#david simon

[mervynbunter]

Much of our modern theater seems rooted in the Shakespearean discovery of the modern mind. We’re stealing instead from an earlier, less-traveled construct—the Greeks—lifting [The Wire’s] thematic stance wholesale from Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides to create doomed and fated protagonists who confront a rigged game and their own mortality. The modern mind—particularly those of us in the West—finds such fatalism ancient and discomfiting, I think. We are a pretty self-actualized, self-worshipping crowd of postmoderns and the idea that for all of our wherewithal and discretionary income and leisure, we’re still fated by indifferent gods, feels to us antiquated and superstitious. We don’t accept our gods on such terms anymore; by and large, with the exception of the fundamentalists among us, we don’t even grant Yahweh himself that kind of unbridled, interventionist authority.

But instead of the old gods, The Wire is a Greek tragedy in which the postmodern institutions are the Olympian forces. It’s the police department, or the drug economy, or the political structures, or the school administration, or the macroeconomic forces that are throwing the lightning bolts and hitting people in the ass for no decent reason. In much of television, and in a good deal of our stage drama, individuals are often portrayed as rising above institutions to achieve catharsis. In this drama, the institutions always prove larger, and those characters with hubris enough to challenge the postmodern construct of American empire are invariably mocked, marginalized, or crushed. Greek tragedy for the new millennium, so to speak. Because so much of television is about providing catharsis and redemption and the triumph of character, a drama in which postmodern institutions trump individuality and morality and justice seems different in some ways, I think.

An interview with David Simon

[sweaterkittensahoy]

There's a factoid from Generation Kill that cracks me up, and it's about the question of how much Ripped Fuel was actually available and used by the guys.

Because Evan Wright makes it clear they are downing speed through the entire campaign. But then Actual-Ray (the guy noted for how much speed he took in the very lightly fictionalized account) saying, "Wright totally mis-represented the amount of speed we had. We had exactly this small amount."

But then, also, it's a David Simon joint, and if there's one thing we can be sure David Simon will do, it is accurately show the amount of drugs the human body can handle.

So, like, Actual-Ray, I respect that you listed the exact amount of Ripped Fuel provided by the US Marine Corps, but don't fuck with me, son.

[transpondster]

[doctorfriend79]

Happy Capaldi Wednesday. 😀

[meuafa]

redraw

[artismeyou-12]

meow

[pinoypesilat]

[hlotss]

[incrediblyfastfilms]

1 Three Men and Adena

2 Stakeout

3 Prison Riot

4 Colors

5 The Documentary

6 Crosetti

7 Bop Gun

8 Requiem for Adena

9 The Hat

10 Gone for Goode

11 Scene of the Crime

12 The Subway (The Accident)

13 The Damage Done

14 Bad Medicine

15 Deception

16 The Heart of a Saturday Night

17 Every Mother's Son

18 The Wedding

19 Fallen Heroes parts 1 & 2

20 Endgame

21 Saigon Rose

22 Have a Conscience

23 Nothing Personal

24 A Shot in the Dark

25 Night of the Dead Living

[topcat77]

David Simon

[burningexeter]

This mini-series is awesome.

[doctorfriend79]

Someone You Loved

[cantheywinthehungergames]

Submitted anonymously

Keep Reading for Tribute Info and Restrictions

If you would like to see your favorite character as a tribute, please fill out this Google Form. Mentor submissions for characters aged 19 and older are currently closed until June 7th, 2025.

Please also look at my pinned post for submission rules as well as a list of previously submitted characters prior to submitting your character.

Tribute Name: Preston "Bodie" Broadus

Age: 16-18 (seasons 1-2)

Media: The Wire

Restrictions: No firearms

[justaskingtoask]

this one's about doubles and repeating mistakes

[sigurism]

Andre Braugher | Det. Frank Pembleton Homicide: Life on the Street

Rest in Peace, Andre 1962-2023

[pinstripebindi]

this is streaming for the first time, on Peacock, and I thought I'd check it out, partly for Andre Braugher (PBUH) and partly to be a David Simon completist. delighted that these cops are all a bunch of fucking weirdos. Detective Munch I was expecting since I know him from other shows--fun fact, the character is in the Guinness Book of World Records as having been on the most different TV shows (there was even a Muppet version of Munch.)

But there's also the cop obsessed with Lincoln assassination conspiracy theories. And the one who keeps talking about flooding the old stadium, maybe to turn it into an aquarium but maybe just because that would be cool. Melissa Leo's character claimed the ghost of a homicide victim told her where the murder weapon was stashed, and when that didn't work out her partner claimed he found it by doing a tarot spread. that was just the first 3 episodes.