The Wire

Growing up I was a big fan of hip hop culture. In my defense I never actually thought or pretended I was from the ghetto. Nope. I was quite content to embrace my gangly, white nerdiness throughout high school. I just liked listening to some of the music and watching some movies.

Ten years on and it's obvious that the movies had a huge impact. Boyz in the Hood and Menace II Society still make it onto any of my top ten lists. I'm a huge fan of early Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X and Clockers to name a few), and I'm embarassed to say that one of my guilty pleasures are modern blaxploitation movies (The Best man, The Brothers...I know they're not really blaxsploitation, but that's what I call 'em).

Over the last couple of years I'd been hearing a lot of good things about an HBO show called The Wire. Ostensibly it's a cop show set in Baltimore's crumbling innercity. It's a world of tough cops, ruthless dealers and the ugly reality of life in the innercity.

At least that's what I thought.

Trying to compare The Wire to any urban hood show that's gone before is like comparing a Monet to a school kid's scribble.

This. Show. Is. Fabulous.

It goes far beyond any cop show that's come before. In fact just calling it a cop show seems wrong. This is a show about a real place, about real people. Everything and everyone is drawn in such detail, with such loving attention, that it feels like you can reach through your TV screen and actually touch them.

The tragedy of their situation is overwhelming. This is a city, and a people, on the verge of collapse. It's their inherent nobility that keeps them coming back, forces them to continue to do their best in a bad situation. And the nobility isn't limited to the "good guys."

Some of the most memorable (and dare I say likeable?) characters in The Wire are its "villains." Barksdale. Stringer Bell. Omar. Bubbles. These are some of the most flawed, most interesting people I've ever seen on screen. And I am absolutely riveted by them.

I cannot say enough about this series. Anyone who's interested in great television (or just great storytelling) needs to pick it up. I cannot recommend The Wire highly enough. You will not be disappointed.