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MISSING THE WIRE
Reviewer: Joe Taylor
Dialogue:
Proposition Joe: I heard your end would be covering my fee.
Stringer Bell: Your fee?
Proposition Joe: Yeah, I'm like a marriage counselor. Tell the man he oughta bring the b--ch some flowers every once in a while. Tell the b--ch she gotta suck some c--k every once in a while. That sort of s--t.
[Omar arrives]
Proposition Joe: Speaking of c--ks--kers...
[to Omar]
Proposition Joe: I'm Proposition Joe. You f--k with me, I'll kill your whole family.
Review:
The Wire is over. This is like a death. I've been watching it for five seasons and last Sunday night was the last episode. The morning after, I was in mourning because some of my all-time favorite characters were gone.
The Wire was a show on HBO that told the story of big city life that we don't have a clue about-inner city blacks(show takes place mostly in Western Baltimore) and corruption in politics at the street level, etc.
The cast was comprised mostly of African Americans. I learned lots and was able to ask a couple of people who know, "Is this really the way it is out there?" Answer. Yes.
Each of the five seasons focused on various institutions: schools, politics, labor, the press: Wow. I don't want to tell more than you care to know and make it a penguin story: (this little girl received a book from her grandmother about penguins and her mother kept hassling her to write her grandma a "thank you" note, Dear Grandma, thank you for my book on penguins, but it told me more about penguins than I care to know." Someone like me can often turn something into a penguin story quickly. )
The creator of The Wire, David Simon and his writing partner, a retired Baltimore policeman seem to really "get it." Simon didn't have the ending all wrapped up, but pretty much left the culture in place: the drug dealing and the corrupt or self-serving politicos. The ending was somewhat implied, much like Lonesome Dove, if you are a fan- portraits of those making it and others not.
One of my heroes in the beginning ended up like all politicians, disappointing. Politics came before everything. Carcetti, the Mayor, is not interested in a better Baltimore, only one that looks better. Carcetti and Gavin Newsom mayor of San Francisco, remind me of each other. Instead of out getting "pot holes" fixed, they are trying to get to the Governor's Mansion.
Get this: Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama's favorite character (Wire is also Barack's favorite show) is Omar Little
Omar Little is a gay gangster who only robs (and sometimes kills) drug dealers and gives back- has Robin Hood aspect which intriguires Obama.
The protagonists, if there are any,are
Police Officer McNulty, and Detective Lester Freamon, a mentor to McNulty. Both McNulty and Freamon opt for justice over truth- only
some of this happened.
Most of the characters are appealing and all of them stick in your memory. If your ears are virgin or prone to sensibilities involving language, The Wire is rife with the F, MF, and the N words. Be warned.
http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/characters/lester_freamon.shtml
The Wire, however, should become an American institution in terms of knowledge itself. And, I think that the best way to watch it, although I didn't but a friend suggested this: rent a whole season and watch. OD on The Wire.
I think that the best way to watch it, although I didn't but a friend suggested this: rent a whole season and watch. OD on The Wire. The Wire, DVD
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