Did You Love “The Wire”?
Then consider reading this oral history about the show
If you knew how much of my mental energy in the past few years has gone to thinking about the collected works of David Simon (including his fantastic True Crime classic Homicide, his more personal and sociological book The Corner, and of course, the TV show he wrote and produced, The Wire) you would probably be a little appalled.
I can’t help it. When somebody knows their business — and I think David Simon knows his business of reporting by going to where people are and hanging out with them — I am powerless to look away. So a few weekends ago I plowed through the oral history All The Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire, by Jonathan Abrams.
It’s a great book, and if you’re interested in how great TV is made, it’s a great primer in that too. Actually, if you know any youthful aspiring drama club members or actors, this would be a very handy book about the actors’ (and writers’, actually) craft to give to them.
Abrams went and interviewed a lot of the star’s main actors, writers, directors, and crew members, so the result truly gives you a picture of the TV production world (as well as of Baltimore, where the series really was filmed). Although I enjoyed the whole thing — and drove my spouse nuts by reading pieces of it to him all weekend long — I really enjoyed the interviews with David Simon and Ed Burns, who were the creators and main writers of the show. I also enjoyed the interviews with George Pelecanos, a crime writer who also wrote many of the show’s most infamous episodes.
So, consider this quote from David Simon, in which he is talking about a discussion he had with one of the actors, about the possibility of reforming systems:
“I had told him it was much harder to reform a system. The things that reform systems are trauma. Great trauma. Nobody gives up status quo without being pushed to the wall. I believe that politically. The great reformations of society are the result of undue excess and undue cruelty.” (p. 68.)
This came up at least once as he was explaining to the actors that the show itself was going to be a cruel world, where nothing was going to get fixed systemically. “I was going to promote all the wrong people, and the same policies were going to go on…that’s how the show ended.” (p. 65.)
And that’s why The Wire is so hard to watch, and why it’s so great. If you’re a fan of the show — read this book.
Sarah Cords is the author of Bingeworthy British Television: The Best Brit TV You Can’t Stop Watching. Fellow curmudgeons welcome at citizenreader.com.
