Interesting, do you have a link to any of those David Simon comments? I always thought that the themes of "The Wire" were so coherently presented that they would be impossible to overlook.
> But actually, the comments I made that seem to critique viewers who found The Wire late were not so intended. I thought, when I made that remark, that I was speaking to the reporter not about viewers in general, but specifically about folks pursuing the recent bracket-tourneys about best characters, shows, scenes, etc.
It was to that silliness -- and nothing more -- that I tried to say simply this: The folk sponsoring such belated silliness were not there when the show aired. Now, years removed, they parse it piecemeal and to meaningless effect. And rarely in the debate of Omar v. Stringer or Season Two vs. Four does anyone argue, say, the drug war, or the role of public education or the vagaries of market capitalism. That's the wearying part for me.
That people find the show when they do, or that people like or dislike what they will -- who can take offense at that? But is it okay to admit the Omar-is-so-cool bracket tourneys don't interest people who made the show? That debate about what we got right or wrong about urban America would be, to us, more purposeful and validating?
Apparently, no such context conveyed, either through my fault or in the edit of the Q&A, or both. Sorry if anyone thinks I was actually complaining about people liking The Wire, or when they got there. I wasn't. My critique went to how certain media folk assess the story, and how empty that stuff seems to our real purpose.
I agree with David Simon...because every real fan knows that Bunk is the real star ;)
As for not everyone looking at series like the Wire the same way, that's just natural. I'm sure a lot of people think Papers, Please is a shit game too. Can't argue with taste, can't steer people's priorities when it comes to TV shows either. The Wire for example needs a lot of attention and concentration to watch; a lot of people have some TV show on in the background, and only pay attention when something (or someone) draws attention to them.
