The Wire: An Unrelenting Strive for Realism
“It’s all in the game ”
I used to not know the answer when asked what my favorite show was until I watched HBO’s The Wire. What was pitched to HBO as a regular cop show turned into something much more complex and much more interesting. Yes, The war on drugs and wiretap investigations are essential to the plot of the show, but it extends so much beyond them. The wire seeks to present things as they are - in real life. It is an examination of different facets that encompass the city of Baltimore; from the police, newspapers, and politicians to unions, dock workers and the educational system. Each examined and dissected carefully through the stories of the individuals involved in them.
The wire’s writing team came from different backgrounds, some were novelists others were journalists and cops…etc. They took it upon themselves to treat the characters necessary to tell this complex story as humans; multilayered individuals that aren’t completely good or bad. There is almost no stereotypical villain in the show but rather people making decisions in the persuitsuit of whatever benefits them. This leads to either them achieving their goals or meeting demise no matter how deserving they are of their faith. David simon hates the concept of good or bad, because that concept isn’t really applicable to life. People make good decisions and bad ones, and they have to live with the consequences, that’s just how it is . Instead the show’s focus is on following the behaviour of these characters, their experiences day to day through complex arcs, that sometimes cross numerous seasons, which results in moments of true brilliance for us the viewers.
“a life jimmy, you know what that is? it’s the shit that happens while you wait for moments that never come ”
The show takes the oldest writing rule in history and pushes it to an extreme. “Show, don’t tell” is an essential element that gives the wire its sense of complexity. The show highlights the mundane moments, that other police oriented shows often skip over. These are a pillar to the nuances that David Simon and Ed Burns try to explore. Often, the moments of beauty in the wire come from characters sitting around and having conversations or just running into each other without saying a word. But the one thing in common between all its moments of brilliance is that they all connect worlds within that are seemingly quite far from each other. The wire follows the ramifications of decisions made from towers way above on the regular citizen. It creates parallels between institutions like the police who have rules and break them to reach their ends, the politicians who take dirty campaign money and drug dealers who religiously follow the rules they have set for themselves. Parallels between older characters and younger ones that may explain how people end up where they are, events that inform their mannerisms and defense mechanisms. It exposes how the post modern equivalent of bourgeoisie operates with no regard to the regular guy. It strives to show you that no matter what you think your day is going to look like in the morning, things beyond yourself are going affect it and your path might be steered towards things you could not have imagined -or at least we couldn’t as viewers.
“All The pieces matter”
The wire uses realism as its narrative conduit, intense research is done before embarking on a new script, and new writers that are familiar with the subject matter are brought in to make sure things are told as they are. Everyone involved in the project comes together to ensure that they are as close to authenticity as possible. Scenes that are scripted on a specific street and shot on that exact street; music more often than not comes from within the world, and actual Baltimore residents fill the scenes as extras and sometimes take on more important roles like Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and Joseph “Proposition Joe” Stewart. These residents turned actors portrayed roles that are now revered by The Wire’s cult like fanbase. Andre Royo, the actor who played drug addict “Bubbles” on the show, was once chased down by set security and handed actual Heroin by a drug addict saying Royo looked like he needed it more than him. Royo calls it his “Street Oscar”.
“We used to make shit in this country, build shit. Now we just our hand in the next guy’s pocket”
Granted the show is brilliant, but I’ve always asked myself why someone who grew up halfway around the world and cannot be further in every way from the things depicted in the show fall in love with it as much. At first, I thought it was just my infatuation with American culture but it extends to more than that. I think it has something to do with the fact that we all live some semblance of the varied subject matter that wire covers. I found myself saying I wish we had a Wire where I come from. Something that took the time and energy to break down a complex matrix of structures and explain just how intertwined everyone is, in dictating the direction in which things move. And i’m not talking about just the governmental institutions but non governmental ones with vested interests that they need to protect as well. It also doesn’t hurt that it uses narrative structures and characters that feel like they belong more to a greek tragedy than a traditional tv production. Characters that the more you watch the more you fell in love with no matter their occupations or intentions. Story arcs span several seasons and are developed with poise and attention to detail. As you rewatch, you realise that new additions to the cast aren’t really new because you can spot them several seasons before just walking around; this helps with the world building that Simon and Burns worked so diligently to develop.
“It’s Baltimore gentlemen, The gods will not save you ”