Why Are You Still Reading This??

McNulty: I got to ask you. If every time Snotboogie would grab the money and run away, why'd you even let him in the game?
Witness: You got to, this is America man.


I ask you again: why are you still reading this blog, when you could be watching the wire right now?? That 200 bucks you have set aside for....for "rent"? "F-o-o-o-o-o-d"? Petty obstacles blocking you from your true purpose. Plunk that money down on the wire seasons 1-4 DVD set and sign away the next week of your life. I could sit here all day and talk to you about the wire and I would not even be close to overhyping it.

Of course, there are some who might read this who have watched it or are currently on the path...I congratulate them. But what about the rest of you!?

"Oh I'll get to that eventually, I've heard it's good and all I just haven't found the time."

Certainly this quote applies to a great many quality things out there----Studio Ghibli films (more on that in a later post), the Dark Side of the Moon album, reading Catch-22, 3am visits to Waffle House----certainly these are great things that may end up getting pushed out of the way by the natural disorder and chaos of life. But The Wire deserves all expenditure of your time, and wallet!

"Get to the point, asshole!"

Alrightalrightalright, relax. Let me tell you about the Wire. It's hands down the most realistic, cynical, genuine show there is concerning crime. Most network crime shows--even the 'best' of the bunch like L&O or NYPD Blue--are mainly concerned with moralistic cops and robbers tales. Each episode is about unraveling the crime at hand, and the resolution is either "We Got 'Em!" or "damn, he got away.....this time!" But the problem with those shows is that they don't question the elements of criminality at all. Sure they show worlds we don't get to see every day, but in the end it's just escapist entertainment.

The Wire, by showing us a complete criminal world from the corner boys to City Hall, gives us a full picture for how crime is addressed in modern America. The police force is driven more by politics and self-aggrandizement then any crime-prevention ideal....the drug world is filled more with innocent, no-way-out outcasts than it is with sadistic criminals. Ultimately, the people are at the mercy of the broader institutions of life, whose authority no one can fight back against, if they're even smart enough to question.

But getting away from metaphysical mumbo-jumbo, the acting and writing are all flawless. Seasoned actors mix with the everyday citizens of Baltimore who often fill in the numerous roles--and only screentime, not ability, tells you who is supposed to be the "pro" actor. The writing is impeccable, wrought from the extensive experience of the creator and head producer, David Simon and Ed Burns (no, not that Ed Burns), who have at least 40 years, I believe, of combined Baltimore experience.


Of course if you want to see better written reviews of the show, there are countless articles from esquire, or the new yorker, or the atlantic (which I linked to in an earlier post), or AV Club, all available on the Internet. If you haven't read those, then they will be far more informative. I only hope that anyone who reads this will be driven to pursue the show and/or those articles with a mad fervor.

The best I can do, is not to analyze the show, but to yell from the highest mountains and the deepest seas: drop what you're doing, whatever it is, right now, and start watching the Wire. Now.

If you don't know who this is, you have a lot of catching up to do.