All this news about Elliot Spitzer's prostitution bust has got me thinking about The Wire. And I know I'm not the only one. All this talk of federal indictments and wiretap's sounds eerily familiar to the hit HBO series. It got me thinking about who Spitzer didn't pay off to let this story leak.
But on a slightly more obsessive note: I've watched four seasons of The Wire in less than three weeks. Guess I'm as close to white as they come, 'cause I even threw down on two DVD box sets. And shit, I'll admit that I love the show. It's got all the elements of crime, sex and deceit that Law & Order is sorely lacking. I'd been holding out for two reasons: 1) I don't get HBO, and 2) everyone was in love with it. Yet despite how much I love it, I've got to admit that it's fucked up. For one, its portrayls of low and no income Black folks are just shady. Damn near every child in a Baltimore middle school is on the verge of selling crack? Come one, now. The show itself has done nothing for Black folks, really, except justify the Black market economy. I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, but I've encountered tons of folks who love the The Wire because it's so "real". Probably the only real thing about it is that it's one of the few shows that points the finger at people in power.
2 comments:
Actually several of the issues/circumstances discussed on the wire are based on actual instances that occurred in Baltimore.
I live in Baltimore City. I've worked in Baltimore County schools that are close enough to the city line that most of the kids are city residents whose parents desperately want them NOT to go to city schools.
I'd say season 4's depiction of Baltimore schools is pretty accurate.
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