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bernsteinschroeder t1_j5hippq wrote

"You didn't find more characters likeable" does not equate to "those characters are, therefore, unlikable by anyone"

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Bushgjl OP t1_j5hju0n wrote

Who likes stupid power tripping cops?

It works in a show like Deadwood where you have a lawless town and the sheriff brings his own brand of frontier justice, etc. But in modern day Baltimore I don't want to see our main characters beat the shit out of some black kid and then cheer for him later on.

Between the corrupt groups in the show who are you supposed to care for? What story are you supposed to be invested in?

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bernsteinschroeder t1_j5hnsz1 wrote

It's a shame that you have such a shallow viewing strategy.

Stranger still that you found D'Angelo (who's killed someone and deals drugs) and Omar (who's killed a lot of someones and is happy to sell drugs) to be characters you can care for but a cop Greggs you can't, or an ASA like Pearlman, or a police LT like Daniels, or even spare some sympathy for Bunny Colvin...

> Between the corrupt groups in the show who are you supposed to care for? What story are you supposed to be invested in?

I hate to break it to you but people are complex and often a mix of good and bad.

And you could just say "I tried to get into The Wire but I just couldn't" or "The Wire just wasn't what I was looking for" and move along.

Here, watch: People love Homicide: live on the street but, despite many similarities to The Wire, I simply can not get into that show despite trying once every few years, and I generally quit from sheer boredom with only one character I find interesting.

See? No bolt from on high strikes me down either.

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Bushgjl OP t1_j5hwu65 wrote

Because it was not just about not getting into it, within the first few episodes of the first season you notice some serious flaws.

Overall Michael Kenneth Williams and Idris Elba took the show home for me but still, not the best show of all time by a long run.

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Yourbubblestink t1_j5i0f56 wrote

I’m starting to wonder if you watched the same show the rest of us did, or perhaps we live on different planets?

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bernsteinschroeder t1_j5i1nxd wrote

"I didn't love the characters" is not a 'flaw'. You wanting something it doesn't deliver isn't a per se 'flaw'. Not having simplistic characters that fit neatly into 'good' and 'bad' is not a 'flaw'.

Mind you, The Wire does have flaws...you've just failed to name any of them.

What you have is called "an opinion" about a show you couldn't get into that has characters with a complexity you can't have sympathy for.

I could have respected someone starting a post and listing your grievances with the intent of understanding what they missed and others got, or to find a more effective way of approaching the characters, story, or the show itself. But you seem to have started this just to bitch.

It's fine not to like a show -- it's even fine not to get what people see in a show -- but you're hyper-defensive about it like you're jealous, or feel left out, or something.

And that's something no one on this site can address.

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bloodyturtle t1_j5hp9yp wrote

What would you prefer? copaganda? a show about a secret order of honorable samurai helping the downtrodden citizens of Baltimore?

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Bushgjl OP t1_j5hpuew wrote

This is copaganda.

It's portraying racist and abusive cops as worthy of the audiences sympathy. It's like horshoe theory where they wanted to make a show about how corrupt these government organizations are but because they are the main characters it circles back to having the audience cheer for them.

It would have been ok if it was like True Detective where the detectives have flaws and there is corruption but they don't overplay it to where you are like "Fuck these people" whenever someone is on screen.

−57

DiggyMcGriz t1_j5ic0dh wrote

Lmao. The Wire, of all things, is not copaganda.

Literally one of the central themes of the show is that the cops sometimes do shady, immoral things and the criminals are still capable of doing things that are good. That at the end of the day these are ALL still just people trapped in their particular modern societal roles.

The pawn is a pawn, the king is the king. The game isn’t checkers.

Best of luck with this post, though.

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Emergency-Reindeer55 t1_j5hs5om wrote

The show doesn’t say you have to like anyone. It’s just here’s what’s going on and take it how you want.

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Bushgjl OP t1_j5hxrs6 wrote

That might be ok for a movie, but a TV show with like 40 minute episodes will leave you wanting more.

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Emergency-Reindeer55 t1_j5hzkzk wrote

I didn’t feel that way. The show covers a depressing aspect of society and there wasn’t supposed to be a hero or a desired outcome at the end. You just watch the cycle. If that isn’t for you that’s fine, but it’s not a flaw.

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Sojourner_Truth t1_j5jbxg1 wrote

40-42 minutes is network or cable TV episode length. All of The Wire episodes were 52+ minutes as is standard HBO runtime.

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[deleted] t1_j5iecam wrote

Oh look, the old "portraying something is always a full-throated endorsement of it" argument again.

I swear that most of my generation has gotten lobotomies.

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tigersanddawgs t1_j5oed4u wrote

Welcome to human nuance. I know it’s tricky to reconcile in your brain

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druidofnecro t1_j5htjj6 wrote

Its almost like the cops may not be the good guys 🤔

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Bushgjl OP t1_j5htpdy wrote

I want characters with depth, The Wire has too many characters that are "bad" but not good.

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addwood5 t1_j5l4oas wrote

Some character depth in the wire

Stringer taking college courses and reading Adam Smith

Omar being outwardly gay in a very homophobic environment

All of the kids in S4 are not evil but have their personal issues that lead them down their own path

Mcnulty’s struggle with alcohol

Bubbles’ entire story

Sobatka flipping to protect the Union

No killing on sundays

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orangemaroon25 t1_j5hm5zl wrote

The fact that Carver is himself black is what makes that interesting and makes him an intriguing character to follow when he does that.

"You do not get to win" yeah, who's this "you"? You're one of them

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[deleted] t1_j5idxiy wrote

The Wire explores the absolutely SHOCKING idea that the same people can do both horrible, indefensible things and also good and noble ones. It's a shame that that concept seems to be dying among all of Gen Z.

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KYWizard t1_j5hripm wrote

Why do you need to like them or agree with them in order to watch the show. I don't think this for you. Have you tried Big Bang Theory? You would like that it is way less complicated.

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