Simon on Wire/Treme

We don’t often write about televison on JoBlo, but I’m making an exception here because it’s David Simon, it’s “The Wire”… and that’s pretty much all that needs to be said.

For those not in the know, “The Wire” was an HBO dramatic series that spanned 5 seasons from 2002-2008, chronicling the lives, the events, and the politics of the people of Baltimore, MD. What seemingly began as a show primarily focused on the procedural of cops and the lives of drug dealers, soon began to unfold and reveal an amazingly rich examination of a city ill concerned with its people, commenting on the corruption and failure of American institutions and, one could say, the American Dream itself.

Simon, a former journalist for the Baltimore Sun and creator of what many consider to be the most comprehensive and intelligent American television show ever produced, sat down and spoke to Vice Magazine about both “The Wire” and “Treme”, the currently filming new HBO drama that looks at the lives of musicians living in the Treme subdistrict of the city of New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina.

“New Orleans has created such unique cultural art in terms of music and dance, and it’s a very idiosyncratic culture, it shows the value of what the American melting pot is capable of. It does it in a way that is visual and musical and demonstrable, and it does it in the f*cking street every day. Somehow this city is trying to find a way to endure while the political essence of the country doesn’t give a f*ck. That, to me, is a fascinating dynamic.”

Read the interview with David Simon in its entirety RIGHT HERE.