The Wire: Greatest Show Ever Made

The first season, in particular, has numerous "soliloquies" or other odd moments pontificating on they way things are. I'm not saying they're bad, but it stands out in an odd, unnatural way. The Wire seems to do this less than a show such as Boss, but it seems more like hand-holding the viewer into the world they're creating that could be done, less jarringly, through other means.

Binkles_sl said:

The first season, in particular, has numerous "soliloquies" or other odd moments pontificating on they way things are. I'm not saying they're bad, but it stands out in an odd, unnatural way. The Wire seems to do this less than a show such as Boss, but it seems more like hand-holding the viewer into the world they're creating that could be done, less jarringly, through other means.

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Are you under the impression that people in shit situations don't talk about the shit situations they are in...? You could go to general on this forum and find threads that consist of nothing but people talking about the world and "the way things are." Which is all The Wire did, it showed people being people.

Of course not. I am merely stating that, onsomeoccasions, the commentary comes off as forced, unnatural, or incongruent for the character or the situation. It seems like some people think that some criticism is the same as hating the show.

Binkles_sl said:

Of course not. I am merely stating that, onsomeoccasions, the commentary comes off as forced, unnatural, or incongruent for the character or the situation. It seems like some people think that some criticism is the same as hating the show.

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Could you name an occasion?

I really do like how they paint most of the gangbangers. Besides for Mr. Muhammed assassin man none of them were one dimensional. There weren't ANY noble savages, and the only savage in the entire run imho was Marlow. Even Cheese was just a hood rat fratboy.

The thing you're talking about, what sticks out to me the most is in the Hamsterdam season. At the end of that season Bunny did deliver a short speech while standing in the rubble that felt a little out of place. Other than that though, if you get people talking they WILL either bury you with soliloquies or they'll drown you in smalltalk. So when Avon starts to go on a rant it doesn't bother me any.

The only thing that gives The Wire an air of being dated to me is the technology. Pagers ... pay phones all over the place ...flip phones. In that respect it's like a glimpse back into the world that was. It doesn't diminish it to me in the slightest though.

Outside of Hamsterdam, as many people have already commented on, not without rewatching it. If you're bored, I'm sure you could pick out a few instances in the 1st season.

Googling "The wire preachy" yields results, and apparently this debate has already played out in reddit. I'm aware that I'm likely in the minority. But, when I watched the show, now, it was my takeaway. The characters seemed used to make statements. Sometimes those statements are clumsily handled.

You may actually have a point as I fail to come up with an alternative that offers commentary that is less forced, unnatural, or incongruent etc. (The Newsroom is infinitely more obnoxious); although, it does not stop the moments, in The Wire, from being less apparent or jarring. South Park, at times, does this more satirically but, because it's a cartoon and what the show is known for, it's to be expected.

One example of a stilted, unnatural moment that seemed somewhat preachy/forced is when D'angelo teaches chess to Wallace and Bodie. It's not the best example, but it's an example of one among many from the 1st season. I'm not quite sure why the preachy-ness of The Wire is so controversial as the 1st season, in particular, seems more like a play turned television series.

Binkles_sl said:

One example of a stilted, unnatural moment that seemed somewhat preachy/forced is when D'angelo teaches chess to Wallace and Bodie. It's not the best example, but it's an example of one among many from the 1st season. I'm not quite sure why the preachy-ness of The Wire is so controversial as the 1st season, in particular, seems more like a play turned television series.

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I'd like to point out that if you Google that scene, there are thousands of articles on it. Some of them by acting teachers, who refer to it as one of the most perfectly acted scenes ever seen on television. Others are by writers, who praise it for being perfectly scripted. It is literally used as a textbook scene in acting classes.

Perhaps you simply don't like television, because that scene in particular is widely considered to be one of the best scenes in the entire series.

bad troll is bad troll

Dr. Mario Speedwagon_sl said:

Did this lil' Wakandan just pick out one of the best scenes in the entire series as an example of what's bad about it?

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+1

Interesting Neg farming strategy, Bingles. I'm curious to see who gets more, Osiris for shitting on free speech or you for shitting on The Wire. Osiris does have the more reprehensible view, I think. But there is a lot of neg overlap in the General Forums because people neg often in the political thread. The TV Forums are a veritable fount of negs that often goes untapped, so this may prove very fruitful for you.

IIRC, Binkles is a hot tranny mess. So, that right there is your problem.