The Big Uneasy

You’ve probably seen Harry Shearer in his hysterical turn as Derek Smalls, the bassist from Spinal Tap — but he is also the host of a great radio program called Le Show. While he spends a good deal of time pointing out and commenting on some of the news and absurdities that don’t make the mainstream media — Tales of Airport Security is one of my favorites — he has also been rather good at shining a spotlight on stories that the media missed or inadequately covers. One of the stories that he has been following very closely is the inundation of New Orleans following Katrina. He has made a point of speaking to engineers (including one whistleblower from the Corps), ecological scientists, policy types and others involved in the investigation of exactly what happened. And he’s been quite good at it — he has handed over the full hour of his show to various people looking into the causes of the levees breaking and he routinely asks very good questions that make very technical issues readily understandable.

The story, of course, is that New Orleans wasn’t a victim of a natural disaster, but a thoroughly manmade one. This is a story not much told — certainly not with the fervor of the original narrative of the natural disaster. To try to remedy that, Shearer has made this documentary movie: The Big Uneasy.

The good news for folks close to Wilmington, is that this film will be screening at Theater N on 20 July 2011 at 7pm. Even better, Harry Shearer is expected to be in attendance to introduce the film and to discuss it with viewers afterwards. Tickets are $10.00 and you can buy them online.

I really urge you to see this and get your tickets early. Maybe if there are enough DLers going to this we could meet before the film for a drink. Just let us know if you are going!