Interesting. I ended up leaving all such HBO dramas because I became convinced of the opposite. They were all designed to scare bourgie people into believing that they were more enlightened about 'reality' and therefore would be more likely to understand and respect the complications of immoral life. The HBO formula: present a protagonist who is obviously a bad guy and show how hard he works to protect his own life and his family (or extended group of dysfunctional dependents) and you thereby show the good in bad people - you humanize by showing the integrity of a fundamentally corrupt enterprise.

Oz. Deadwood. The Sopranos. The Wire.

When they finally did this with Andre Braugher, one of my favorite actors I finally saw the pattern. 'Thief' was more of the same.

It occurs to me that in order to assemble such a gifted set of writers, actors and other film people to establish and maintain such an enterprise, there cannot be too many coincidences. And while I'm already hip to the conservative counter-narrative on Hollywood, I think most people can see the pattern once it has been pointed out. None of these dramatic series are documentaries, and yet they give license to present in a 'non-judgmental' way the most despicable acts and vituperative language ever on American television. Why push the envelope? What makes it not pornography? The answers to these questions will inevitably reveal a firmly held belief that America needs to see this kind of entertainment because it's more than just entertainment, it is moral and political.

Follow the money, follow the politics. They will not lead you back to conservatives or Republicans, but to the kind of folks (especially the writers) who think they are so smart that they could write policy. I wonder which candidate they're backing this season...

Usually I'm right with you, but this time you're way off the mark.  The Wire was about the institutions that make up American cities and how those institutions have failed and corrupted those that are a part of them and those that they allegedly serve.

The hip-hop gun porn line was great, but misused in this instance.  

I completely agree.  I watched it a few times and came to the same conclusion.  I've seen this before and before and before....  And I have to admit to a little bit of hypocracy, because when it came to the Soparanos, I couldn't get enough!  When it comes to another show about of the grit and grime that has become the popular portrayal of black america, I have had enough.  I won't watch any more of these shows or movies, not matter how wonderfully acted they are.

I ignored "The Wire" in part exactly why Cobb has abandoned HBO dramas also I am so tired of white writers invoking thier pathologies about Blacks folks and having Black actors execute thier bullshit..

I see the frustration, but seriously no one can get a drama on television that doesn't involve drugs and crime. That's what people, black and white, flock to. Bad people in bad circumstances, that's what gets good ratings.  

The wire is a television show, not a sociology paper, and for what it is it's a remarkably realistic nuanced and complex presentation of an ugly side of reality. It's not a pretty portrait, but it's a pretty accurate one. I thought the point of the show wasn't at all about black america being dangerous, but about the idea that ther aren't any good people - that everyone, regardless of race, is compromised, inherently flawed and hobbled by a screwed up society.

I'm not a bologger and usually do not comment on such articles but ENTERTAINMENT...that's all that it is.

I agree to a point. I think we do need a positive black drama, but I think the beauty of The Wire was the fact that it was so real. It didn't hold anything back -- on any front. You're a bit off here in thinking it was just about blacks, especially if you watched the final season.

Each season of The Wire showed things from a different perspective.

True Wire enthusiasts know this, and you can't come to that conclusion by viewing one season.

Had you watched the show, you'd see it from the following perspectives:

The cops, struggling to gain a foothold on their communities in an ever changing climate. Different political structures mean they have a different focus.

The drug dealers establishing their grip on the junkies. Supply and demand here. The show really tapped into just how smart the drug dealers were. These cats, as most blacks know, are smart enough to run a major company. The drug enterprise is big business and they learned how to navigate through torrid waters -- from using burners to avoid phone taps to running meetings using Robert's Rule of Order.

The port union, whose leader was greasing his own pockets, allowing the product to get into the country. Dude was really just trying to make a better way for his family, but so much more grew from this.

Politicians who can't seem to fly straight. You've got all types of "favors" going on here. Politics was clearly infested with corruption on every level of government. Promises are made and broken to get ahead. There's no color lines here; this is just how business is done -- politics is done.

The youth, who is led by those who have no business leading them. How do kids get caught up in "the Game?" Well, the show displays what happens. It follows them in their lives at home and in the schools. The Wire shows how the cycle begins, how it continues and the fact that it never ends.

Finally, you have reporters and cops trying to do more with less. You've got a loose cannon reporter trying to make a name for himself at any cost -- Jayson Blair or Stephen Glass. Then you've got a cop who is frustrated with the system for letting a criminal go, so he takes matters into his own hands. Both of those characters were white.

I'm sorry Jimi, you're way off here. I usually agree with what you're saying, but this one is completely off beat.

Much love!

The Wire was a good show that worked on a number of different levels.  Some times you're a little to cynical Jimi.  

"I agree to a point. I think we do need a positive black drama,"

Sure, but no matter what form it takes there will be some group out there complaining.  If it's a "black drama" that focuses on relatively well off, high-achieving family then it will be accused of being a fairy tale (think back to the criticisms leveled at the Cosby Show).  If you have a gritty drama about a working-class family, then you have the bougie folks whining that not all Black people are struggling and living in the 'hood.  

If you could have a dramatic show about Black people that was able to move past hackneyed stereotypes (like the Wire) then you might be able to make it work, but the real problem is that "Mr. Charlie" who gives the thumbs up or thumbs down in most instances on whether or not a show gets made or makes it on the air isn't trying to hear it.  

This is an instance where I think we need to take a more critical look at what BET is doing.  How come BET isn't producing original shows that fill this niche?  They have the resources to start commissioning shows instead of just showing Jeffersons re-runs.  There are talented Black writers, actors, directors, cinematographers, etc. that would love an opportunity to create something new, but BET continues to miss out on this wide open area.  Why?

jimi you are dead wrong.that is baltimore.the first season was based on the takedown of lilttle melvin williams true sh*t.there are allegations that the current gov of  maryland cooked baltimore crime stats to gain the gov of maryland slot.you saw that in sesason five of the wire.david simon and ed burns are plugged in deep in baltimore inner city life.why do you think the black folks in b-more did not raise hell over the wire.we know that show was right on the money.david simon follwed drug addicts around for a year in my old  west baltimore neighborhood and wrote the book 'the corner'.he followed baltimore 'homicide detectives around for a year and wrote the book "homicide" which we all know became a series.the charge of liberal white boy outsider does not apply to ed burns either retired baltimore p.d narcotics

Unfortunately, I live near Baltimore (I'm a NYC transplant and feel as if I've literally moved to hell). Jimi, you're right on about The Wire. It pisses me off that Simon and company have made a mighty mint pimping black misery in this tragic, shameful city. It is so ugly that this show encourages viewers to forget that the drug pushers, the pimps, the prostitutes, and the poor are human beings (although many black people here are so f**** in the head that they've become monsters)--and in the name of "entertainment" or "keeping it real." The inner-city here is so depraved by decades of drugs, poverty, and neglect that it would take complete resocialization to heal the majority of the families who live in the 'hood (and now the suburbs) here. It is really on the level of a crime against humanity. I understand that folks enjoy watching other folks suffer (it's as American as apple pie, I think), but Baltimore is, to quote John Waters, "a crying shame." To make matters worse, there are several very, very wealthy neighborhoods that are only blocks away from some of the most third-world neighborhoods I've ever seen in my life. Perhaps Baltimore is a model for things to come, especially if we as a people, and as human beings, continue to be complacent and to believe that "they" are not like "us."

Peace to all who invest in this communication!   I am just joining the community and wanted to say yo!  There are many things that I did appreciate about the Wire, however I would have liked to see more of the story lines around characters like Namon and other black people who were accessing opportunities to escape the trappings of the 'hood'.  Also, a more clearly defined role of the non-blacks involved in the drug game and other representations of what may deemed corrupt.  Overall, I enjoyed checking out the series and would like to see another season with these progressions.

While I disagree with those who've written this show off as hip hop gun porn, I think maybe the comparison to Birth of a Nation is somewhat applicable. Much of this show was about how black men in society are presented as toxic boogeymen by white power structures in order for white men to catapult themselves into more untouchable positions of power under the guise of protecting white America. But then again it wasn't, because The Wire also portrayed black people exploiting black drug dealers to catapult themselves into the same power positions, real or imagined.

Overall, this show was not a referendum on Black America, or even Black Baltimore. And I'm convinced that those who've dismissed it as a poor exhibit of such did not actually watch it -- or if they did, they only watched a few episodes. The show, in the most novel of ways, exhibited corruption and exploitation not just in the hood, but also in city hall, the police department, city labor, city schools and city newsrooms. No race had the upperhand in this.

Also, in no way could this be passed off as white liberal science fiction. The stories were compiled by journalists and writers who actually lived and reported in and from the grimiest of neighborhoods from Baltimore to New York City. It exposed the dirty sausage that goes on behind closed government doors, which leads to policies designed to keep crime perpetual from the gutter to the governor's mansion. Anyone trying to reduce this to a simple Boys N the Hood narrative completely missed the point -- or just missed the show, which is the more likely scenario.

Season Four, which displays in brilliant design how good kids are forced or molded into becoming the black boogeymen that "responsible tax-paying citizens" fear will probably go down as the most complete and grandest season of drama TV has ever offered.

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HBO is what it is. I loved Oz, The Sopranos, Sex in yhe City, Big Love, and now The Wire. I hear Jimi's frustration with the depiction of Black youth and the Black community, but there was a authentic sense of story telling in each series. As an activitist, journalist, and high school teacher I related to many characters in The Wire; just as I was able to relate to different characters in Sex in the City.

I would love to be able to see a positive Black show like the Cosby's on TV again. But even then some Blacks criticized the authenticity of the Huxtables. I know that there are not many shows on TV with a Black story line or characters, but there are some. And while this may seem like a conservative view, Blacks make up about 15% of the US population and so the networks will never make 20% of there show to focus on the Black audience.

Do television networks and the big screen need to show a variety of lifestyles and obstacles in Black America? Yes. But as a people we all have different lifestlyes and the reality is that many of our Black youth are fighting a battle against of drugs, gangs and violence.

A critique is fair of any show but what needs to happen is outrage that this is actually happening. Rather than acting Hollywood lets work together to set forth an public policy agenda that will make shows like The Wire fiction. If our youth see violence and negative images in their everyday lives it seems that seeing on TV is not the real problem.

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