done anyway.
I were expecting a 10 minute long bush bashing fest, but I suppose theirs plenty of time for that later.
I was a bit phased by the beginning of this one - Amanda doesn’t live in New Orleans! Oh yeah, I get it - a dramatisation of all the salient, human bits of the news.
OK I guess it left Rocketboom open to criticism, but it did boil things down somewhat. Everything that you highlighted is what matters, and the response of big government is not good enough. I remember watching the Tsunami, gobsmacked and weeping. I remember the talk of setting up an early warning system. Well Bush etc knew what was coming and had good warning. They knew that they didn’t have plans in place to get thousands of poor people out, who had no cars and no access to public transport, nowhere to go.
Well, this is the result. People in distress. Chaos. Helicopters landing and slinging out trays of bottles of water for people to fight over. The army rolling in 5 days after the event. Pathetic, but then time and time again do we not get it? This sort of government does not care about poor black people whether they are in Africa, Thailand or New Orleans.
Sitting here in Britain I see a president that got elected by keeping ballot boxes (oh sorry - I mean ballot machines owned by Republican sympathisers) out of black neighbourhoods, and hiring people just to object to people on provisional lists of voters - IN BLACK NEIGHBOURHOODS. Well this is the result, there you go. Just watch George appear with his sleeves rolled up, looking like he means business and is a man of the people. Just wait for the avoidance, for the what could we do about this natural disaster stuff. Just wait for the government officials saying that now is not a time to divide, but to unite when a TV interviewer asks whether the response has been adequate, whether it has been fundamentally flawed.
Heaven help us if a ‘dirty bomb’ or somesuch city threatening terrorist attack occurs, because you can see that the US government wants to scare us all about such threats, but has no capability, no proper plans and doesn’t care about the little people enough to be able to deal with ANY major catastrophe in its own country. All Georg Bush can do is invade another country so that his dad can profit from the oil and weapons contracts.
Good luck in next years elections all of you lovely US citizens. I advise you to take cod liver oil and keep those memories fresh!
makeup!
ms. congdon, your closeup is ready :D
for all the people who said your acting moved them - my question is what is it about the REAL ACTUAL EVENT that didn’t move you?
Like Commenter Ian said, “drama is useful when reality fails to move.” How cold and numb has our society become? I know we live in a mediated reality - but to mediate the mediated in this situation is inappropriate. We outsiders only know about Katrina from what has been mediated for us, however I think the coverage has been pretty visceral - so how does acting out the horror give any new insight?
I am not dissing your acting - BUT THIS IS THE MOST BLATANTLY INSENSTIVE response I have seen to Katrina - because I expected more from you all. I have expectations because I have been a fan since the beginning - and your coverage of news have shown a senstivity and awareness of what is important. This counteracts the standard you have set yourself up to. So yes - it seems a lot of people are disappointed. You haven’t lost me as a fan - I still believe you will produce great things - but COME ONE - how could you go to bed at night knowing that you reenacted a disaster that is SOOO REAL?
btw Amanda - most of the people you are acting out are BLACK BLACK BLACK - I know you meant to empathize with them folks - but be aware of how it looks when a priveldged light skinned woman who isn’t in New Orleans acting out an experience that is mainly of poooor blacks. Yes, many light skinned and affluent people lost their homes - but they at least had the means to GET OUT!
I have a hunch that all the people who say they now understand the horror after watching your reenactment is that they are all white people upper class Americans - because once they saw a WHITE person acting out the horror, they could relate and empathize. But they couldnt’ feel the pain of watching the actual footage of thousands of blacks in pain. That’s because they see the blacks as “others.” So I guess