It's called "social history", you idiotic submitter.

What sets The Wire apart from mindless drivel like CSI and almost every single network television show is the sociology underlying The Wire.

The Wire was one of "the simplest things"?

You have your fun, subby, and I'll have mine.

Hey, analyzing can be damn right enjoyable.

I have spent quite a bit of time studying Doctor Horrible's Sing Along.

Even if it was written by that hack Whedon, and is filled with all the standard Joss-cliches, there is a lot going on under the surface.

Ethics of the Real: Screening Masculinity, Violence and the Racial Everyday in The Wire - Ashwani Sharma, University of East London

Bottom Line:

Omar is a gay, very, very gay man who will kill you if yo' be a snitch b*tch, yo!

Sorry you failed out of community college, submitter. TV and movies are today's literature as much as books are, and The Wire is among the best. It's really the visual equivalent of a novel in five parts.

/English major, so I'm guilty of analyzing the f*ck out of just about anything

Nothing simple about the wire.

It's all in the game though, right?

God forbid contemporary sociologists assess a TV show. Some great "regular guy" philosopher such as Joe Rogan might be forgotten in favor of the more mainstream-friendly brilliance of Dane Cook.

Omar's comin' for you sociologists. Explain that, biatches.

Wow, what a coincidence. I just finished Season 1 less than five minutes ago. I really really like this show, and can't wait to start Season 2.

Well, you see, there's this girl who wears bear pyjamas, and she can -- wait, The Wire?
Never mind.

Or maybe people enjoy this really interesting and complex show and give it credit by delving into the really interesting and complex aspects of said show. You know, aspects that the show's writers clearly planned out and executed through and through? Sorry submitter, I sort of get what you're trying to go for, but you just farking missed the point of this entirely. Whether or not you meant it so, it purely comes off like knee-jerk-anti-intellectualism. Which belongs somewhere else.

Martstar: Sorry you failed out of community college, submitter. TV and movies are today's literature as much as books are, and The Wire is among the best. It's really the visual equivalent of a novel in five parts.

/English major, so I'm guilty of analyzing the f*ck out of just about anything messing up your order in the drive thru

FTFY.

Dialectic:

Bottom Line:

Omar is a gay, very, very gay man who will kill you if yo' be a snitch b*tch, yo!

He only wanted some food. He's starving, man. You woulda done the same.

/wait what?

Dialectic: Ethics of the Real: Screening Masculinity, Violence and the Racial Everyday in The Wire - Ashwani Sharma, University of East London

Bottom Line:

Omar is a gay, very, very gay man who will kill you if yo' be a snitch b*tch, yo!

omar doesn't swear, he was a snitch, and yo is only short for you if it is possessive.

YoTengoId: Dialectic: Ethics of the Real: Screening Masculinity, Violence and the Racial Everyday in The Wire - Ashwani Sharma, University of East London

Bottom Line:

Omar is a gay, very, very gay man who will kill you if yo' be a snitch b*tch, yo!

omar doesn't swear, he was a snitch, and yo is only short for you if it is possessive.

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

Money ain't got no owners, only spenders.

Academics can't win. If they ignore contemporary culture, they're accused of being stuck in the ivory tower. If they embrace it, they're accused of over-analysis.

This is what they're supposed to be doing, subby. Engaging with modern-day social phenomena. The Wire did what no other TV show is doing. It deserves to be studied.

*Waits for the inevitable comparison between The Wire and The Shield*

/(The Shield is way better)

Crudbucket: Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

Dammit, beat me to it.

Omar's comin'!

Apparently subby has never read every other thread where farkers happily dissect and argue about The Wire (See BioStormX's comment).

Subby must be one of them Real Americans^TM that doesn't need those elitist types that do things like read, or think.

BioStormX: *Waits for the inevitable comparison between The Wire and The Shield*

/(The Shield is way better)

it's okay to have this kind of opinion but it is best kept to yourself. it's the kind of thing that makes people feel embarrassed for you.

Got them yellow-tops!

Pandemic!

I'm actually in the middle of re-watching the entire series, four episodes into season 4 at the moment, so you know, I'm getting a kick and all that.

I believe that during the campaign BHO said that his favorite show was The Wire.

I like to whistle "The Farmer in the Dell" when I'm walking in my neighborhood just to freak people out.

As a PhD student in sociology and a big fan of the show, I must say: a) I am getting a kick, and b) I actually think this is pretty ridiculous.

Clearly, it is impossible to truly judge without seeing the actual presentations or reading the papers, but since Fark is all about NRTFA, I would venture that the vast majority are simply rehashing theory in the framework of The Wire, ie. "Butler's thesis of performativity is tested with Omar's...", "Foucault's analogy of the panopticon aptly describes the mindframe of Avon within episode...", "McNulty attempts to break from Weber's iron cage, driven to..." (trying not to spoil as I hugely respect the show and had a few key deaths spoiled for me, something I would not wish on my worst enemy).

OK, so the show was really good, and one can "fit" theory to the content, but I don't think any sociologist who had seen the entire series would really be enlightened, either with regard to the show or their work. What I mean to say is that nothing new (hesitate to use the word "new", as Borges and others would argue that no theory is new) would really be learned. Sounds more like drawing stale connections than the conceiving of unique paradigms of thought. There is nothing wrong with that if one acknowledges it for what it is. In fact, I find it fun. But this is partly the reason why sociologists get (rightfully) lambasted for academic masturbation. Theory can be really inspiring and innovative; I doubt that this conference would produce anything along these lines.

But hey, any excuse to get drunk with your colleagues partially on the department's dime, right? (the real point of conferences). In conclusion, sheeeeeeeeeiiit.

Gotta believe subby's being trollish here.

JimmyCarter'sSecondTerm: I believe that during the campaign BHO said that his favorite show was The Wire.

Indeed.

LordOfThePings: The Wire was one of "the simplest things"?

Yeah. It was a TV SHOW.

Bravo subby!

The rest of you get back to contemplating your naval searching for oneness with infinity.

The Wire is a great, complex show with a lot of social ramifications. Hell, Barack Obama admitted to enjoying it and loving Omar.

Subby is a putz.

Please go back to watching CSI.

I really really like this show, and can't wait to start Season 2.

Let me do you a favor. Skip season 2 (it was very weak) and 3 (weak again and completely unbelievable) and go to 4. It was the best one.

NewHairGrowth: Let me do you a favor. Skip season 2 (it was very weak) and 3 (weak again and completely unbelievable) and go to 4. It was the best one.

Woah, hold on there. Season 2 was the weakest, but season 3 was downright awesome. The concept of Hamsterdam is brilliant, as unbelievable as you may find it. McNulty and Lester in season 5 was more unbelievable in my opinion.

For those that haven't seen it, don't skip any episodes. There's way too much information passed on in each one.

NewHairGrowth: I really really like this show, and can't wait to start Season 2.

Let me do you a favor. Skip season 2 (it was very weak) and 3 (weak again and completely unbelievable) and go to 4. It was the best one.

Anybody who listens to this retarded advice will miss one of the best scenes of the entire series.

98K514: NewHairGrowth: I really really like this show, and can't wait to start Season 2.

Let me do you a favor. Skip season 2 (it was very weak) and 3 (weak again and completely unbelievable) and go to 4. It was the best one.

Anybody who listens to this retarded advice will miss one of the best scenes of the entire series.

I can do a British accent.

NewHairGrowth: I really really like this show, and can't wait to start Season 2.

Let me do you a favor. Skip season 2 (it was very weak) and 3 (weak again and completely unbelievable) and go to 4. It was the best one.

season 2 is my favorite season, mostly because of Frank Sabotka -- though i'll admit that it's not the best season, that being season 4 hands down.

none of the series should be skipped -- at all.

P.J. O'Rourke props to subby.

NewHairGrowth: I really really like this show, and can't wait to start Season 2.

Let me do you a favor. Skip season 2 (it was very weak) and 3 (weak again and completely unbelievable) and go to 4. It was the best one.

Season 2 is clearly the least liked, but I think the writers had the right idea of taking a whole different direction after season 1. And it's not as bad as people claim. My only real problem with it is that their is way too much exposition with the McNulty storyline.

How can you rag on Season 3? If I had to sum up the show in one word, it's "Hamsterdam."

Haven't any of these people seen Season 4?

Dr David Parenti: We get the grant, we study the problem, we propose solutions. If they listen, they listen. If they don't, it still makes for great research. What we publish on this is gonna get a lot of attention.
Colvin: From who?
Dr David Parenti: From other researchers, academics.
Howard "Bunny" Colvin: Academics?! What, they gonn' study your study? [chuckles and shakes head] When do this shiat change?

homarjr: NewHairGrowth: Let me do you a favor. Skip season 2 (it was very weak) and 3 (weak again and completely unbelievable) and go to 4. It was the best one.

Woah, hold on there. Season 2 was the weakest, but season 3 was downright awesome. The concept of Hamsterdam is brilliant, as unbelievable as you may find it. McNulty and Lester in season 5 was more unbelievable in my opinion.

For those that haven't seen it, don't skip any episodes. There's way too much information passed on in each one.

Exactly.

/watched season five today at work to complete my umpteenth time watching the entire thing
//Obama also said his favorite character is/was Omar
///Michael FTW

NewHairGrowth: I really really like this show, and can't wait to start Season 2.

Let me do you a favor. Skip season 2 (it was very weak) and 3 (weak again and completely unbelievable) and go to 4. It was the best one.

You may be trolling, but I'm responding anyway. Even if seasons 2 and 3 were weak (and they weren't), they are still head and shoulders above just about any other series on TV. It's like saying Micheal Jordan wasn't good in 1997 because he didn't even average 30 points per game.