Life After "The Wire"
After five years of watching "The Wire," I confess to a fear of experiencing withdrawal symptoms. The series ended as it began, with a scathing expose of the corruption that exists among drug dealers, and inside the police department, the school system, local politics and the newsroom. With Dickensian detail, the series portrayed why the few who seek social justice and transparency will always be discredited by those who lust after greed and power and why those who ask what is fair will always be destroyed by those who crave dominance over others.
Dark and bleak, "The Wire" gave us an almost unbearably pessimistic view of the institutions to which we look for enlightenment and truth-telling. Since I've never worked in most of the institutions the series investigated, I can only comment on the newsroom, which was, as far as I'm concerned, one of the best depictions of the print media today.
No, none of the main characters were heroes. Even the best lied or broke the rules, often in the pursuit of a greater truth.
Unlike The Sopranos, "The Wire" never became a popular program. Yet those of us who became addicted will now have to look elsewhere for such a bold confirmation of what we daily see in our lives and for the semi-heroic individuals who understand that though you'll always lose the war, the meaning of your life lies in each battle you embrace.
No need to say R.I.P. for "The Wire." It will live on as more and more people who never had access to HBO discover that the very best television series ever made will long be available on DVD's. It ended at the right time. And it ended in the right way, with nothing solved, little gained. Life as usual. It was what it was.
Comments (16)
Dickens, who you bring up by using him as an adjective, is an interesting comparison. I think this interesting comment on Andrew Golis' thread also gets into something similar.
P.S. A meta thought: Wouldn't it be great some day if there was a website if someone like you and someone like Andrew Golis actually posted on a single thread about a topic that interests you both and had a developing interactive discussion about it, rather than just individually posting your own opinions and letting fans or haters of your opinion react? Sort of like, narrative--where understanding develops over time, like Dickens, like The Wire....
March 10, 2008 5:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Best...show...ever...
March 10, 2008 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ruth,
I have never seen the show. Do you think that the show would hold up for repeat viewings? I am trying to decide if I should purchase the entire DVD collection, or just rnet them. Thanks.
March 10, 2008 7:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
liam: Your question was to Ruth, but I will risk answering it. The show will hold up after 100 viewings. Why? Because you can ask yourself five different questions about life and society after each viewing. The show is that complex.
Ruth and anyone else reading, I would be curious to know what you make of the show being shunned by mainstream black leadership and media. The very large insert for the NAACP Image Awards that came in my Baltimore Sun a few weeks ago had not a single mention of the show (whereas Grey's Anatomy, House, and The Unit were among the shows nominated for best drama). I teach at a historically black university in Baltimore. My students say the show is right on. For some, that is too depressing to make talking about it enjoyable.
One nonspoiler thought about the final episode. I was left with the sense that Baltimore is like a lover, spouse, sister, brother who has soooo many problems that you just can't quite figure out why you put so much effort into the relationship, but you do anyway. I have lived here four years now, and I am starting to understand.
March 10, 2008 8:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks Joe.
I will wait until they issue a DVD collection of the entire series. I do not have cable, and I do not want it. I avoid watching TV as much as possible, and I prefer to build a DVD library of the cream of the crop of both TV and Movies.
Thanks again for your reply.
March 11, 2008 12:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
One more thought: for those who enjoyed The Wire, I recommend Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City by sociologist Elijah Anderson. We are reading it an Ethics and Values class that I am teaching. Students are really enjoying the book (they also enjoyed American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation's Drive to End Welfare, by Jason DeParle).
March 10, 2008 9:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
"NAACP Image Awards that came in my Baltimore Sun a few weeks ago had not a single mention of the show (whereas Grey's Anatomy, House, and The Unit were among the shows nominated for best drama)"
The membership of the NAACP tends to be older folks, although they are trying to get more younger people involved.
A lot of them are tired of so many shows on TV that show African Americans as criminals and drug dealers. Also, the language and violence of The Wire is a bit raw for many older people.
I love the show, but sometimes you have to close your eyes.
I checked the list of nominees for the Image Awards- surprise - "The L Word" had several nominees.
March 10, 2008 9:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with you CParis.
The sociopathology of impoverished blacks is clear and self sustaining.
That was what was so powerful about the Wire in how it depict when, why, and how young lives are caught up and destined to repeat the downward spiral of the streets.
The dealers are nothing but the strongest and most calculating rising to the top of the cesspool of their existence. It is their most common opportunity and the best and the brightest figure that out and become king pins.
I was glad that Michael didn't die and did not expect him to become the next Omar...but then again he was too bright not to.
The Wire should be made into a movie and it might win Academy Awards. It is far better than that think with Terrance Howard that won an Oscar for the song 'it's hardouthereforapimp"..oh yeah..Hustle and Flow was the title.
America is too busy fighting in Iraq to bring democracy and opportunity to the neighborhoods of the poor in our miss.
It was great to see how 'bunny' got D'Angelo out. The show was accurate in showing those odds as well and how happenstance that can be.
I felt sad watching the young guy without the tough spirit turn into an addict...to replace Bubbles...but that showed the cyclic nature of the community as well. For every Bubbles that cleans himself up there is just as good of a spirit that gets sucked down into addiction. All because they can't cope.
This one line from him was so poignant 'how do you make it to that other world' in response to the boxing gym owner.
Sooooo, many folks in those circumstances go to sleep wondering the same thing....in essence...how do you make a way out of noway.
March 10, 2008 11:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Colvin got Naiman out. D'Angelo died in prison.
And what the show really illustrated for us, in the clearest possible terms, is that the institutions that are set up to deal with, and protect us from, the consequences of the human failings we are all subject to, cannot function, because they are conceived and operated by the same humans, subject to the same failings.
The sociopathology is just one of the factors contributing to things slowly falling apart, and the center not holding.
Forget Dickens, this was classic Greek tragedy, set in Baltimore (where it's hard just to live...)
March 11, 2008 12:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I still argue the Sopranos is the better series, for different reasons which I will not get into here.
But regarding the ubiquitous corruption that you speak of:
I guess Ayn Rand was right, the world is full of Looters. Atlas Shrugged should be required reading.
March 10, 2008 10:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
" why the few who seek social justice and transparency will always be discredited by those who lust after greed and power and why those who ask what is fair will always be destroyed by those who crave dominance over others"
This sounds precisely like the political debate we are witnessing between Obama and Clinton..he is for transparency and justice...while HRC is all about power..in that sense the Wire clearly depicts what we can expect with Hillary at the helm. She will be the equivalent of the city council woman who runs Cedric out of the Chief of Police position, no?
this is America's defining moment.
We have a candidate not entrenched in the DC graft...if we stand behind him...we have a chance to break the gridlock and restore some balance in our government.
March 10, 2008 10:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sopranos may have been well written and acted, but it was not relevant. The Wire didn't allow you to pretend you were one of the characters or just enjoy the ride. It forced you to empathize with them regardless what prejudice you might have had. The rawness of it exposed you, so that you could not help but see how their calluses were formed. It was not a question how you would fare in similar situations, but how how much our environment is shaped by us and how we are shaped by it.
March 11, 2008 12:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Simply put, A great show! I can not wait to see the final season on DVD!
March 11, 2008 12:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a damn shame if the NAACP zeroed in only on the black characters whose avarice dominated their character (Marlo, Avon, Stringer, Cheese) as compared to those who had their own code of ethics (Omar, D'Angelo, Lester, Bodie) or those who were pretty much good guys (Kima, Norman, "Reginald"[Bubs], Leander). Or the wild cards (Clay Davis, Burrell, Bond, Norece).
And hey, look at that. Sixteen fully fleshed-out characters are up there with varying moral codes, honor, motivation, and ambitions. And all of them are black. (And yes, I know those categories could be moved around a little.)
The Wire never got enough props in my mind for being the first truly important ensemble drama with a cast that is overwhelmingly African-American. Were the white characters presented as any better in their morals? (The Greek, Sobotka, Rawls, Ziggy, Carcetti, Nicky, McNulty, Jay).
The only difference I can think of is that a lot of the corners didn't feature white people (that boy Bubbles brought along being an exception), and in a city with as high a percentage of African-Americans as Baltimore, that's realism.
March 11, 2008 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
whoffman:
It's not just that the Sopranos was well written and acted. It certainly has that special subversive element that the Godfather had.
Just as Marlon Brando opined that he never viewed the Godfather as a mafia movie; viewers cannot (with any basic level of interpretation) view the Sopranos as just a mafia show.
What Brando was insinuating was the allegorical symbolism of Don Corleone and his 'family.' He and the other Don's of New York (and their respective families) come to signify the ruthless corporations of the United States and the power-hungry CEO's who head them.
The Sopranos hones in on similar themes. Tony Soprano is a business man whose sole interest is earning money. His employees, or salesman, are forced to go out and earn money by any means necessary. The materialistic nature of their desires comes to highlight the hypocrisy and overall baseness which has slowly spread in our society.
The Sopranos doesn't have the neo-realist personification that makes The Wire such a gritty and unforgettable show. And indeed the Sopranos resorts to obvious theatricality at times. But there is nothing wrong with that.
March 11, 2008 9:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
"With Dickensian detail, the series portrayed why the few who seek social justice and transparency will always be discredited by those who lust after greed and power and why those who ask what is fair will always be destroyed by those who crave dominance over others."
"what we daily see in our lives and for the semi-heroic individuals who understand that though you'll always lose the war, the meaning of your life lies in each battle you embrace."
Ugh. What a load crapola and pubescent angst.
The kind of identity warrior Rosen represents has been diminishing for decades, so that's her cynicism. It's not the rest of us though. Don't project it.
March 12, 2008 3:36 AM | Reply | Permalink