What Do Real Thugs Think of The Wire?[1]
The Thugs were bored. Episode 7 [Season 5] failed to move them.
“Too slow,” griped Shine
“They’re making us wait,” said Orlando.
“See, that’s when this stuff gets unreal.
…
At the beginning of each episode of The Wire, we are presented with a quotation, a statement which will be made by one of the characters at some point in the episode. Detached from its context, these quotations seem to offer some philosophical insight into the show, its story and characters.
Notes towards placing The Wire’s depiction of African-Americans in the context of American TV crime drama
Critics have justifiably praised The Wire for its rounded African-American characters, and the risks it took in foregrounding ‘black Baltimore’ – risks that have…
In America, Baudrillard famously states:
The American City seems to have stepped right out of the movies…To grasp its secret, you should not, then, begin with the city and move inwards towards the screen; you should begin with the screen
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“I’m a sworn fucking police officer” – Herc
Detective (later Sergeant) Thomas “Herc” Hauk (portrayed by actor Dominick Lombardozzi) is, perversely, the greatest criminal investigator in David Simon’s Baltimore. Despite his ostensible function as comic relief in The Wire,…
In an effort to produce original programming that viewers are willing to pay for, the pay-cable channel HBO has successfully defined its output in opposition to network television. This approach is perhaps most apparent in The Wire (2002-2008), a drama…
The Wire has been lauded for its uncompromising look at the failure of institutions in contemporary Baltimore. The city of Baltimore functions as a microcosm of the larger problems effecting contemporary U.S. urban life. Each season the writers tackle diverse…
