[lbo-talk] They're teaching The Wire at Harvard

Mike Beggs mikejbeggs at gmail.com
Wed Sep 15 18:58:56 PDT 2010


On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 11:33 AM, Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:


> So the show reflects nicely the views of those leftists who watch it.
> This is fine. Leftists need to have fun. But beyond that, is there any
> evidence that those who come to the show without prior radical leftist
> views (a) see in the show the features Mike describes and/or (b) are
> moved politically by the show? How large is its audience, incidentally?

Well, personally I don't think it's the point that it works as a mobilising piece of propaganda; rather it's an interesting symptom, a crystallisation of a certain radical-liberal critique of contemporary American/capitalist society. It's interesting that it struck a chord, more than that it 'teaches a lesson'.

I'm not sure exactly what size the audience was/is - but it has certainly been a major cult hit. (It finished after five seasons a couple of years ago, by the way.) It's cultural impact has been much bigger than raw audience figures would suggest, in any case, because it was so popular among culturally influential people - as this British article indicates - http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/sarah-sands/sarah-sandsthe-wire-leads-television-into-a-golden-age-1662811.html

As for how transparent its politics are - I think they are pretty transparent. It's interesting to read how less radical liberals interpret Simon's 'audacity of despair' as politically threatening. For example, Mathew Yglesias wrote in the Atlantic:

"Fundamentally, I think his vision of the bleak urban dystopia and its roots is counterproductive to advancing the values we hold dear… In political terms it’s a dark vision that, like Dostoevsky’s, veers wildly between radical and reactionary and that exists, fundamentally, outside the lines of “normal” arguments about policy. Simon believes that we are doomed, and political progress requires us to believe that we are not." (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2008/01/david-simon-and-the-audacity-of-despair/47692/)

While Reihan Salam writes in the American Scene:

"If you’re outraged by The Wire, do you then … go and support the election of your own Tommy Carcetti? Or do you throw up your hands and rail against the depredations of the market economy? This could lend itself to some more radical challenge to the status quo, and of course we’re never shown the depredations of Chavez’s Venezuela where petrosocialism has fuelled new inequalities and new repression." (http://theamericanscene.com/2008/01/01/the-bleakness-of-the-wire)

Incidentally, David Simon wrote a response to Yglesias which sets out his own political stance:

"Writing to affirm what people are saying about my faith in individuals to rebel against rigged systems and exert for dignity, while at the same time doubtful that the institutions of a capital-obsessed oligarchy will reform themselves short of outright economic depression (New Deal, the rise of collective bargaining) or systemic moral failure that actually threatens middle-class lives (Vietnam and the resulting, though brief commitment to rethinking our brutal foreign-policy footprints around the world). The Wire is dissent; it argues that our systems are no longer viable for the greater good of the most, that America is no longer operating as a utilitarian and democratic experiment. If you are not comfortable with that notion, you won’t agree with some of the tonalities of the show. I would argue that people comfortable with the economic and political trends in the United States right now — and thinking that the nation and its institutions are equipped to respond meaningfully to the problems depicted with some care and accuracy on The Wire (we reported each season fresh, we did not write solely from memory) — well, perhaps they’re playing with the tuning knobs when the back of the appliance is in flames.

"Does that mean The Wire is without humanist affection for its characters? Or that it doesn’t admire characters who act in a selfless or benign fashion? Camus rightly argues that to commit to a just cause against overwhelming odds is absurd. He further argues that not to commit is equally absurd. Only one choice, however, offers the slightest chance for dignity. And dignity matters.

"All that said, I am the product of a C-average GPA and a general studies degree from a state university and thirteen years of careful reporting about one rustbelt city. Hell do I know. Maybe my head is up my ass.

"If The Wire is too pessimistic about the future of the American empire — and I’ve read my Toynbee and Chomsky, so I actually think a darker vision could be credibly argued — no one will be more pleased than me as I am, well, American. Right now, though, I’m just proud to see serious people arguing about a television drama; there’s some pride in that. Thanks."

D. Simon

Baltimore, Md.

Mike Beggs scandalum.wordpress.com



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