"All in the Game..."

Wow. I have just finished Season 1 of The Wire. Wow. It is immense. I have never seen characters so well drawn, a narrative so sprawling and intricate yet so accessable. A lot was made of it's gritty realism when it first aired on HBO and rightly so; violence isn't shirked but not used gratuitously and it's hard to distinguish the criminals from the police, but the joy of The Wire isn't in the realism. The joy of The Wire is in the manner which it creates such an engrossing all-encompassing world. As a viewer you are there on the sticky streets of Baltimore with the addicts, police brutality and the syringes putting holes in your shoes. It doesn't judge, it doesnt preach and law and order is examined in an eloquent and balanced way. The dialogue is authentic and beautifully put together, despite the amount of times "mother hubbard!"'s ugly sister is used per episode. In short it is genius.

All of these things should make me happy. But they don't. The Wire's brilliance gives me enjoyment but it also makes me realise that we live in a country where it can only draw 37,000 viewers an episode. This intelligent, thought provoking drama that has moments of comedy, profundity and that is most importantly rivetingly entertaining does not get one hundreth of the audience bestowed on masterpieces such as the 6 month long commercial that is the X Factor. Admitedley there is a place for light entertainment but every now and then can't we give some credit to pieces of art (because that is what The Wire is) that challenge us and the world we live in. Why not create a culture where programmes like The Wire populate the prime time schedules instead of the insipid, myopic bollocks that monopolises TV channels for months at a time. It's a nice idea but as Omar so aptly articulates in The Wire it's: "All in the game yo, all in the game."

*To those not familiar with Baltimore speak "All in the Game" insinuates that something is an unavoidable part of life. Omar often uses this saying when pressing a weapon to the head of an adversary. Or when he's fuckin a mutha fuckin bitch up for their stash as I would say.