The Wire is over - discussion, spoilers inside

[shakahislop]

Some of the people involved were genuinely dealers/police but I know what you mean, although it's difficult to tell how much is coming from the show and how much is coming from awareness of its critical reception. It's established as this cultural landmark nowadays, with a set of opinions and responses you're supposed to have when you watch it, and that kind of thing immediately puts some people's backs up.

yeah. i think probably when you make something like this power is distributed among i) all sorts of people who are involved in making it, you know, the cast, the producers, the writers, the lads in suits who get the money together etc etc and ii) the audience, what they want, their responses, what they say in focus groups, what they write on the internet, what someone at the nyt writes that gets stuck in the head of a cast member or a writer, what someone says to david simon at a party etc etc etc. overall when i watched it back it looked like the people who were in control weren't the people that you're mentioning.

i think the first time round i mistook the 'novelistic' 'world-building' and the structural critique for accuracy

 

[shakahislop]

don't want to detract too much from its strong points

 

[shakahislop]

oh fucking omar, jesus, that one hit me over the head the second time i watched it, fuck me. that was an audiance fantasy