IDS 2018 - HBO’s “The Wire”: Through a Cinematic and Social Lens

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Too often the stories we watch on television or in the movie theater are disconnected from the actual, real-life implications and consequences of the worlds they portray. Full of genre conventions, stereotypes, and easy narrative solutions – and packed with commercial messages and wrapped up in under an hour or two – these cinematic documents evaporate quickly from the minds of the audience as it moves on to consume other formulaic media McNuggets. But HBO’S series “The Wire” (June 2002-March 2008) warrants closer scrutiny. Its complex, genre-bending film narrative and oft-brooding aesthetic lingers long after the screen has grown dark and invites us to examine the relationship between story and reality. In this course, we closely analyze how this landmark television series is constructed (both in form and narrative) as well as what it has to say about enduring social structures (policing, the legal system, commerce, city politics, education, and the media) and social problems (substance abuse, human trafficking, urban poverty, political corruption, educational disparities).
McDaniel Plan: Multicultural