HBO’s “The Wire” gets praise from free-marketers, anti-capitalists and a mainstream Democrat

HBO’s “The Wire” has been praised by such politically divergent groups as Libertarians, Socialists and even mainstream Democratic candidate Barack Obama.

 In a Jan. 18 post on SocialstWorker.org, Leela Yellesetty recommends The Wire to her readers, calling the show a “brilliant drama” that “movingly makes the case for the people of Baltimore.”

In the Oct. 2004 issue of Reason magazine, the publication for hard-core Libertarians, Jesse Walker compared the show to one of Shakespeare’s history plays that “looks without flinching at the bankruptcy of the drug war, the intersection between crime and politics and the day to day deprivations of inner-city poverty.” 

In an interview Patrick Coolican that appeared in the Las Vegas Sun Jan. 14, Obama volunteered that his favorite character is stick-up artist Omar. “He’s not my favorite character, but he’s a fascinating character,” Obama said.

So how is it that people from free-market Libertarians to anti-capitalist Socialist to mainstream Democrats can disagree on so much, but all find common ground with The Wire?

For Libertarians, The Wire offers, perhaps, one of the most compelling arguments ever seen on television for the decriminalization of drugs. Libertarians favor ending prohibition on drugs and argue that “nearly one-half of all police resources are devoted to stopping drug trafficking instead of preventing violent crime.”

Though I don’t know if Simon is a Libertarian, his views on the drug war are well known. In a 2003 interview with Bret McCabe of the City Paper, Simon called Season 1 “a very dry, unimpassioned, but definitive argument against the drug war, and against everything that the drug war represents.

In Season 3, Howard “Bunny” Colvin is frustrated with the war on drugs and launches a decriminalization experiment in three zones in his district, areas that become known as Hampsterdam. Violent crime is reduced in the rest of his district so much that his bosses wonder if he’s cooking the stats. Libertarians must have been thrilled to see one of their major points about the drug war dramatized in a television show.

 

Howard “Bunny” Colvin, played by Robert Wisdom, created a Libertarian utopia in Season 3 

Libertarians might see Season 4 as an endorsement of their argument to “break up the public education monopoly.” In the fictional Mildred Monroe Middle School, teachers are portrayed as mere functionaries whose sole purpose is to train students to get passing grades on standardized tests. Students Namond Brice, Michael Lee, Randy Wagstaff, Duquan “Dukie” Weems attend a dysfunctional and violent school where very little, if any, learning transpires. Libertarians argue that “poor families are trapped — forced to send their children to a public school system that fails to educate.”

At the other end of the political spectrum, Socialists can also find support for their anti-capitalist rhetoric in The Wire, especially in Season 2, which unfolds in the once-thriving ports of Baltimore. While plotline centers around an effort to solve the murders of Russian women found in a container, the theme of the season is how capitalism is indifferent to working people. Or as Simon said in the McCabe interview, “if there’s anything polemical about this second season, it’s an argument about what happened in this country when we stopped making shit and building shit, what happened to all the people who were doing that.”

Socialists might view Season 2 as an eloquent argument for the view “that exploitation and oppression are products of the capitalist system, a system in which a minority ruling class profits from the labor of the majority.”

While it’s easy to see how Socialists and Libertarians can both find their political philosophies reflected in “The Wire,” it’s more difficult to understand how the show’s subversive messages appeal to a mainstream Democrat like Obama. The candidate’s web site mentions nothing about the war on drugs and its impact on the country’s inner cities. Among his issues, crime isn’t even listed, nor does he mention how he would address the laundry list of problems that plague inner city America.

Watching The Wire is like reading one of the great novels. You can’t watch it, and not, at the very least, think about how it has changed your world view. It’s interesting that Omar is Obama’s favorite character, but I’m more curious to know how, if at all, The Wire has shaped Obama’s views on the war on drugs, the failure of public education, and the dispensability of the American worker.

Wire City Editor Augustus “Gus” Haynes

Note of caution: This entry contains spoilers for Season 5, Episode 2. 

In Season Five of The Wire, writers David Simon and William F. Zorzi have made City Editor Augustus “Gus” Haynes the central character of their fictional Baltimore Sun newsroom. Not since the days of Lou Grant, the Ed Asner vehicle that aired for three-years beginning in 1977, has a city editor figured so prominently in a pretend newsroom.

(For those too young to remember, Grant, fresh from his stint as Mary Richard’s grouchy boss at a Minneapolis television station, becomes the city editor of the Los Angeles Tribune. Mary Richard was played by Mary Tyler Moore.)

While Lou Grant may have inspired some to enter the noble profession of journalism, it was another Hollywood portrayal of a newsroom from the same era that shaped the popular culture notion of what journalists do and how they work. A year before Lou Grant debuted, “All the President’s Men,” was released, inspiring a generation of kids to become muckraking journalists.

In the film, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman play Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein who doggedly pursue a burglary at Watergate hotel until it eventually leads to them to the Oval Office. The viewer comes away with the notion that reporters are noble heros, seeking only to ferret out the truth for the common good.

And this is how it was until Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair brought shame to the profession. Anyone who has seen Hayden Christensen in “Shattered Glass” may come away with the impression that reporters are inclined to fabricate sources and pull quotes out of thin air in an vainglorious attempt to make a name for themselves.

In the first two episodes of season five, Simon and Burns appear to be headed in a direction that will only reinforce this notion. The scene is set when Managing Editor Thomas Klebanow, played by David Costabile, walks up to Gus’ desk with young, ambitious and looking-to-get-out-of-the-Sun-quickly reporter Scott Templeton, played by Tom McCarthy.

 

Actor Clark Johnson, who plays Baltimore Sun city editor Gus Haynes on HBO’s drama The Wire.

 Klebanow asks Gus what the color piece is for opening day at Camden Yards. Gus responds that Metro Editor Steven Luxemberg, played by Robert Poletick, wanted a piece on McGuire.  Klebanow tells Gus that he thinks “Scott would do an excellent job with the color piece.” 

“You know I’d really like to find some chaw chewing old timer who’d die rather than miss the O’s opener,” Scott tells Gus.

The astute viewer already senses Gus’ antipathy for Scott. An previous scene shows Gus looking contemptuously at Scott as he stands across the newsroom with Templeton and Executive Editor James G. Whitting III, played with arrogance by Sam Freed.

“You the boss,” he says, knowing it’s not worth putting up a fight.  

Anyone who’s been a reporter sent out to do a man-on-the-street can empathize with Scott as he tries to interview fans at Camden Yards.

One of his interview subjects is a blowhard who tells him Bud Selig and Barry Bonds ruined baseball and concludes his remarks with “Fuck baseball.” Another woman won’t give him the time of day. One man tells Scott he’s actually a Cubs fan. Scott is reduced to interviewing a traffic cop. (For a guy who has ambitions of going to The Washington Post, Scott has a rather lackadaisical work ethic.)

Nevertheless, Scott comes back to the newsroom and, though he doesn’t have what he promised, tells Gus he’s got “good stuff.”

As the scene unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that it’s the editor, not the reporter who plays the heroic role. (There would be no better training video for future editors than to watch this one scene carefully.)

“I got a kid outside the stadium wanting to go the the game, but unable because he doesn’t have the money for a scalped ticket,” Scott says.

“Sounds pretty good,” Gus responds. “You got art?”

“Tried but photo said they were too booked with the game,” Scott says.

“It’s your main color piece,” Gus admonishes. “You’ve got to have a picture of the kid if he’s going to be your lead. Can we send them out now?”

“I guess. He probably rolled, but we can try.”

“How old is this fellow,” Gus asks.

“13”

“What’s with his parents? Why wasnt’ he in school?”

“Both dead,” Scott responds, then almost to convince himself, he says, “No shit.”

“Lives with his aunt in West Baltimore.”

Gus becomes increasingly skeptical as as every assigning editor in a post Blair/Glass world should be. He asks how the kid got in a wheelchair.

“Something about a gunshot. It was all vague.”

Gus isn’t buying it. “You got a date when that happened?”

“Na. He’s was a little hinky with telling me much. The fact is he would only let me go with his nickname.”

Gus is low key. He doesn’t call the reporter’s possible bluff. Instead he tells him to start writing. But his bullshit detector alarm has been sounded. Gus tells a researcher to check the previous three-years worth of clips for a kid wounded by a stray bullet with the nickname E.J.

“Who is he to us,” the researcher asks.

“He’s the lead of our opening day piece. If we find him I’d love to get art on the kid.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” she says ominously.

After Scott files, Gus isn’t persuaded the story is solid.

“We’re going to give good play to a 13-year old known only as E.J. who declines to give his name cause he skipped school, he’s got no parents and lives with an aunt. I’m not saying this kid isn’t everything you say he is, but Scott, god damn, as an editor, I need a little more to go on if I’m going to fly this thing.”

“I resent the implication,” Scott says.

“I’m not implying anything. I’m on your side. But the standard for us has to be…”

Gus is interrupted by Whitting.

“Scott. Just finished your story. Good read. I’m putting it out front. I think you really captured the despair of the two worlds in the city in a highly readable narrative. I wouldn’t change a word.”

Gus raises his concerns, but Whitting is in no mood to debate.

“I think we’re on terra firma here,” Whitting responds, handing Gus’ balls to him in a pink sachet.

“Gotcha. Man made the call. You’re good to go.”

I’m hoping Gus has some fight in him, but as one of my first editors taught me years ago, when I was a hot-headed young reporter, “You gotta pick your battles.”

I suspect Gus will make his stand as the season progresses.  At least I hope he does, for the sake of all us city editors.

Similarly, Clark Johnson, playing Baltimore Sun city editor Augustus “Gus” Haynes, has the potential to shape how people think about job that few people outside the newspaper industry even knew existed. This is a desk job, after all, hardly the stuff of exciting dramas. To the extent that he does anything active, it’s standing on the loading dock, smoking.

This all matters to me because I have the same job at The Star-Ledger, a slightly larger newspaper in another east coast city that, like the fictional and real Baltimore, struggles with drugs, crime, poverty, corruption and despair.

The Wire (Season Five)

Much has been written in anticipation of the fifth season of HBO’s The Wire and I’ve read nearly all of it. Here’s a link to some of the better articles. Links to articles on previous seasons can be found in previous posts.

For the uninitiated

Newsweek, Jan. 14, 2008, Good Morning Baltimore (David Simon endears himself to Hollywood and tells Devin Gordon that he doesn’t give a fuck if “we ever win one of their little trinkets.”)

For hardcore wire junkies

The New Yorker, Oct. 22, 2007, Stealing Life, The Crusader Behind the Wire (Margaret Talbot profiles David Simon)

The Atlantic, January/February 2008, The Angriest Man in Television, (Mark Bowden explains how a pissed off hack created the best show on television)

Straight up reviews of season five

Slate, updated Jan. 6, 2008, The Wire Final Season (David Plotz’s blog on The Wire with interesting reader commentary.)

New York Magazine, Jan. 8, 2008, ‘The Wire’: David Simon’s Got a Brand-new Target (A review of season five premier)

NPR, Dec. 28, 2007, The Wire to Focus on Baltimore Newspaper, (A seven-minute segment by former Baltimore Sun reporter David Folkenflik.)

The Star-Ledger, Jan. 6, 2006, Down to the Wire, TV’s finest — and funniest — drama ever kicks off its fifth and final season (TV critic Alan Sepinwall reviews season five premier.)

The Baltimore Sun, Jan. 6, 2006, ‘The Wire loses spark in newsroom storyline (TV critic David Zurawik says newsroom scenes are season five’s Achilles’ heel.)

Bonus: A link to all the Sun’s Wire coverage.

Socialist Worker Online, Jan. 18, 2008, Not your average police drama (Socialists recommend The Wire) 

Interviews with David Simon

The Chicago Tribune, Jan. 10, 2008, David Simon talks about his career in journalism and the final chapter of ‘The Wire’ (Maureen Ryan interviews David Simon, includes transcript of full interview as well as a transcript of interview with John Carroll)

For Journalism Geeks

The Columbia Journalism Review, January/February 2008, Secrets of the City, What The Wire reveals about urban journalism (Lawrence Lanahan explores why newspapers can’t live up to David Simon’s journalism vision)

The Wasington Post,  Jan 16, 2008, Baltimore Sun’s ‘Wire’ Portrayal Fuels a Hot Debate (More on the debate among journalists)

The Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2008,  Does the news matter to anyone anymore? (David Simon opines about what is ailing the daily newspaper. This article is sure to spark a debate in journalism circles.)

The New York Times, Jan. 21, 2008, Ex-Newsman Laments a Dying Craft (David Carr argues that in “the search for the killers of daily journalism, “The Wire” nails some of the details but follows a few false leads.”)

The City Paper, Media Circus, Oct 4, 2000 Throwing Stones (While this article is technically not about The Wire, or about season five, it provides some insight into David Simon’s professional antipathy for Jim Hanner, the Baltimore Sun reporter who some believe served as the inspiration for fictional reporter Scott Templeton)

David Simon on David Simon

Esquire, Jan. 11, 2008, A Newspaper Can’t Love You Back (David Simon writes about his days as a reporter at The Sun)

Baltimore Magazine, January (web extra) Down to the Wire (David Simon explains how he created The Wire.)  

Esoterica

New York Magazine, Jan. 7, 2008, The ‘Wire’ Backlash Begins: We Disagree With David Simon’s Usage of ‘Evacuate’ (Ben Mathis-Lilley takes issue with curmudgeonly editor’s correction.)

New York Magazine, Jan. 8, 2008 The ‘Wire’ Copyediting Scandal: David Simon Responds! (Miriam-Webster’s editor at large and David Simon respond to evacuate flap.)

Everyone is not a fan

Matthew Yglesias’ blog on The Atlantic, David Simon and the Audacity of Despair (Yglesias diagrees with Simon’s bleak vision of urban decay.)

The American Scene, Jan. 1, 2008, The Bleakness of The Wire (Reihan Salam says David Simon has prepared an elaborate, moving brief for dispair and ultimately indiference)

The Wire (Season Four)

The following articles were done in anticipation of Season 4. (I’m working on this.) 

Rolling Stone, Sept. 25, 2006, Talking With the Creator of One of TV’s Best and Smartest Shows (Sean Woods interviews David Simon in anticipation of the fourth season)

Reason Magazine, October 2004, David Simon Says: The creator of HBO’s The Wire talks about the decline of journalism, the failure of the drug war, and a new kind of TV. (Libertarians recommend The Wire.)

The City Paper,  May 24, 2006, Wish you weren’t here (You’ve heard of eco-tourism, agri-tourism, now there’s ghetto-tourism. A tour of Baltimore locations seen in The Wire)

The Wire (Season Three)

The following articles and interviews were done in anticipation of the third season. (I’m working on this, check back in a few weeks.)

NPR, Sept. 23,2004, The Wire’s David Simon and George Pelecanos, (A fantastic 20-minute interview by David Bianculli)