The Wire: Greatest Show Ever Made

Tuco_sl said:

agree 100%. I don't know a single person who thinks drug dealers were all unintelligent gangbangers. I think most white Americans think that the powerful drug dealers use unintelligent gangbangers to move, protect and sell their product. Which I believe to be true.

Click to expand...

I admit that I heard far less of this when I moved "north" (Indiana lol) then when I lived in Texas. Liberal areas in general tended to be more enlightened on the subject but you get a standard Texas townhall group together and ask them what they think and it was an eye-opening experience of ignorance and racism. But it could have been a fluke that I never attempted to replicate. I certainly don't believe all white people think the same.

More then half of the group we talked to thought their were more black people in jail in America then all other races in America combined. And I don't mean by percentage.

mkopec_sl said:

This reminds me, one lunch we were all discussing shows, HBO, GoT, Band of Brothers etc... So we got on the subject of good HBO shows and im like "Hey dudes, you should watch The Wire, its like one of the best HBO shows ever made." They all look at me like "WTF?" look away and ignore me.

Their loss.

Click to expand...

Top 3 "The Wire is shit" opinions :

1. It's 4/3 lo-def, cba watching that.
2. Pilot was boring, it's just a cop show.
3. Breaking Bad subreddit.

Bondurant_sl said:

Top 3 "The Wire is shit" opinions :

1. It's 4/3 lo-def, cba watching that.

Click to expand...

This is the one I hear when trying to get people into the show, fuck em!

Much easier to watch this now that it's on Amazon Prime video. Just got a new Ps3, and downloaded the Amazon app, and now it's good to go, along with all the other shows they added on there.

Tuco_sl said:

Uhh, unless I misunderstand your statement that is pretty close to being true.
Statistics on Prison Population Rates | P.a.p.-Blog // Human Rights Etc.
U.S. inmates by race:

Click to expand...

This was in 1998 and the numbers were closer to being equal (by total # of prisoners) which was still unequal (ratio of incarceration by population). The rates have and will continue to grow worse over time since our prison + societal system is designed to encourage the breeding of more prisoners from past prisoners.

reavor_sl said:

All we got was the scene towards the end when pearlman rubs that smugness right off him. He bounces right back but one has to savour whatever one gets i suppose.

Click to expand...

What's fun to see there is that while he first seems genuinely scared about prison, he pretty much knows it's basically (not a US Law expert there) entrapment with many shady case loopholes, and at the end IMO he's concerned because he'll have to sell Marlo the idea to let go his soldiers to walk free. To me he's more concerned about Marlo's response to that deal than being prosecuted on his own. Since he's somewhat connected to "The Greeks", he's full aware that a Stanfield's death is less painful than the top fishs'.

I'm binge watching The Shield and I swear this show hides Wire references everywhere. This week it was colored caps on crack vials with different product names. The two shows ran at the same time so it seems likely enough. The Wire feels like a documentary and The Shield is over the top implausible but both are enjoyable as hell for it.

McNulty would HATE Wagenbaugh....

Kreugen_sl said:

I'm binge watching The Shield and I swear this show hides Wire references everywhere. This week it was colored caps on crack vials with different product names. The two shows ran at the same time so it seems likely enough.

McNulty would HATE Wagenbaugh....

Click to expand...

That's not a nod to the wire... that's actual marketing. Crack fiends are not smart.

edit: names too - drug dealers make them up on the spot based on what it visually looks like. Source: "a friend"

Ah true enough. I guess it just made me think of the Wire.

Kreugen_sl said:

I'm binge watching The Shield and I swear this show hides Wire references everywhere.

Click to expand...

Fun fact : while The Wire never got lawsuit threats from Baltimore PD, The Shield got threats since s1 and that's why they changed badges (LAPD modified) and names (Farmington Police).

>This video essay explores the style in the television series The Wire.

>2011

The Wire had style : it's minimal 4/3 fullscene / shoulder /P-To-P/ steadycam. That's all about what it is. Simon didn't try to be the new Michael Mann, he just filmed cheap and didn't care about going full George Lucas over it (tho he DV'd some Treme scenes). It's 2014 and you can't handle 4/3 480p ? It's fine and if you don't have a kickass home cinema setup with nice upscaler, I get you. The Sopranos is getting a BluRay release and most post 2000 TV shows are getting their own glorified box releases.

From my point of view The Wire is a hard sell : it's most of the time VHS quality with 4/3 matchup, pilot is mostly hurrdurr that east coast cop show and doesn't really turn anyone around, s2 is nightmare-hardcore tv show, it's about derelict dock workers scraping stuff over some golden era. Most of my friends couldn't handle it, the whole Frank Sobotka drama tore them down, it's just too sad, hopeless and dramatic. The Wire S2 to me is all about that crushed American Dream when immigrants went to America for the whole "New World" experience. What did they get ? The same ole shit, just more institutionalized. If you've watched s2, it's all about money and life. Sometimes you get some, but you'll never get them both. You either have a live with no money, or money without life. It's utterly sad and depressing. It's so sad they'd elect some dead guy, which is as crooked as anyone, only he's one of their own.

What Frank Sobotka said at some point is a harsh-but-true reality : "You know what the trouble is, Brucey? We used to make shit in this country, build shit. Now we just put our hand in the next guy's pocket." It's beyond squared corruption. It's all about values. McNulty, as twisted as he was, had values. He's that sociopath white knight born on a crooked land."Justice is twisted ?. I'd better twist it my way then." To me The Wire is optimistic because it didn't bring a message of hope, it brought a harsh, cold noir inventory on how things are fucked up. Did they bring a solution, you might say ? Well, The Wire isn't about solution, it's all about showing you the problem and stating issues. It's not anymore about criminals, felons and misfits. It's about society. It's about living together. It's about living in the same world than people killing for turf, power or respect. On every scale.

It's Marlo saying saying to the working black store cop trying to not be another dead weight on society "You want it to be one way, but it's the other."