Playing the Big Easy: a History of New Orleans in Film and Television

PLAYING THE BIG EASY: A HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS IN FILM AND TELEVISION Robert Gordon Joseph A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2018 Committee: Cynthia Baron, Advisor Marlise Lonn Graduate Faculty Representative Clayton Rosati Andrew Schocket © 2018 Robert Joseph All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Cynthia Baron, Advisor Existing cultural studies scholarship on New Orleans explores the city’s exceptional popular identity, often focusing on the origins of that exceptionality in literature and the city’s twentieth century tourism campaigns. This perceived exceptionality, though originating from literary sources, was perpetuated and popularized in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries by film and television representations. As Hollywood’s production standards evolved throughout the twentieth century, New Orleans’ representation evolved with it. In each filmmaking era, representations of New Orleans reflected not only the production realities of that era, but also the political and cultural debates surrounding the city. In the past two decades, as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the passage of film tax credits by the Louisiana Legislature increased New Orleans’ profile, these debates have been more present and driven by New Orleans’ filmed representations. Using the theoretical framework of Guy Debord’s spectacle and the methodology of New Film History and close “to the background” textual analysis, this study undertakes an historical overview of New Orleans’ representation in film and television. This history starts in the era of Classical Hollywood (1928-1947) and continues through Transitional Hollywood (1948-1966), New Hollywood (1967-1975), and the current Age of the Blockbuster (1975-). Particular attention is given to developments in the twenty-first century, especially how the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the recent tax credit laws affected popular understandings of the city. Hollywood’s representations have largely reinforced New Orleans’ exceptional, “Big Easy” identity by presenting the city’s unique cultural practices as every occurrences and realities for iv New Orleanians. While Hurricane Katrina exposed this popular identity as a façade, the lack of interest by Hollywood in meaningfully exploring Katrina, returning instead to the city’s pre- Katrina identity, demonstrates the persistence of this identity in the popular imaginary. Overall, this study demonstrates the role of standards of production in shaping the popular identities of “mythic cities,” and the continued importance of film and television as texts through which American culture can be better understood. v To Megan vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A project this size is not completed without a tremendous amount of help and guidance. No one provided more of both than Cynthia Baron, who saw promise in my idea from when I first pitched it in her office in 2015. Cynthia gave me guidance when I was lost, space when I had to go off and write, and firm nudging when I needed to get back to work. This dissertation would not have been completed without her leadership. I would also like to thank Rebekah Patterson of the American Culture Studies office, who is a rock of support to me and all other ACS graduate students. I must also express gratitude to my other committee members, Andrew Schocket and Clayton Rosati. Dr. Schocket provided invaluable historical perspective to my research in his Genealogies seminar, and my Scalar project for his American Memory course was the perfect workshop for my initial explorations into mediated New Orleans. Clayton never stopped pushing me on my application of theory, and somehow never lost patience with me in my moments of difficulty. His Cultural Marxism seminar opened me up to the big-picture implications of my project. The seed of this dissertation was planted in my master’s thesis on the presence of China in Looper, which was advised by the ever-supportive Joe Valenzano at the University of Dayton. In addition to the courses taught by my committee members, this project was developed and cultivated in the graduate seminars of Ellen Berry, Susana Peña, Rebecca Kinney, Joshua Atkinson, and Sridevi Menon. I also workshopped and exchanged notes with members of my M.A./Ph.D. cohort in many of my seminars, every one of whom was helpful and supportive. Thank you, Alissa, Bincy, Cody, Cori, Elizabeth, Erin, Kaitlyn, Kevin, Luda, Mary, Meriem, Steven, Sylvio, and Xinxin. vii Sherri Long of Bowling Green State University’s InterLibrary Loan unit was instrumental in helping me acquire old issues of The Times-Picayune, as were Eric Browning, Cody Osterman, and Todd VanDerWerff in tracking down hard-to-find films and TV shows. Members of the NCIS subreddit were helpful in answering my questions about Hurricane Katrina-centered episodes of NCIS: New Orleans. In New Orleans and Gretna, Maggy Baccinelli, Ed and Susan Poole, and Ronald W. Lewis were all incredibly generous with their time and perspective on their city, as was just about every New Orleanian I spoke to on my visit in October 2017. I would not have gotten to this point in my education without the love and support of my parents: their influence on my work is immeasurable. In addition to being a fountain of endless love and support, my wife Megan has been my teacher, reader, and guide through the tall grass of the English language. Thank you to them, and to all of my friends and family who have supported me through the years. The idea from this project emerged during a stroll through the French Quarter in 2014, and a revelation that there was something off about how that section of the city is presented in Now You See Me. While I was initially drawn to the image of New Orleans, I increasingly understand that everything worthwhile about the city comes from the people who live and work within it. Though I am only starting to get to know you, I thank you. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 New Orleans, the Mythic City ................................................................................... 5 Theory: Spectacular New Orleans ............................................................................. 11 Method: New Film History, “To the Background” Formalism ................................. 16 Chapter Preview ......................................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER I. FROM A STREETCAR TO THE STREETS: THE NEW ORLEANS OF CLASSICAL AND TRANSITIONAL HOLLYWOOD ....................................................... 23 The French Quarter and White Creole Exceptionalism ............................................. 28 Business and Preservation.......................................................................................... 32 New Orleans In-Studio: The Classical Hollywood Era ............................................. 34 New Orleans On-Location: The Transitional Hollywood Era ................................... 39 Tourism, New Orleans and Film ................................................................................ 42 The Two New Orleans of Kazan ............................................................................... 46 “As Multiethnic as Possible”: The New Orleans of Panic in the Streets ...... 48 “I Don’t Want Realism. I Want Magic”: The New Orleans of A Streetcar Named Desire ............................................................................................................ 52 Conclusion: This Story Could Be Anywhere. It Happens to Be in New Orleans ..... 59 CHAPTER II. BECOMING THE BIG EASY: THE NEW ORLEANS OF NEW HOLLYWOOD AND THE AGE OF THE BLOCKBUSTER ........................................................................ 62 New Orleans, the Tourist Town ................................................................................. 67 New Hollywood and the Age of the Blockbuster ...................................................... 73 ix “Anything in the United States, Except Mountains”: New Orleans On-Location ..... 77 The Big Easy: Reception and Controversy ................................................................ 87 Cajun New Orleans .................................................................................................... 90 The Big Easy of The Big Easy ................................................................................... 94 Conclusion: The Construction of the Façade ............................................................. 101 CHAPTER III. ELVIS PRESLEY SAT HERE: TREME AS NEUTRAL GROUND BETWEEN KATRINA VERITÉ AND KATRINA HOLLYWOOD ....................................................... 104 Hurricane Katrina....................................................................................................... 109 Katrina Verité: Post-Katrina Documentaries ............................................................. 114 Katrina Verité: Post-Katrina Fictional Representation .............................................. 119 Treme and its Critical and Academic Reception ........................................................ 122 Treme as Neutral Ground ........................................................................................... 127 “Elvis Presley Sat Here!”: King Creole and Reverential Parody .................. 133 “Hey, Chere”: The Big Easy and Playful Parody .........................................

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