Your course journal is designed to help you demonstrate your understanding of the influence mass media and popular culture can have on society. These journal prompts are based on Shirin Deylami and Jonathan Havercroft’s book, The Politics of HBO’s The Wire: Everything Is Connected.
For this assignment, you will be responding to a series of short questions pertaining to the politics in The Wire. Each answer should be between 4-6 sentences. The assignment is worth 40 points.
Here are the questions:
- “Many academics and social scientists express great admiration for The Wire, largely because of its uncanny ability to portray various commonly ignored truths about contemporary urban America. What often goes unacknowledged, however, is that the act of presenting these truths in the form of a fictionalized TV drama constitutes a unique, and quite radical, critique of the existing politics (and economics) of academic knowledge production.” How does The Wire ‘teach’ social/political concepts that go beyond textbook knowledge?
- “The Wire asks its audience to evaluate various characters not according to transcendent values of ‘good’ and bad’ but rather according to how they creatively live within the limitations and possibilities of the social structure that is, how well they ‘play the game’.” Provide examples from the show to support this point.
- “In addition to being directed at a predominantly white, affluent, HBO-consuming audience, The Wire also specifically targets a highly educated demographic.” In recent decades however, The Wire has become increasingly attractive to millennials – both in and out of school. Why do you think this is the case? What is the attraction of the show?
Reflection:
In 4 – 6 additional sentences, reflect on your personal observations by responding to the following:
- In this chapter, you read about the influence and evolution of electronic games and entertainment. Comment on the way game culture is present in The Wire. Cite specific examples and extrapolate on how these creative choices may tie into the show’s political message(s).