- “The Wire” steers clear of preaching, but it’s impossible not to see the graft and wheeling and dealing that goes on in the higher echelons of Baltimore’s power structure without also seeing parallels in the petty larceny on the street corners and the theft and betrayals among the city’s drug dealers. What we see in “The Wire” is how all of these pieces of the city fit together -- and, in a way, depend on each other to survive.
- “Every dying institution, like a dying animal, seeks to protect itself,” says Ed Burns, a cop and schoolteacher turned “Wire” writer/producer in an interview on HBO’s Web site. “The schools and [the] police department [are] unresponsive, because it’s about keeping the world as is, so you’re on top of it.”
That's all well and fine. But I see relatively little criticism about how, perhaps, the show exploits reality, the lives of these people "depend(ing) on each other to survive". Isn't it odd, think for a moment, that a show that purports to show reality in all its hopelessness is considered an "art form". Well then holy shit! Don't I just have the National Gallery of Hopelessness on my fucking doorstep then don't I? I've been interested in The Wire for sometime. But I can't afford to watch it. And who of Baltimore's tens of thousands of others or poor can as well.
It's all very Baudrillardian on some level - Baltimore is shown as hyperreal. It's not enough for people to see shootings and murders, drug crime and beatings in some news clip, or more high brow perhaps in a documentary. No, instead we have to have it repackaged as drama with characters and plots that are based on reality sold back to us as really realistic. So how does that de-base the local riff-raff's lives then? Well it commodifies their experiences as objects to be refigured and sold back to the highest bidder . It makes their realities into fantasies by distancing the viewer from the object and instead exoticizing their richness of the show's characters.
To their credit the show has offered some integrated support of the Baltimore communities it supposedly is so wonderfully realistic in portraying (see some of their press releases here). But let's face it - like the cop characters in Simon's show, those that are so driven by 'reality' of their own desires that they simply stay the course, often discouraged, blind and bitter along the way - they're not doing all this just out of the goodness of their hearts. If it was a) they wouldn't adverstise their good works and would quietly claim it on a tax return, or, b) they would be giving all the receipts to of EVERYTHING to community development. No, this is BUSINESS, make no mistake about it. If you're unclear then try to travel through Baltimore while they film The Wire. You're treated as intruder, not resident. And part of Greenmount Ave. has been turned into a huge empty lot where they park their production equipment with signs everywhere screaming "PRIVATE PROPERTY" and "KEEP OUT". Of course maybe the lot is better than a burned out building but my point is that the city considers The Wire like a revenue stream - and I highly doubt that the monies from that lot are going into that community: Art imitates life in this case about the inability of the City to function and in the course of doing so perpetuates the issues it supposedly wants to eviscerate and change.
David Simon is also the producer of the acclaimed mini-series (is there another word?) of The Corner (2000, HBO) and noted for producing Baltimore's other crime drama Homicide (1993-1999, NBC) which people "remember (it) fondly". I was told by my partner that the producer ought be given more slack. I don't know. Mr. Simon, previously a writter for the Baltimore Sun has his own ideas about the visual and dramatic portrayal of these worlds and he and co-worker Pelecanos waxes nostalgic about their ability to capture a visual history of Baltimore that's disappearing, bemoaning the yuppification of neighborhoods. I'm sorry but those shitty neighborhoods are hardly something to be grieving. Now, what happens to those displaced by such events - for example when a movie production company squats on land that isn't theirs in the first place and leaves it empty when they're gone, those are issues, things to ruminate on. (Hear the interview with Simon and Pelacanos on NPR's Fresh Air here: "'The Wire's' David Simon and George Pelecanos")
The Chicago Tribune says in its review: "And once you’ve seen the season’s closing image, you won’t be able to stop thinking about what it all means." Ooooooo! Gee! What does it all mean!!!! Here, let me sum it up for viewers:
It means we live in a privileged fucking society that is more interested in watching the 'reality' of the miserable moments of others' live - as long as they're held away, at arms length, or 'TV's length' if you wil, and they're not expected to do anything about it then they can indulge in others' misery and then go to work and talk about how 'fascinating' the writing is, what 'interesting' plot twists in that last episode. Try asking the Blockbuster clerk who was shot dead last week a block from my house how much 'depth of character' his assasins had, or how 'bleakly listful' they portrayed their own horrific lives before blowing him away.
Maybe Simon and others were finally successful...maybe it was so real people finally felt nauseous watching people kill, maim, screw and fuck each other over - because they know that's what O'Malley, his police department, Erhlich and so many others are doing. Betcha they never watched much in Baltimore - all we had to do was look out our window to see the 'real deal' - and save ourselves at least 78.95 a month from Comcast. Yeah, there's enough slack in The Wire - enough to hang one's self with. Good riddance.
4 comments:
So the logical conclusion of your screed is -- because The Wire cannot of itself solve the problems it depicts, it should endeavor to depict the problems. And we would all be better off if storytelling as a point of cultural connection limited itself to happy, bland or humorous models of entertainment, or perhaps only those narrative endeavors that come complete with singular, suggested solutions to complex societal problem.
Someone actually used television to foster a depiction of the actual problems confronting their actual community. And you have a problem. Why? Because the production itself is financed by the fees of those willing to consume it? How would you finance it? Do you think advertisers are going to line up to support a show that argues that capitalism, absent social policy, is disenfranchising millions of viewers? How would they sell cars and soap and IPods to viewers in between the depiction of the other America? What advertiser would want to attempt such? The Wire can only exist in a premium cable universe. It costs millions to film each season and pays for itself through the admission fees of those willing to view it. So fucking what?
And, by the way, it wasn't cancelled. It was given a fifth and final season -- all that its producers had asked for.
They will be on the air with that season in early 2008.
And you have a wonderful option when it airs. You can watch football, or Desperate Housewives, or maybe, devote your time to solving the world's problems that you so desperately want to have undepicted in a narrative form. Your self-righteous stance against the implications of such narrative are no doubt matched by your commitment to addressing the actuality of the problems themselves in some meaningful way.
Other than issuing screeds about narratives that you clearly have not absorbed in any detail whatsoever.
I stand corrected on the cancelation part, thanks. I also don't disagree with much of what you say - however I wasn't saying that television should be all syrupy sweet treacle either. I think you're perfectly right that it could never be made by anyone but some group like (as daring?) as HBO. My questioning of their motives lies more in whether they actually are fostering "a depiction of the actual problems confronting their actual community" because a) they're not of these communities necessarily now (I know they do 'good works' in them, that they are "of them" though) and that they're not doing so, I think with enough regard to the fact that others just consume it as entertainment - But I'll give you one then on that... as I write I see a certain absurdity in my statement and rather than delete it I'll "own". It doesn't make sense to say "You can't make that because someone might use it as less than art sometime", so I think we agree (after you pointed out my error of thought). As for paying for it - isn't it ironic still though, I contest your point, that the most peripheral becomes the most inaccessible? "So fucking what?" is a cop out. And for what it's worth I watched "The Corner" I was moved by it. I cried. I don't watch football (or NASCAR for that matter) or Desparate Housewives. Admittedly I'm a PBS whore, but proud of that. And I don't have cable. If I could afford to get it (maybe Mr. Simon would subsidize the hood I live in to get it installed?) I'd watch The Wire for a season. And Formula 1 racing. But in the meantime I'm working on and with my community organization to find the person who shot and killed my neighbor - what did you do today? Oh that's right ... watche The Wire....
I'm annoyed by how everyone has New York Bronx accents.
Other people's misery is not something anyone like sto think about. You kind of have to trick people into paying attention, then build empathy. At least someone after watching the show might think twice before having the tude that what happens to poor kids is their fault because they just need to work harder.
Escaping the ghetto can happen in extraordinary circumstances with exceptional people (who have support and help along the way), like Diddy, but for every Diddy there are a million who stay behind. perhaps the audience of the show might be more inclined to try to do something to help.
Thanks for your comments and they're well taken - I have to remember too that some people's lives continue to change - Diddy was remember first for his NY gun bizness and had been forgotten about his great mobilization of youth vote in 2002 business. Perhaps people will be motivated/encouraged to change the misfortunes of others by recognizing their comfy chair privileged place. Thanks for sharing.
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