We completely ignored this excellent series when it was new, and are just finishing up season four. This question may have been covered way back when, but was there any major blowback from Baltimore about Simons’ depiction of the city and its problems? I can’t imagine that there was zero outrage about this. Thanks.
The police weren’t happy - IIRC the commissioner made a public comment while the show was on, and Simon had a great rebuttal.
ETA: Found a link.
I like Baltimore, but yeah, IRL, there are parts of it that just make you go :eek:.
Do some people interpret the fact that Baltimore was depicted here to mean that comparable cities don’t have the same kinds of things going on?
When Police Commissioner Bealefeld said, “You know what Miami gets in their crime show? They get detectives that look like models, and they drive around in sports cars. And you know what New York gets? They get these incredibly tough prosecutors, competent cops that solve the most crazy, complicated cases,” I want to ask if he believes those stories about Miami and New York.
I want to know why he thinks Hummers are sports cars.
True of any city of size, of course, but the series was unrelenting in its depiction of only the worst aspects of Baltimore and in the indictment of its political, educational and social services scenes. But I guess that a series about the good parts of a city would make for boring television. I’m just wondering if Baltimore put up a vigorous defense or just put their heads down, mumbling and scuffling their feet.
Baltimore got Lester Freamon, Jimmy McNulty, The Bunk, Kima Greggs, Leandor Sydnor, Cedric Daniels, and Rhonda Pearlman.
The Wire portrayed plenty of good cops inside of a rotten institution.
I lived there for a good part of The Wire’s run and the reaction of the locals was sort of a combination of the two. They were complete homers about anything positive in the city (the crabs, the Inner Harbor, Camden Yard) and changed their Motto from “The City That Reads” to “The Greatest City in America.” At the same time they completely dismissed (to the point of simply not talking about it) all of the crime and violence.
I still think it’s a shame. It has the potential to be a great city, but really doesn’t seem to care.
He was thinking of Miami Vice. 
Not that Hummers are any more realistic.
For anybody interested in The Wire and wants more, I urge them to put The Corner into their Netflix queue ASAP. It’s kind of a test-run for The Wire, but this time only focusing on the addicts. A number of Wire favorites appear in The Corner, including “Lester Freeman” playing a long-time addict. My favorite line is when Gary is talking about his attempts to dry out, once moving to a small town in North Carolina. When asked why it didn’t work, he said:
“Fayetteville had a corner too.”
Which I’m sure it does.
Sure, but to be honest, they’ve got REAL problems there. I live in the DC metro, and have seen some pretty bad stuff, but Bawlmer is worse, IMHO. There are places where they will no shit kill your ass in a heartbeat and there’s no sunshine and rainbows, period. No officials can tell the truth and keep their jobs, which is of course, true of a lot of places, as well. It’s sad.
John Waters gives his take on it, saying that he thinks it one of the best shows “since Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” but the whole city isn’t like that. He later points out that people tend to make movies/shows about interesting stuff, not just nice stuff.
Right, of course. The Wire was never meant to be some kind of portrait of the whole city.
I don’t have Netflix, but have ordered it from Amazon.
You will not be disappointed, but be warned: it’s far bleaker than The Wire.
Finished watching season four this evening. Man, with Simon, it’s all about the story. He doesn’t care who he kills off or abuses as long as it’s true to the story line. Gotta respect that, yo.
Another thing to consider too is that the main creators and driving force behind the show, Ed Burns and David Simon, had lived and worked in the hardest parts of the city as a police officer/inner-city teacher and crime beat reporter respectively. So, that’s gonna color their view of things in the city and how they work a bit. Secondly, they were writing from and about their own experiences in Baltimore. Experiences that were pretty grim and tragic.
We just finished the final season. What a roller coaster. These guys really nailed it, for the most part, by which I mean writing, casting, editing and directing. I’m actually glad that we didn’t watch it when it was new, as being able to see 3-4 episodes in a row on several successive days kept the plot and characters fresh in our minds. Can’t wait for The Corner to arrive.
There was an article by Simon published in The Guardian a few years ago where he explained this. There is plenty of the city the makers ignored when telling these particular stories.
One of the great things about the show was that actions by the characters had consequences, though it might take a few seasons to see them.
A while ago someone posted a link to a blog where a TV critic rewatched the entire series and wrote really perceptive and interesting comments on it. This is a series I’m glad I watched on DVD not live, since there is so much stuff going on that you might miss if you had to wait weeks for the next episode.
BTW, I believe that in one of the special features it was mentioned that some of the cops were based on real people, and one of them had a minor role. He wasn’t believable playing himself. Best thing - hearing the true accents of some of the actors.