The Wire is structured both horizontally and vertically, from the foot soldiers of the drug trade, through the school system, newspapers, police department to the higher executives in charge of everything, which shows the parallel and prevailing problems that plague all of society. The show provides a viewer with an insight into the steep decline in social order, in which cops, politicians, teachers, workers and criminals are surrounded by the corrupting forces that overwhelm them all. The Wire tells a story that compares to current social conditions, it deals with the basic realities and inequalities of our world. It is a drama about politics, sociology and economics. The drama is told in the space ‘wedged between two competing American myths’ (Simon, 2004). The first myth is a story of the American Dream that says if you are smart and work hard you will succeed. The second myth is that of rags-to-riches tale that says if you are cunning enough to build yourself a better life than those around you, you will succeed beyond your wildest dreams. Simon wrote The Wire because he felt it was ‘no longer possible even to remain polite on this subject. It is a lie’ (Simon, 2004). The ‘intricate and interwoven storylines dramatise the dialectic interactions of individual aspirations and institutional dynamics’ (Sheehan, Sweeney, 2009). Every character and every story line combine to create a view, not just of Baltimore, but of ‘Everycity’, highlighting the existence of capitalism, which affects us all. While the show itself does not name the system of capitalism it exists within, the metanarrative does so with extreme clarity and force. The drama repeatedly cuts from the top of Baltimore’s social structure to its bottom; from political fu... ... middle of paper ... ...ems that these characters identify are not isolated problems within Baltimore, they are problems for the Everycity, and are deep rooted systematic logic that controls them. The specific plot lines of The Wire influences analysis of the socio-political and economic system that shapes the city of Baltimore and its inhabitants. The Wire has demonstrated how television is able to dramatise the nature of the social order that shapes the Everycity in which all capitalist cultures reside. The narrative of the plot structure delves into the relationships between the individual and the institution, and through this plot structure the metanarrative creates a critique of the system as a whole; it points to the larger picture. As Mittell states, ‘By exploring the formal structure of this mode of storytelling we can appreciate connections with broader concerns (Mittell, 2006).
The movie “Falling Down”, released in 1993, depicts an unemployed defense worker who becomes frustrated with society and unleashes that frustration on the Los Angeles community. The movie follows William through is destruction as well as the impact his actions has on other characters in the movie. It becomes apparent that the events and characters in the movie are ideal illustrations of the criminological theories anomie and social control.
In this documentary, Gilbney shows polarization between Park Ave located in Upper East Side of Manhattan and The South Bronx. The residents of apartments in 740 Park Avenue are representing the upper one percent. Whereas, in South Bronx it is one of the poorest district and about 40 percent of its residents live in poverty. In over the 30 years wages has drop and everything in price has increased. Since, the recession people had also lost their jobs due to the recession from market crash that was cause by wealthy men living in 740 Park Avenue. In addition, children are also
Although I feel that other things can contribute to there being crime in urban neighborhoods. I felt as though the three topics that I have stated could possibly be the root of these problems. Ultimately, the one thing that stood out to me, and what I emphasized on a lot was location. The area in which a person is brought up leaves a huge impression on a person. What I feel that Elijah Anderson emphasizes is that in different locations and especially in urban areas two peoples definition of normal and decent can be completely different because they weren’t brought up in the same
In “ Code of the Streets,” by Elijah Anderson, we analyze how in poor inner-cities, many residents feel the need to wear a mask to portray this power, honor, and anger that many use to keep others away so that they will not be messed with. Because those who live in urban communities are not allowed to interact with the upper and middle class, “the inclination to violence springs from the circumstances of life among the ghetto poor- the lack of jobs that pay a living wage, the stigma of race, the fallout from ramping drug use and drug trafficking, and the resulting alienation and lack of hope for the future.” (Anderson 1). Survival in cities like Baltimore is very uncommon, because of poor living conditions and the lack of resources that enforce help, such as the police department. With no protection around, many feel the need to use violent behaviors to avoid being messed with and like Anderson quotes “the trophy does not have to be material. It can be another person’s sense of honor, snatched away with a derogatory remark” (12). Many Latinos and African American in urban communities turn to street fighting for the exchange of money or participate in the beatings of others to give one a sense of power that makes him or she feel more superior than their surroundings. Some hide their true identity by
In his final remarks regarding his study, Philippe Bourgois states, “The painful symptoms of inner-city apartheid will continue to produce record numbers of substance abusers, violent criminals, and emotionally disabled and angry youths if nothing is done to reverse the trends in the United States since the late 1960s around rising relative poverty rates and escalating ethnic and class segregation.” Bourgois uses the sociological imagination to connect the problems faced by the drug dealers of East Harlem to those that span nationwide among minorities living in similar inner-city areas. He suggests that policies need to be changed across America to ensure that the quality of life for individual living in inner-city areas, like the drug dealers in East Harlem, will improve.
The Wire is a HBO series written and produced by David Simon. It is a crime series based in Baltimore, Maryland which first aired in 2002. The show highlights Baltimore’s war on drugs and the war between elected officials. The show begins with an inside look at different scenes within the season and then a quote from one of the characters. The Wire portrays the true crimes that are occurring in many societies today. The constant struggle between police officers and the drug dealers that run the streets in The Wire, is still a major problem. “Many urban communities are now besieged by illegal drugs. Fears of gang violence and muggings keep frightened residents at home” (Moore, 1). Because citizens are afraid, they will not testify against these criminals, making it even harder to convict them. The community in The Wire was afraid of testifying against the drug dealers because they feared for their life.
The problems presented on TV are only programs. Viewers are not paying attention to the real-life connections that programs like 24 show. Stevens argues that “[I]t isn’t a fictional program’s connection to real-life… events like torture and racial profiling one of the “social relationships” we should be paying attention to?” (296). Instead of doing that, the audience is focusing more on what it is going on screen, and they do not analyze the connection and the impact that those programs have in the society. Stevens pays more attention on the impact that generalizations of people have in society, on the contrary, Johnson focuses more on the structure that can help viewers become
The dystopian world in the story serves as the antithesis to the ideal world, where expectations are thwarted and nothing goes your way. The misfortune of the characters appears in Martha being raped by her boss Don Murray, Ted witnessing the violation, and then Ted landing in trouble for opening his mouth and telling the truth rather than Don Murray for committing the act. These events speak volumes to the dark morale of the story, that despite where you come from, whatever you do, things get worse, summed up when Nate exclaims “Even if it is broke, leave it alone, you'll probably make it worse” (Saunders 2). The morale of the story can be applied to his downfall, but also to the impoverished underbelly of America in both this story and in reality. The poverty in the story, evident when Ted deliberates between telling the truth or keeping the money and steady job to help his family in ruin, as he was “the only one working person in our family. Mom being sick, Beth being shy, Dad having sadly cracked his spine recently when a car he was fixing fell on him” (Saunders 2). The misfortune and trouble at Ted’s home connects to a large theme, a critique of American capitalism, an economic system where the prioritization of profit creates inequality and a super class elite like Don Murray. Americans and people like Ted work
Walter Miller suggests that inner-city low-income communities have a different set of values and are preoccupied with issues that are of no concern to middle or upper class communities (Lecture). These six issues, trouble, toughness, smartness, excitement, fate, and autonomy, create a fertile environment to crime (Miller,
Growing up in Brooklyn, NY I keenly became aware that in my own neighborhood there were educational disparities, street violence, and police brutality. Due to the widespread presence of these issues while walking home from school or going grocery shopping with my mother, I also learned there was internal conflict between the people that lived in the community and those who were appointed to represent them- the congressional representative of my district. My premature awareness of these issues caused me to question who had the ability to solve the problems of my community? I discovered that the television show “Law and Order” offered a possible answer. As the youngest child of my household, my older siblings affinity for the show naturally steered
Additionally, DuVernay neglects to provide a middle ground between the hyperbolic “super predators” and genuine predators, giving off the impression that crime did not exist in this timeline. Without giving context to how gangs manipulated young people to sell drugs, she fails to highlight how the socioeconomic impact of slavery and institutional racism provide the perfect push factors for gang involvement (Howell,
Conflict theory indicates that the oppression of certain groups results in the stability of the power structure. Inner-cities are notorious for the limited opportunities presented to the black community, violence, and difficulty in rising above the poverty line. Canadian sociologist Alan Sears explains Trump’s obsession with inner-cities in that: “…social institutions that preserve the current order…are acting in interests of the powerful, who benefit from the ongoing exploitation of the disadvantaged. Politics is the expression of the conflict in interests between the powerful and the subordinated groups…” (Sears 155). Trump focuses on the situation in inner-cities because acknowledging the problem politically would be more beneficial to him and the rest of society than trying to change it.
America has a long history with television, and since the very beginning those who produce it have been trying to use the medium to spread messages and encourage discussion between audience members. With a show like the one I’m going to analyze, Breaking Bad, very little information gets laid out plainly for the audience. Instead, subtle clues are spread throughout the show through textual elements such as camera work, visual design, and character’s actions, left for the audience so that they may piece it together and discover what lies beneath for themselves. This type of direction for a show also intends for audience discussion and debate, just in a more convoluted way. This is how shows today function as cultural forums. In this essay I will analyze the television series Breaking Bad and examine how it functions as a cultural forum in this way and poses the question,
Money is a major symbol of American meritocracy—the major symbol of American hyperreality—American life is literally sustained upon this singular thing. And again, given the way wealth is distributed within this country and how the gap continues to widen, the power to articulate who gets to live and who gets the short end of the stick is at an imbalance. This makes gentrification a weapon of structural violence. Peter Marcuse insists that the problem of gentrification “[…] should be tackled comprehensively through a city-wide housing plan established through democratic and participatory planning, with binding guidelines aimed at creating an adequate supply of housing across all income ranges and prioritizing measures to provide decent and affordable housing for those who are not provided for […]” (Marcuse 2015:1265). These assertions are ideal yet in a capitalist system that values the perks of a private free market economy, they remain largely unseen. Baudrillard insists that since money became a “universal equivalent” on which American society uses to measure everything including our lives, we have lost touch with the material reality long ago. Money thus degenerates culture and personal meaning, making it easier to denounce those living in gentrified places prior to its renewal. The ethical
The number one thing people hear about in the inner city. Why is it so violent in the inner city people ask? In the inner city there the neighborhoods are separated and because there is so much poverty the only way people can focus their energy is to violence. People in the inner city think that if the commit these violent crimes they think that they will get peoples attention and show them how they are living in the terrible conditions that they live in. (Thompson) Another reason why there is much violence in the inner city is because of drugs. If there wasn’t a war on drugs gun violence in the inner city wouldn’t exist. (Thompson) Drugs and violence go hand in hand in in in the inner city. Just last year the death toll increased across America by 78 percent. (Thompson) Violence leads to incarceration and that means males in jail. Males are the ones who are suppose to provide for families and with women working 2 jobs just to put on the table for kids isn’t going to be a good lifestyle. It will lead to poverty every time and it’s a repeating