smerdyakov
01-23-2012, 04:41 PM
This is an article I wrote awhile ago as part of an assignment.
On The Wire
So much has been said and written positively about The Wire that it is now difficult to constructively add to it in the way of commentary.
I do not watch a great deal of TV and am much less inspired by fictional dramas, but when I was recommended The Wire by a friend, and some weeks later got around to watching it, I absolutely fell in love with it. From the uneasy outset to the reluctant denouement, it sucked me in completely and let me go regretfully.
In a nutshell, The Wire is a deep roving drama exploring systemic institutional failure in American society. It doesn't offer trite solutions and it sharply lacks sentimentality.
In the words of its creator David Simon, "it is a treatise on the end of the American Empire."
Although the series has not been a big commercial success, it has been lauded by TV critics as the greatest TV show ever.
The scope of the show is of epic proportions, in that it deals with every aspect of life in an American city.
The Wire was created at the beginning of this decade by David Simon (former police reporter with the Baltimore Sun) and Ed Burns (ex Baltimore homicide detective and ex schoolteacher). It first aired on June 2, 2002 and ended March 9, 2008.
There are five seasons comprising a total of 60 episodes. Each season introduces a fresh theme. In correct order they are: the war on drugs, as told from the perspectives of the street dealers and the police; the docks; city politics; school system; print media.
The episodes in each season are cumulative, in that they build towards a conclusion.
The cast of the program are largely unknown, amateur actors and in some cases ex police and ex gang members.
One of the most striking qualities of the The Wire is its sharp dialogue and apparent realism.
The character of "the deacon" for example is played by Little Melvin, formerly one of the most notorious drug traffickers in Baltimore.
Jay Landsman, a real-life, longtime police officer, inspires the sergeant of the same name.
It is the characters and a faithful portrayal of Baltimore jargon and speech patterns which lend such verisimilitude to the show.
There is a pivotal scene in series 2 where Omar Little, a stick up man who regularly robs from the drug dealers--a sort of modern day robin hood--is in the dock as a witness being examined by the defense lawyer of the gang suspected in the killing. The lawyer is trying to invalidate his statement and accuses him of being "a parasite who leeches off the culture of drugs". Omar replies, in his inimitably charismatic way, "Just like I got the shotgun, you got the briefcase."
The program is, at times, very stark in its appraisal of institutions and human relations. There is a sense of cynical, sociopathic management in every level from the local media to the drug dealing franchises.
Another theme that comes across is how people are compromised and often scuppered by the agenda of those above them in the food chain / social stratosphere.
People are promoted in the police force on merit of the quantity of arrests they made rather than the quality, e.g. 20 minor possession drug arrests vs. 1 solved murder case. This is as common in the education system as it is in the police system.
A scene indicative of this occurs in series 4 when Prez (who in the series was formerly a detective but is now a school teacher) comments that state testing is the same as what he learned in the police force, "juking the stats."
Statistics are made to pretend that education is being given, is working, or to portray the war on drugs as being won when the reality is that it is not.
In season 5, the head of police, under the mayor's order, tries to stop the uncovering of 22 dead bodies because the resultant spike in murder stats will make them look bad.
The police commissioner does not want long man hours devoted to big investigative case building on the drug gangs but favors meaningless, small "hit and rip" style drug busts to keep their stats healthy.
What precipitates the discovery of the 22 bodies, or in any case allows them to run the investigation, is a serial killer hoax invented by detective McNulty to force City Hall to override budget cuts and provide the cars and man hours that he and detective Freamon need to get drug baron Marlo.
A motif of The Wire is of people constrained by circumstances. In the end of the show, a tainted form of justice is meted out. It doesn't so much tie up the loose ends as prove that there is no end. This is what makes it great to watch; it is not spoon fed to the audience, not "pre-chewed" as some commentator put it.
The creator, David Simon, sees these issues as systemic or moral problems in society, where suppression is given greater lease over prevention.
"Market based profit logic applies to society," he says.
Although the show doesn't purport to offer solutions, one can see that Simon is of the opinion that the modern approach to the drug problem has failed. He sees the system as inherently corrupt and self perpetuating.
In the words of Charlie Brooker from The Guardian: "It's nothing less than a civic duty to watch The Wire, and if you're not convinced, go watch celebrity goose wrestling on ITV 6."
On The Wire
So much has been said and written positively about The Wire that it is now difficult to constructively add to it in the way of commentary.
I do not watch a great deal of TV and am much less inspired by fictional dramas, but when I was recommended The Wire by a friend, and some weeks later got around to watching it, I absolutely fell in love with it. From the uneasy outset to the reluctant denouement, it sucked me in completely and let me go regretfully.
In a nutshell, The Wire is a deep roving drama exploring systemic institutional failure in American society. It doesn't offer trite solutions and it sharply lacks sentimentality.
In the words of its creator David Simon, "it is a treatise on the end of the American Empire."
Although the series has not been a big commercial success, it has been lauded by TV critics as the greatest TV show ever.
The scope of the show is of epic proportions, in that it deals with every aspect of life in an American city.
The Wire was created at the beginning of this decade by David Simon (former police reporter with the Baltimore Sun) and Ed Burns (ex Baltimore homicide detective and ex schoolteacher). It first aired on June 2, 2002 and ended March 9, 2008.
There are five seasons comprising a total of 60 episodes. Each season introduces a fresh theme. In correct order they are: the war on drugs, as told from the perspectives of the street dealers and the police; the docks; city politics; school system; print media.
The episodes in each season are cumulative, in that they build towards a conclusion.
The cast of the program are largely unknown, amateur actors and in some cases ex police and ex gang members.
One of the most striking qualities of the The Wire is its sharp dialogue and apparent realism.
The character of "the deacon" for example is played by Little Melvin, formerly one of the most notorious drug traffickers in Baltimore.
Jay Landsman, a real-life, longtime police officer, inspires the sergeant of the same name.
It is the characters and a faithful portrayal of Baltimore jargon and speech patterns which lend such verisimilitude to the show.
There is a pivotal scene in series 2 where Omar Little, a stick up man who regularly robs from the drug dealers--a sort of modern day robin hood--is in the dock as a witness being examined by the defense lawyer of the gang suspected in the killing. The lawyer is trying to invalidate his statement and accuses him of being "a parasite who leeches off the culture of drugs". Omar replies, in his inimitably charismatic way, "Just like I got the shotgun, you got the briefcase."
The program is, at times, very stark in its appraisal of institutions and human relations. There is a sense of cynical, sociopathic management in every level from the local media to the drug dealing franchises.
Another theme that comes across is how people are compromised and often scuppered by the agenda of those above them in the food chain / social stratosphere.
People are promoted in the police force on merit of the quantity of arrests they made rather than the quality, e.g. 20 minor possession drug arrests vs. 1 solved murder case. This is as common in the education system as it is in the police system.
A scene indicative of this occurs in series 4 when Prez (who in the series was formerly a detective but is now a school teacher) comments that state testing is the same as what he learned in the police force, "juking the stats."
Statistics are made to pretend that education is being given, is working, or to portray the war on drugs as being won when the reality is that it is not.
In season 5, the head of police, under the mayor's order, tries to stop the uncovering of 22 dead bodies because the resultant spike in murder stats will make them look bad.
The police commissioner does not want long man hours devoted to big investigative case building on the drug gangs but favors meaningless, small "hit and rip" style drug busts to keep their stats healthy.
What precipitates the discovery of the 22 bodies, or in any case allows them to run the investigation, is a serial killer hoax invented by detective McNulty to force City Hall to override budget cuts and provide the cars and man hours that he and detective Freamon need to get drug baron Marlo.
A motif of The Wire is of people constrained by circumstances. In the end of the show, a tainted form of justice is meted out. It doesn't so much tie up the loose ends as prove that there is no end. This is what makes it great to watch; it is not spoon fed to the audience, not "pre-chewed" as some commentator put it.
The creator, David Simon, sees these issues as systemic or moral problems in society, where suppression is given greater lease over prevention.
"Market based profit logic applies to society," he says.
Although the show doesn't purport to offer solutions, one can see that Simon is of the opinion that the modern approach to the drug problem has failed. He sees the system as inherently corrupt and self perpetuating.
In the words of Charlie Brooker from The Guardian: "It's nothing less than a civic duty to watch The Wire, and if you're not convinced, go watch celebrity goose wrestling on ITV 6."