http://www.lies.com/wp/2005/09/04/drowning-new-orleans-in-grover-norquists-bathtub/ believe nothing... Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:37:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 http://www.lies.com/wp/2005/09/04/drowning-new-orleans-in-grover-norquists-bathtub/#comment-75365 racismreview.com » Blog Archive » Sociologists Critique “The Wire” Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:50:08 +0000 http://www.lies.com/wp/2005/09/04/drowning-new-orleans-in-grover-norquists-bathtub/#comment-75365 [...] In the world created by Simon for The Wire there are very few, if any, of these sorts of supportive family networks.    For all this talk of grim reality, it may be difficult to understand why you’d choose to watch The Wire as a form of entertainment, but it is, as Cook notes, “an absolute joy to watch.”  The writing is several leagues above anything else on television, or in the theaters for that matter; the acting is superb; and the visual imagery is compelling without straining to be overly “artistic.”    Cook ends with a nod toward the dignity, even nobility, inherent in the struggle featured in the show, and again, I agree with his analysis here.  There is something ennobling about the kinds of valiant struggles these characters engage in. Yet, for me, the piece that’s missing both from The Wire and from Cook’s analysis is the complicity, and sometimes quite overt racism, of whites (and a handful of elite blacks, like the character of Senator Clive Davis) who have created and benefit from the policies that have decimated urban centers.   For example, while there are passing references to state-level politics and even a passing reference to an ill-willed (supposedly white) Republican governor, there’s never any exploration of the connection between the racism inherent in much of the “war on drugs” and the kind of devastation of inner-city Baltimore.  Where is the white counterpart to the Senator Clive Davis character? Where, for instance, is the Grover Norquist or the Karl Rove or even, the Nelson Rockefeller? Within the context of The Wire, the “war on drugs” simply exists a priori and the show explores the consequences of such a policy on many of the residents of Baltimore.     That said, it’s a mighty fine exploration and certainly worth watching. [...] [...] In the world created by Simon for The Wire there are very few, if any, of these sorts of supportive family networks.    For all this talk of grim reality, it may be difficult to understand why you’d choose to watch The Wire as a form of entertainment, but it is, as Cook notes, “an absolute joy to watch.”  The writing is several leagues above anything else on television, or in the theaters for that matter; the acting is superb; and the visual imagery is compelling without straining to be overly “artistic.”    Cook ends with a nod toward the dignity, even nobility, inherent in the struggle featured in the show, and again, I agree with his analysis here.  There is something ennobling about the kinds of valiant struggles these characters engage in. Yet, for me, the piece that’s missing both from The Wire and from Cook’s analysis is the complicity, and sometimes quite overt racism, of whites (and a handful of elite blacks, like the character of Senator Clive Davis) who have created and benefit from the policies that have decimated urban centers.   For example, while there are passing references to state-level politics and even a passing reference to an ill-willed (supposedly white) Republican governor, there’s never any exploration of the connection between the racism inherent in much of the “war on drugs” and the kind of devastation of inner-city Baltimore.  Where is the white counterpart to the Senator Clive Davis character? Where, for instance, is the Grover Norquist or the Karl Rove or even, the Nelson Rockefeller? Within the context of The Wire, the “war on drugs” simply exists a priori and the show explores the consequences of such a policy on many of the residents of Baltimore.     That said, it’s a mighty fine exploration and certainly worth watching. [...]

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