"The Wire": Cynicism at its worst

Hey folks

I wrote an essay last year about the show "The Wire" by HBO. I would love for you guys to check it out and let me know your opinions on the show. Thanks!

HBO's flagship series, "The Wire" has been touted (vehemently so, I might add) as one of the best TV shows of all time (Atlas, Dreier, 2008). TV pundits and enthusiastic bloggers alike have commended the show on its bold telling of a grand saga about the lives of over 65 characters (most of them African American) in the city of Baltimore. The show mainly centers around the tug-of-war between entrepreneurial drug dealers and inept law enforcement. The show, however, is extremely bleak and paints an intensely negative picture of law enforcement and their ability to stop (never mind, prevent) crime in a major American city. Its fervent cynicism is exceptionally crass in nature and its 5 season run is a dark statement: Life in the ghetto is a fight in the face of defeat and any attempts to circumvent or solve this painful dilemma is either futile or justly illogical. This comes to my main point - "The Wire", for all its unorthodox storylines and "portrayal" of minorities, is actually a fairly conventional TV show and like many "popular culture" entities, it glorifies violence, sex, drugs and also ridicules law enforcement by forcing them to skirt the law in order to "bag the bad guys" (Bianculli, 2008).

At the end of Season 5 (its final year), the show ended in the following state: A lethal, absolutely ruthless and violent drug lord is set free because the current city administration was facing an election and could not risk the possibility of a failed court trial. A lead detective fakes a serial killer in order to authorize wire taps so that a drug dealer could be caught red-handed. Life in the ghetto remained the same; drugs were still dealt to the same degree, citizens were still murdered (or as many of the show's characters say, "bodied") by the same weapons and children were still subject to the life of the drug dealer and the pursuit of happiness still remains largely elusive even to the commoner in the city of Baltimore. This intense cynicism is what the show is known for. Yet, for all its bleakness, the show offers no alternatives, nor any kind of reprieve for the average ghetto resident. Instead, the show entertains through illusion. Every season starts of with a dash of hope and peppered sentiment, but in the end, the incompetence of the various persons involved in law and order end up giving criminals countless chances to reign again and pursue their violent goals.

And violence is really the name of the game for the characters in the "The Wire". In Season 4, the same ruthless drug dealer, Marlo, hatches a plan to have the cops not notice all the murders his associates carry out. Their plan was to hide all the bodies into abandoned housing and board up the residency with "Animal Control" signs to ward off any wanderers. In that same season, Snoop, an associate of Marlo explains to two new associates the proper way to conduct a drive-by. "In B-more we just point and shoot." (Giltz, 2008). Snoop then proceeds to shoot a completely innocent man in the back of the head. The two associates then mouth out "ooo's" and "aaa's".

The violent encounters in the show are shown in such a context of indifference that after experiencing the show in its entirety, one cannot help but be desensitized. This effect is magnified when the show is viewed continuously (as can be done through the advent of DVD box sets).

One of the more memorable characters in the show is Omar. The shotgun-toting gay gangster makes his living by robbing drug dealers. The show paints him decidedly as a morally righteous man, not unlike that of Robin Hood (except Robin Hood didn't gratuitously kill people and generally didn't keep all the money to himself either). Omar justifies his ways because he is stealing from the "bad guys" and not dealing drugs or causing any undue harm. Yet, neither him nor the show's creative force realize that violent actions are the ones that cause the most ripples and this becomes blatantly true when an attack on Omar leaves a child shot dead and another associate killed by "friendly fire".

The violence reached new heights (not an admirable thing to say and I find no joy in writing it) in Season 5 when Marlo, who has it in for Omar, advocates the torture and subsequent death of Omar's mentor - a wise old man with a good heart who is also blind no less. The mentor was bound up, beaten upon and then shot limb by limb to inflict maximum pain. This, of course, entices Omar to come out of hiding and the violent cycle starts all over again. Even though Omar was the TV show's knight in shining body armour, the violence he helped create eventually led him to his own abrupt end - shot in the head in a Korean convenience store by a child no older than 10.

Nevertheless, life in ghetto is not without other vices. Sex is a natural occurrence in any setting, but in the ghetto, sex is not as black and white (or more appropriately, male and female). The show features several gay characters. Three of them are part of the main cast. Snoop, Marlo's associate is played by a former real-life lesbian drug dealer. And Omar, our vengeful gay gangster. Interesting it was Michael Williams, the actor how plays Omar, who discovered Snoop in a club and introduced her to the show's creators (Snoop is named after her own alias, "Snoop"). The third gay character is also a lesbian - Detective Kima Greggs who acts just like one of the guys and comes home to the same generic portrayal of a screwed home life that is popularly associated with heterosexuals in pop culture media.

When it comes to the actual physical nature of sex, "The Wire" is no different than any other show on TV (much less, cable). Misogyny is so pervasive in the show that is might as will be a whole character. Sexual acts are heavily favoured towards male fantasies and disturbingly, sex is also drawn for the male gaze as even the lesbian sex is portrayed as subtle voyeurism for an excited male audience.

In one instance, Marlo takes the opportunity to have sex with a girl who comes on to him in the club. The physical act was stopped only when Marlo himself was satisfied, leaving the girl wholly on the opposite end of that scale. When she says sarcastically, "That was nice." He replies, "Worked for me". He then discards the condom and leaves the vehicle.

Drugs is an obvious part of the show and is inherently, the silent aficionado in the grand scheme of things. I do not wish to go on a diatribe on the matter of its moral uses. What I do want to focus on is the fact that dealing drugs represents a choice. Now, the media has made it very clear that minorities, especially in the ghetto are seemingly without choices. Nevertheless, the show explicitly features various non-profit organizations that are non-corrupt and truly do want to help the denizens of the city. And yet, these avenues of hope are totally dismissed by the residents and are cast off as a futile attempt for a "way out". One such instance is when a teacher tries to explain to a student (who operates as a runner for dealers after school) all the choices made available to him. These include a GED program offered by the church, a boxing training centre (operated by a man who gave up the "game" and successfully lives a legitimate life) and a part-time job at Footlocker.

And yet, all these choices are "no good" for any of the characters. It is almost like the show has painted them as horses with side blinders attached to their heads. And that's the problem - for all its complex and attention to detail, all the characters in the show are actually very stripped down and are portrayed narrowly.

This bring me to my last point - the seemingly arduous task of cleaning up the streets by law enforcement. Detectives and lawyers alike have to find ways that skirt the law (and in same cases, break it) in order to catch the bad guys. Case in point - in season 5, one of the main characters, Detective McNulty comes up with a plan to authorize wire taps in order to catch Marlo. He manufactures a serial killer who preys on the homeless and makes the case public, prompting politicians to devote all the resources to the said detective. McNulty then uses these resources towards the Marlo case. The illegality of the manner in which Marlo was arrested contributed to his release and in the end, the whole facade was again a futile attempt by law enforcement.

One of the more extreme instances was in Season 3. A police chief designates an abandoned area as a place where all drug dealers can freely conduct their business. The place is patrolled by police around its perimeter who make sure that drugs aren't being dealt outside the vicinity. By doing this, the chief has essentially legalized drugs. The end result is that the violence and drugs that once pervaded the main streets of the ghetto is emptied and a significant drop in crime is registered. This tactic is, of course, totally absurd. By doing this, the chief has not improved anything, but has just conformed the drug trade to tailor his needs - to show a drop in crime in order improve his stance with his superiors.

"The Wire" is perfectly entertaining to the layman television viewer. Its gratuitous showcase of violence, sex, drugs and its cartoony and negative portrayal of law enforcement is unfortunately, very popular with viewers. Yet, the show's creator, David Simon designed the show in order to motivate politicians and citizens alike to try to instil change in the system and improve the situation in ghettos across America. Nevertheless, this seemingly noble action is in itself ineffective as the show offers no alternatives and it in fact, paints a picture that can only be described in this manner - this is the ghetto and this is the way it is, leave it be or be destroyed.