Capital New York

Micher commented on The very white poetry of 'Mad Men'

Awesome stuff, Steven. One (somewhat off-point) comment to make: You're free to have your interpretation--and I'm admittedly out of my depths in challenging someone regarding THEIR OWN feelings about race in a work of art--but I'd invite you to give The Wire another try. It's rightfully heralded as a fantastic show (though you are correct to point out that it is done so overwhelming by white critics), and part of the reason for that is that it really does challenge our preconceived notions about race, crime, poverty, disadvantage, and privilege. It may seem as though McNulty is "sigh(ing) deeply at the 'tragedy that is Baltimore.'," but you'd find that he's holds a similarly myopic view of the promise of America. Also, part of the poetry (to borrow a phrase) of The Wire is that characters will lapse into this grandiose, stylistic prose, but remain oblivious to the clarity of their thought. Snot Boogie's opening scene is a great example, but characters of all race are subject to this tendency. As I said, you're free to your own reading of the scene, and this is hardly the most important egg of an argument for me to pull out of this excellent post, but I'd hope that might give another chance to what I think is one of the greatest television shows of all-time. Sorry, just wanted to put that out there. Like I said, a very insightful piece, and an engrossing read!

Posted on June 8th, 2012 7:47pm