My friend labeled him as "The Yoda". Once you see him that way, you can't unsee it.
Take down your 'castle', twat told
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In a lesser show he would just be the Magic Black Man.
danny la rouge
More like *fanny* la rouge!
I’ve now watched episodes 6 and 7, and while there is a marked improvement, it doesn’t elevate it beyond the average. I’ve no idea why they felt the need for the first 5 episodes. There’s nothing at all that happens in them that you couldn’t pick up from episode 6. Especially since they feel the need to spell everything out and underline it.
Take the chess scene when D’Angelo explains to the two guys using chess pieces to play chess how to play chess. Everything is hammered home until everyone is fed up hearing it, even people in the next room playing on their phones. Yes, we get it: this piece is like that guy, this piece is like this guy. Strategy is like hiding the stash. You mean like we have to stay one step ahead of the other player? Yes, it’s like staying ahead of the other player. What are you like? I’m like a pawn. Yes, you’re like a pawn. But can’t they become queens? But they get sacrificed early on. Wait, you’re telling me a pawn is like a metaphor for me? Oh. My. God. Just show them playing chess! We can do the rest of the work ourselves!
And the conversation about them not being able to work out the pager code. “But it can’t be that hard, these guys understand it”. “So how dumb are we if we can’t crack it?” Leave it unsaid! We had it already. And the guy who eventually cracks the code? Wait, it won’t be the useless, clueless white guy who keeps accidentally firing his service pistol. That’d be too obvious. Oh.
And always hammering home the moral ambiguity of both the cops and the guys in the project, and how they’re all the same - just people trapped by circumstances. This has been a staple of fiction for decades. So we don’t need, for example, the clunking dialogue in the office between Omar and Bunk in the scene when the cops are beating up Bird in the interview room. The cops have torn up the polaroid that we’re told in capital letters is to prove to a judge that Bird had the bruises he’s carrying already. Meanwhile Omar explains he’d never kill a civilian. “A man’s gotta have a code”. “Yes, he’s gotta have a code”. Cue interview room beating sounds.
So, now Bunk and Omar discover they were at school together. But it’s played with such a heavy hand that you’re left rolling your eyes. We get it. They’re all people with a lot in common. And they’re all individuals too. Yes, individuals. You can almost hear the writers’ meeting: “How about having Bunk play a game you don’t expect black guys to play? Like lacrosse. Good idea! We’ll underline how unusual it is by having Omar not know what it’s called. He could maybe say ‘that game with the stick’ or something”.
The characters are all so two dimensional and archetypal it’s incredible. And yet reviews say it’s a show that subverts conventions. Like what? Am I missing something? Is it breaking down the fourth wall by parodying clunky and obvious writing?
Still, on the plus side they have played Miles Davis and Duke Ellington.
Take the chess scene when D’Angelo explains to the two guys using chess pieces to play chess how to play chess. Everything is hammered home until everyone is fed up hearing it, even people in the next room playing on their phones. Yes, we get it: this piece is like that guy, this piece is like this guy. Strategy is like hiding the stash. You mean like we have to stay one step ahead of the other player? Yes, it’s like staying ahead of the other player. What are you like? I’m like a pawn. Yes, you’re like a pawn. But can’t they become queens? But they get sacrificed early on. Wait, you’re telling me a pawn is like a metaphor for me? Oh. My. God. Just show them playing chess! We can do the rest of the work ourselves!
And the conversation about them not being able to work out the pager code. “But it can’t be that hard, these guys understand it”. “So how dumb are we if we can’t crack it?” Leave it unsaid! We had it already. And the guy who eventually cracks the code? Wait, it won’t be the useless, clueless white guy who keeps accidentally firing his service pistol. That’d be too obvious. Oh.
And always hammering home the moral ambiguity of both the cops and the guys in the project, and how they’re all the same - just people trapped by circumstances. This has been a staple of fiction for decades. So we don’t need, for example, the clunking dialogue in the office between Omar and Bunk in the scene when the cops are beating up Bird in the interview room. The cops have torn up the polaroid that we’re told in capital letters is to prove to a judge that Bird had the bruises he’s carrying already. Meanwhile Omar explains he’d never kill a civilian. “A man’s gotta have a code”. “Yes, he’s gotta have a code”. Cue interview room beating sounds.
So, now Bunk and Omar discover they were at school together. But it’s played with such a heavy hand that you’re left rolling your eyes. We get it. They’re all people with a lot in common. And they’re all individuals too. Yes, individuals. You can almost hear the writers’ meeting: “How about having Bunk play a game you don’t expect black guys to play? Like lacrosse. Good idea! We’ll underline how unusual it is by having Omar not know what it’s called. He could maybe say ‘that game with the stick’ or something”.
The characters are all so two dimensional and archetypal it’s incredible. And yet reviews say it’s a show that subverts conventions. Like what? Am I missing something? Is it breaking down the fourth wall by parodying clunky and obvious writing?
Still, on the plus side they have played Miles Davis and Duke Ellington.
Maurice Picarda
Actually, might as well flounce.
The first is no one's favourite season of The Wire. Two, three and four all have their devotees, and they are all right in their own way. Persevere.
danny la rouge
More like *fanny* la rouge!
Seriously? First I was told wait for episode 4 (but watch the first three, they're necessary), then that it was episode 6, now I have to keep going to season 2? Next it'll be episode 4 of season 2, then episode 6...
I'm not saying it's the worst thing ever. Had I chanced upon episode 6 with no prior knowledge, I might have watched it as something mildly diverting. I'd have finished the episode anyway (which I couldn't say for episode 1). But it's distinctly average at best, and certainly nothing new.
danny la rouge
More like *fanny* la rouge!
I'm just disappointed is all. I was told to expect great things.
Sgt Peppers is a good analogy though.
danny la rouge
More like *fanny* la rouge!
How could you not, though?
mauvais
on reddit or something
This is world class misanthropy.
The Wire and other Simon works like Generation Kill are (in)famous for not mollycoddling the audience, no last-time-ons, no subtle-as-a-brick callbacks and reminders, no constantly holding the viewer's hand and pointing things out like an overly enthusiastic tour guide. If you didn't grasp it, missed it, never knew some prerequisite, tough, we're moving on. The only way you could fail to appreciate this is if you'd never seen any television ever before and had just come to the medium fresh from, say, trying to fully unravel the socio-political critiques of the contemporary 16th century that Cervantes was trying to express in Don Quixote.
This is the chess scene (apologies for shit-o-vision):
Yeah it's heavy handed, and it's probably not going to win a huge prize on its own, but there's a whole bunch of interesting & expositional stuff going on, like exposition of the characters' intelligence, aptitude and attitude.
I stand by it. If you are enjoying it enough right now to justify watching more episodes on the merit of what you have seen to date, finish series 1. Then make a decision about series 2-4 based on your view of series 1 as a whole.
If you are now not enjoying series 1 enough to finish it on its own merits of what you have seen to date, however, give up on it. You get the idea.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Why is everyone talking about The Wire on a thread about a dunce farmer building a castle without planning permission?
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
You'll need a warrant and a sting operation to find out.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Too long between court dates, I think
Talking of which, he's due up before the beak again today.
Ah. Court 18, 1030. The fur should be flying already. Ermine, presumably.
danny la rouge
More like *fanny* la rouge!
It was cross thread beef. I'm being picked on by horrid bullies.
More to the point, why isn't everyone talking about The Wire on a lot of other threads?
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Because Cracker was better.
danny la rouge
More like *fanny* la rouge!
I think I'm going to give up on it. But I'm glad I've finally got to see it, after hearing about it for so long. So no harm was done.
danny la rouge
More like *fanny* la rouge!
Now that was good.
JimW
支那暗杀团
I thought the title had become by extension a plea for the dismantling of your horribly wrong-headed critical edifice.It was cross thread beef. I'm being picked on by horrid bullies.
danny la rouge
More like *fanny* la rouge!
They were! They were on at me to watch it over several threads, including a perfectly good Dr Who one. I opted for this one to give my appraisal (which I thought those who urged me to watch the Wire might like to hear) as I didn't want to ruin the Dr Who one.
I could have started a new thread, but you know: pogo.
Mrs Miggins
There's been a slight cheese accident
danny la rouge - I didn't like The Wire. It's not compulsory
I also got bored of Breaking Bad half way through the final series and have still not been arsed to finish it.
I also got bored of Breaking Bad half way through the final series and have still not been arsed to finish it.
danny la rouge
More like *fanny* la rouge!
I've still not seen that either. I hope to enjoy it though.danny la rouge - I didn't like The Wire. It's not compulsory
I also got bored of Breaking Bad half way through the final series and have still not been arsed to finish it.
I'm really not being deliberately misanthropic. I wanted to like the Wire.
The thing about things that set new standards that everybody else then follows is that down the line, they no longer have the uniqueness that they did at the time (yes, Santino's Sergeant Pepper point reiterated). So then I think it's fine for somebody to judge it by the current standards it helped create rather than the prevailing standards it ripped up. If that means it no longer stands up so well, so be it.
So give up on it with good grace Danny, as far as I am concerned.
You're wrong though. I watched it for the first time last year and I still thought it was awesome.
So give up on it with good grace Danny, as far as I am concerned.
You're wrong though. I watched it for the first time last year and I still thought it was awesome.
danny la rouge
More like *fanny* la rouge!
I honestly don't think it's that though. I know I'm coming to it late. But I stand by my assessment of the writing. It's heavy handed. I prefer to be shown not told.
But people love it, that's great. They're allowed to.
danny la rouge
More like *fanny* la rouge!
I've not seen it since it aired. I enjoyed it at the time.
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