Ode to The Wire

Houseguest left for Canada Saturday, which makes me very sad, but he has become long distance Writing Partner instead. So Writing Partner and I are hard at work on current project and we are stoked. I'm a little concerned that he doesn't have the time I do to dedicate to the project, but if it doesn't work I can always take over and finish the whole thing myself. I could do it myself right now if I wanted to, but I really like his ideas and think it will be fun to collaborate.

Writing Partner is very picky about what he watches. I could spend 24 hours straight watching television and still not clear everything in my DVR, but Partner would much rather practice his guitar than sit down to catch an ep of Prison Break. He considers that a waste of time.

There are four shows we agree on: Friday Night Lights, which he likes but dismisses as "guilty pleasure", Ali G which he's completely obsessed with, Family Guy and The Wire on HBO.

We've been watching a lot of The Wire. The show's just finishing up its fourth season and if you haven't seen it you are missing in a big way. It's about crime and education and politics and everything that is fucked up in Baltimore. But it's also about everything that's fucked up in America in general, and Baltimore is the microcosm. Nothing on TV is as real as this show because it's run by a former cop and former teacher who have experience working in the ghettos of the city. They don't pull any punches. Although my school isn't quite as bad as the one on the show, I frequently see my kids in the ones we follow. I see myself in the teachers. A lot of their problems are our problems.

It is definitely not escapist material. You won't watch The Wire and get a warm fuzzy feeling of hope. You will get a dark hole of despair in your soul that will fester and grow until it consumes you. But in a good way.

I would love to write for that show. As Maggy pointed out, I do have a ton of experience with Latino kids and I am a teacher, and that gives me a unique experience relevant to the show and where it's headed, but the staff of that show has an amazing track record of accolades. I was recently labeled "cool" by several of my students.

I'm fairly certain that if the project we're working on now got us any attention from David Simon, Writing Partner and I would both cream our respective pants.