First Week!

What’s going on everyone! I really underestimated how much work this would be. Nonetheless I am still very excited for the course. I have really enjoyed the accounts that I made and all of the work that I have put into them. I was a little confused with everything that has been going on. Lost wasn’t the word to describe me at the beginning of the week. I have my stuff together now and I am prepared to take on the course load. Here are the various accounts that I made or edited for this course.

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Watching The Wire has been interesting for me. When I found out that we would be watching it for this class I was excited. I knew what the show was and a little bit about it. It really relates to me because coming up in the community that I grew up in and with the circumstances that were given, I could have easily fell into a life of sin. When I view each episode it’s like I’m rooting for the “bad guy.” The first nine episodes have really captivated me. I find myself thinking as if this was real life and the “bad guys” are people that I know. I don’t necessarily agree with the shooting and killing but the “drug life” is real and prevalent in a lot of communities around the world. For these people drugs are their life. It’s how they make their living and its how they make it from day to day. While I do understand the perspective of a cop and what their goals and/or objectives are, it’s hard for me to be on their side. Also, I understand that it’s a show and somewhere in the future the “bad guys” will be caught. Even though I know this there is still that little hope inside that they will make it and be able to move on with their lives.

While viewing and listening to the discussion for episode 1 I totally agree with Groom and Bond about how the whole “Cop Drama” era is the background and reason for the creation of the show. There was a moment where professor Groom spoke about how the cops were using aggression and force to show their power. This particular part or theme from the show has really shaped how I view each episode. Because of this I again find myself rooting for the “Bad Guy.” My whole thing is that their is totally different way for the police to handle every situation. So now it’s hard to watch the show and not be biased to one side.

The thing that stood out the most to me from the discussion of episode 2 was the section about symmetry. I really could not grasp what symmetry had to do with the viewer watching the show. I tried and tried to understand but i kept drawing blanks. What does the symmetry of the dead body take away from the reality of the show? I don’t see how moving the body a little more to the left or to the right would make it more or less real. It’s weird to know that the directors are thinking about this and how it will affect their viewers.

In the third discussion Bond spoke about the stairway motif. I totally agree that this is evident in the series. It starts with the drug dealers and how they have to work way up. They start out in the pit and have to do most of the hard work. They think that eventually they will make it to the point where they are the new “Avon Barksdale.” It also goes over to the cops and starts with the cop they won’t take out in the streets. He’s trying to work his way to be running his own operation. Its eveident in the life of every character. They all have to work hard enough to make it up the “stairway.”

I was a little lost while watching the fourth discussion. When Groom and Bond were talking about the noir aesthetic I could see what they were talking about but i didn’t understand what it’s affect was supposed to be. Is it supposed to draw the viewer in more? I found it hard to believe that this film technique was so evident. I never realized it while watching the show. Once I looked at the shots more I started to question what would happen if the colors weren’t there. What if it was plain old white lights. It would force the viewer to lose their interest in the scene or that particular portion of the show.

I like what Bond said in the fifth discussion. He was talking about A Hunting We Will Go and he said “We’ll catch a fox, put him in a box, and then we’ll let him go.” I understood exactly what he was saying. The example that I like to use is the character bubble. He is literally playing two characters. At one moment you’ll see him with the cops and working for them and the next he’ll be out doing whatever he wants. He leaves the cops and goes out and somehow always ends up with his friend. This friend who has also been arrested multiple times but we still see him out on the streets doing what he wants.

I was really interested when I heard Professor Groom speak about Deangelo and the person he has killed in the sixth discussion. I wondered while watching the show how can you live with yourself after killing someone. It didn’t take long for me to realize that a person that is living that life is actually living an a “dog eat dog” world. After seeing it this wayI could understand why Deangelo was able to move forward. He was thinking that he has to do whatever he has to do be able to live his life. It sucks that a person would have to do something or go through something like that but I understand that that’s life.

I really enjoyed Groom and Bond speaking about the psychic and the cop going to see her. It was really weird to see him go to her and do what she said. Like Groom said their was this awkward moment where I thought to myself did it work. It was a short time because I eventually said or thought to myself ‘it’s just a show.” But this is definitely one of the many techniques that the editors and directors did to keep the audience engaged.

The parallel discussion for episode eight was very interesting. I never split Mcnaulty and his kids with Wallace and the kid with the math problem and looked at them together. But there is a certain parallel that shows that the higher up or the elder always needs help to understand something. When the kid answered Wallace and told him why he understood street slang the viewer could see that Wallace was Touched.

I agree with Bond and his shot of D’Angelo sitting in a different chair. The couch had been the “spot” for the people who did most of the work in the pit. It’s interesting to think or wonder whether or not D’Angelo has changed or is not a part of things anymore. I feel that it’s a big message that is being sent to the viewers but they have to interpret it has D’Angelo either being forced out or moving out of the group.