Ridley turns a horrific true story involving Hurricane Katrina into a scripted drama

Published August 12, 2022 at 5:10 AM EDT

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

How 45 patients died in a New Orleans hospital after Hurricane Katrina is the truthful story that inspired the Apple TV+ series "Five Days At Memorial." NPR Telly critic Eric Deggans spoke with the executive producer near why this story notwithstanding resonates.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: When John Ridley was first asked to help turn this horrific tale into a scripted drama, he sent a New York Times Magazine story about the tragedy to his father, a retired medico. Ridley, who once served as a commentator for NPR, won an Oscar for writing the screenplay to the 2013 film "12 Years A Slave." He had a major question for his dad. What did he think of allegations that some health professionals there euthanized patients rather than abandon them when the hospital was evacuated?

JOHN RIDLEY: I expected fully that he'd say, well, I would never do that. Are y'all kidding me? His response was, I'g glad I wasn't there, and I'thousand glad I didn't accept to make those decisions. If he'due south non willing to indict or exonerate, I wasn't going to go into the story and agendize (ph).

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We are watching a Category V hurricane, Hurricane Katrina.

DEGGANS: "Five Days At Memorial" leverages an ace cast and detailed special furnishings to tell its story. Staff, patients and expanse residents seeking shelter at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans thought they had survived the worst when Katrina passed through the city in 2005. Crimson Jones plays the hospital official in charge during the emergency, who realizes the infirmary hasn't prepared for an of import eventuality.

(SOUNDBITE OF Boob tube Testify, "FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL")

CHERRY JONES: (As Susan Mulderick) There is no plan for evacuating the hospital if it's flooded. There'south a plan for a mass casualty result, a ceremonious disorder upshot. There's nothing in there virtually 2,000 people, 200 of them patients, cut off, stranded in a hospital without power.

DEGGANS: Ridley, a Black man who's focused much of his piece of work on exploring race, prejudice and oppression, says he wanted to prove how systemic bias led to poor, often non-white patients getting abased.

RIDLEY: There's a very lesser lining of human being life. And once you lot do that, once you lot go into these aren't actually people, they're numbers, they're statistics, they're acceptable losses or whatever - are nosotros surprised that something like this would happen? The thing that'due south really frustrating to me more annihilation is just can you present a story where the system is the bad guy?

DEGGANS: The serial nigh didn't get made at all. It was based on a 2013 book which resulted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times Mag article. Producer Scott Rudin tried to develop it as a possible motion-picture show. Later, producer Ryan Murphy considered it as an installment of FX'south "American Crime Story" album series. Ridley remains angry that some Television set executives seemed skittish about developing a story centered on terrible allegations against doctors during a pandemic.

RIDLEY: That was very painful that, yous know, in a world where there's then much media and in that location'due south so much storytelling that people are averse to anything that challenges, adverse to annihilation that - well, this may take a lilliputian chip more to get an audition to come up effectually to it. It's not - no spoiler alert - there's no happy catastrophe.

DEGGANS: Ridley credits swain executive producer Carlton Cuse, an executive producer on series similar "Lost" and "Bates Cabin," with calling him in and ensuring the series somewhen got made. Despite differing explanations over how the patients died, the serial presents compelling evidence that Dr. Anna Pou, a surgeon played past Vera Farmiga, oversaw euthanizing patients. In real life, a g jury declined to indict Pou, who denied wrongdoing, leaving open troubling questions near the ideals of information technology all. "Five Days At Memorial" explores these issues carefully. It's crafted by an executive producer who remains angry that certain people still carry the brunt of such issues.

I'g Eric Deggans.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Source: https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/2022-08-12/ridley-turns-a-horrific-true-story-involving-hurricane-katrina-into-a-scripted-drama

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