The Wire : The Dickensian Aspect

Anybody who has seen The Wire will know what a brilliant piece of work it is, and yet it remains something of a mystery to those who haven’t seen anything of it (There are two groups of people when it comes to The Wire, those that love it, and those who haven’t seen it).

When The Wire comes up in conversation with someone from the second group, I find myself trying to put into words exactly how good it is. One of the ways I’ve previously come up with is “if Shakespeare was alive today and American, he’d have written The Wire”, but I dismissed this approach because while I believe not far from the truth it sounds like hyperbole and rather narrows further conversation as the person looks back quizzically and asks “Really?”. Plus I didn’t enjoy Shakespeare nearly as much as The Wire.

But it appears maybe I really wasn’t that far off the mark, as a great essay that’s been passed round the Internet argues that a much lauded English scribe ain’t got nothing on The Wire. (Okay, it’s talking about Dickens not Shakespeare, but still).

Find it here: http://hoodedutilitarian.com/2011/03/when-its-not-your-turn-the-quintessentially-victorian-vision-of-ogdens-the-wire/ and grab the shotgun cos “Omars comin’”.