If you’re not watching ‘The Wire‘ or not renting or buying ‘The Wire’ (if you don’t HBO), you are missing the great Charles Dickens novel of the 20th and 21st centuries (without all the boring parts). You are missing the avenging angel aka Omar, who just might be the most interesting character in television history.
Years and years from now, when historians reflect on the decay that this nation has either fallen prey to or magically overcome, they will be watching ‘The Wire’ to understand how we failed our children, our cities, our political ideals and our national soul. And, oh yeah, they’ll also be watching because it’s damn good television.
Martin Luther King once told us that America has ‘given the Negro people a bad check.a check that had come back marked with ‘insufficient funds’. Years later when we have papered over many sins, and have actually healed others, we still are searching for the mountain-top.
I laud the people who still care enough to show us the truth, and a man, although imperfect, who spoke the truth with fierce and undeterred love.
The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers.
Martin Luther King Jr., ‘Strength to Love,’ 1963
6 Comments
January 21, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I couldn’t agree more. The Wire may be the best show ever produced. I wrote a post about it a while back while I was waiting for season five to start.
It’s real literature. I think one of the reasons it isn’t more popular is that it is challenging to watch, just like a truly good book is challenging to read.
The Missus and I watch the new episode every Monday, and we’re usually still discussing it on Thursday or Friday. It may be the only television show I’ll ever actually FORCE my children to watch (when they’re old enough).
January 21, 2008 at 5:15 pm
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January 21, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Sold. I need to go get this. Thanks for the write up.
February 2, 2008 at 9:53 am
[...] Negro people a bad check.a check that had come back marked with ‘insufficient funds’. … credit : [...]
February 16, 2008 at 2:07 am
I haven’t caught up on the most current season of “The Wire”, but I have seen the first few episodes, and they’ve been great. I love the show, especially when they focus on the inner city of Baltimore and the struggles of everyday life for the residents there. I wish more people would really think long and hard about what it really means that people really live like this in 2008! What scares me is that this isn’t a life that much different than the one I knew almost 20 years ago. I love the show because it serves to at least spark a dialogue among some people, and I hope that one day those people will help change things for the better.
February 20, 2008 at 3:34 pm
After reading this article,I want to go out to see the movie with my boy firend.
Goodbye and Good Luck.
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