Response Paper 1

The Wire

       The Wire is an American crime drama television series set and produced in and around Baltimore, Maryland.  This series was created and written by author and former police reporter David Simon. I chose this television show because it depicts the lives of gangs and recruitment to the drug food chain,  from junkies to dealers, and from dirty cops to politicians. The message that this television series sends out is that a lot of people are born into bad situations and that sometimes there is nothing they can do but to fight. When I say the word fight, I don’t only mean physically, but mentally as well. In this show, much of the focus is on four 8^th graders in Baltimore’s decayed public schools. These boys, at such a young age are already entering the world of crime and gang violence. One major event is when one of the older gang members walks over to the 8^th graders while they were sitting outside of an old apartment complex, and asks them if they start school tomorrow.  After answering yes, the gang member then begins to hand all of them $200 each, stating that his boss doesn’t want them going to school looking all raggedy and what not. Three of them take the money with no questions asked and thanks the guy. The fourth one replies no thank you. This kid had already understood what was actually going on here. I relate to this television show because I lived in a similar setting, and have been in this exact situation where I had to basically choose to take the money that is offered or to say no thank you and walk away. What these gang members do is find a group of kids who they know are having family struggles, and start to school and take care of them as young soldiers. Taking money from these gang members is letting them know that you are or will be down with them. They trick you in to thinking that they are your family by giving you money and taking care of any problems you have. I don’t see many television shows or movies really addressing this issue any more, at least not as much as I used to when I was younger. What I like about this television series is that it depicts the society Baltimore exactly for what it is and did not sugar coat it one bit. Unlike CSI Miami for example, where they get detectives that look like models, and they drive around in sports cars. They get these incredibly tough prosecutors that solve the craziest complicated cases.  Yet on The Wire they get this reality of a city full of hopelessness, despair and dysfunction. This includes all the dirty cops, the bad effort of investigations and crime solving, and most of all the childrens lives that are at stake of becoming dangerous gang members.