Is this really the last season of The Wire?
Well, that's what they say. And I, for one, have no doubt that it's true. Homicide, The Corner, The Wire. David Simon is a master.
But with all due respect David...Fuck You!
You don't take the greatest piece of television ever produced and end it early just to "go out on top." Who invented that "go out on top anyway"? Probably a Giants fan too upset with Willie Mays's last years with the Mets.
You, like you have stated in interviews, believe you've shined a light on what others refuse to acknowledge. The farce that is the drug war. A dying industry and a dying working man. The corruption that is local politics. How a broken educational system contributes to urban decay.
Now we find out how the media plays into this story. It's The Wire on HBO. You invented it, but it's not yours anymore. It's ours. Those who it moves. I am so moved by your work I think of leaving my gravy life in Minnesota to go back my hometown. Charm City. Bodymore, Murderland.
We're less than a decade away from President of the United States Tommy Carcetti. (I know, it's not really O'Malley.) Another 291 Baltimore Murders in 07. The ghetto moves out, my wealthy young professional peers move back in. They rebuild, but at what cost?
My mom still narcans people in the ER everyday.
Maybe it's the real cost of urban renaissance. Maybe it's the Baltimore Hispanic community. Maybe the Russians. The Baltimore Jewish population. I spent a dozen years in Pikesville. You know there are plenty of stories there that come right back to your story lines.
Or maybe its the difference between the haves and the have nots. Or maybe you show me the side where people make it out alive. A season of recovery. From drugs, from money problems, from crime. Whatever.
You don't start telling the story of urban America, the only story that has ever really gotten it right on a major stage, then stop. You owe me more. You want my help, sure. Just ask. But you owe me more. You owe Baltimore more. You owe yourself more.
But most importantly, you owe the real people you are telling the story for more. You've given a voice to those who have never had one. They may not ever again.
Thanks for listening David. Sorry about the Fuck You.
Byron Warnken
