For the average reader or viewer, “the promise is that, as they go along, they’ll understand more and more, and maybe by the end they’ll understand most if not all of it”. This sounds daunting, but watching The Wire or Generation Kill, that’s not how it feels: the ingenious effect is to leave the viewer with the smugness-inducing sense of being smarter than before. “I love people who get to the end of the first episode and say, ‘That’s the show they’re calling the greatest show in television? What?’” Simon says. “The first season of The Wire was a training exercise. We were training you to watch television differently.
Oliver Burkeman meets David Simon, creator of The Wire. Interesting read. The Wire is easily one of the best shows ever. It seems more like a 5-season documentary, than a normal tv show. If you’ve never seen it, you’re seriously missing out.
Source: Guardian
