Tag: Crime

I absolutely love this show. After watching the trailer, I expected it to be some basic Drug War propaganda about how good innocent people’s lives inevitably get destroyed & ended early whenever they get involved with drugs, but I decided to watch it anyways because it looked like potentially quality content (& I am a propaganda analyst, after all). The series opens with a cold-blooded murder, which seems to confirm my suspicion. But as the 8-episode first season unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that the narcotics detective is the villain of the show, rather than the hero, and that the drug users and the gangsters who supply them are merely victims of a brutal inhuman system of tyranny called drug prohibition.
As with almost every brilliant radical film & TV show, the industry stooges who professionally write reviews all seem to have hated it. That’s how you know a piece of cinema is truly revolutionary & contrary to the official narrative of social control they want us to consume. Anti-War on Drugs propaganda is very rare in this country, so that’s all the reason we must cherish it when it does manage to get made. Please watch this show! You can get a free trial of STARZ through Amazon or Hulu. Don’t sleep on it!
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Brilliant film, I see why it won Best Picture. It depicts a small town going berzerk over this mother’s attempt to get justice for her dead daughter. It suggests the utility of a biometric genomic database gathered from every single person, rather than just people who already got caught for prior crime. It made me wonder about the recidivism rate, and how maybe it’s so high relative to the crime rate in part because the cops only have the DNA of convicted criminals! So rapists & murderers who haven’t gotten caught can go on comitting their crimes with impunity! Anyways, utopia is the opposite of a police state, but it is also a place where rape & murder don’t happen. This is indeed a paradox, but utopian ideation is supposed to challenge our thinking, to stoke us to imagine how such circumstances might be possible. Sometimes illuminating a dystopian present can give way to a utopian future. ♥ Neonn

❝ In the era of colorblindness, it is no longer socially permissible to use race, explicitly, as a justification for discrimination, exclusion, and social contempt. Yet, as legal star Michelle Alexander reveals, today it is perfectly legal to discriminate against convicted criminals in nearly all the ways that it was once legal to discriminate against African Americans. Once you’re labeled a felon, the old forms of discrimination―employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of the right to vote, denial of educational opportunity, denial of food stamps and other public benefits, and exclusion from jury service―are suddenly legal. ❞

“South Los Angeles is home to two of America’s most infamous African-American gangs – the Crips and the Bloods. On these streets over the past 30 years, more than 15,000 people have been murdered in an ongoing cycle of gang violence that continues unabated. In Made In America, renowned documentarian Stacy Peralta blends gripping archival footage and photos with in-depth interviews of current and former gang members, historians, and experts, documenting the emergence of the Bloods and the Crips, but also offering insight as to how this ongoing tragedy might be resolved.”

❝ This series looks at the narcotics scene in Baltimore through the eyes of law enforcers as well as the drug dealers and users. Other facets of the city that are explored in the series are the government and bureaucracy, schools and the news media. The show was created by former police reporter David Simon, who also wrote many of the episodes. ❞ [Google]

❝ The Wire is an American crime drama television series set and produced in Baltimore, Maryland. Created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon, the series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. The Wire premiered on June 2, 2002, and ended on March 9, 2008, comprising 60 episodes over five seasons.

Each season of The Wire introduces a different institution in the city of Baltimore and its relationship to law enforcement, while retaining characters and advancing storylines from previous seasons. The five subjects are, in chronological order: the illegal drug trade, the seaport system, the city government and bureaucracy, education and schools, and the print news media. The large cast consists mainly of actors who are little known for their other roles, as well as numerous real-life Baltimore and Maryland figures in guest and recurring roles. Simon has said that despite its framing as a crime drama, the show is “really about the American city, and about how we live together. It’s about how institutions have an effect on individuals. Whether one is a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge or a lawyer, all are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution to which they are committed.”

The Wire is lauded for its literary themes, its uncommonly accurate exploration of society and politics, and its realistic portrayal of urban life. While during its original run the series received only average ratings and never won any major television awards, it is now regarded by many critics as one of the greatest television shows of all time. ❞ [Wikipedia]

created by David Simon
Blown Deadline Productions