THE PLANK JANUARY 14, 2008
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I see via Mike that Obama's favorite character on The Wire is Omar. Mike says this is the sort of thing that endears Obama to journalists, but, I don't know, isn't Omar a bit of a predictable choice? I mean, who doesn't like Omar? Obama would have endeared himself more to this Wire-watching reporter if he'd named Bunk or Prop Joe or Bunny Colvin. And I think he really would have endeared himself more to David Simon, who in a long harrangue against a couple of writers dialogueing about The Wire for Slate, recently complained:
And in all instances when people come up to me to discuss how much they
love them some Omar and how he's the bestest character ever, well,
okay, my eyes do glaze to the point of distraction and I do desperately
try to change the subject back to whatever the collective
conversational zeitgeist might be at a given gathering.
Then again, I'm the genius who said Obama was lame to do the Monday Night Football intro. So maybe his judgment about the intersection of politics and pop culture is a bit better than mine.
--Jason Zengerle
5 comments
If the Wire were as popular as Seinfeld, this would be like Obama saying that "Kramer" was his favorite chracter (rather than Peterman or Frank Costanza or someone like that). But the very fact that Obama even watches the Wire gives him credit with me. It gets, what, 3 million viewers per episode? Great show. And Omar is probably one of the most interesting characters in TV history, so I'm not sure we can fault him for liking the guy.
- virginiacentrist
January 14, 2008 at 3:07pm
I bet Hillary likes Prop Joe--the front runner/establishment candidate, trying to stay ahead of the young riser.
- sprechs
January 14, 2008 at 4:02pm
Hillary likes GRAY'S ANATOMY. And some show about home decor, I forgot. It's in the same article where Obama picked The Wire.
- psantillana
January 14, 2008 at 4:11pm
I don't care what David Simon says -- Omar is a fantastic character. (Simon may feel bullied a little bit by his own creation -- Omar was originally slated for only a few episdoes until audience reaction, I think, carried him forward.) In addition to being endlessly entertaining, Omar is uniquely *effective* in the show, which I think offers welcome relief from the bleakness of the Wire's landscape. He's the only one who gets away with not playing the game (except his own). Everyone else is beaten by it or is a scumbag. While that bleakness is the obvious point of the Wire, which may lead Simon to think that emphasizing Omar is missing the point, he's an irresistible wild card. Bunk may have been the safer choice, and one I'd be sympathetic with. After all, Bunk doesn't hold up drug dealers and, more importantly, he isn't gay. But Colvin is the worst choice -- he legalizes drugs! Plus, he's impotent. It's an interesting show for Obama's candidacy. He talks about hope, and the show is decidedly *not* about hope.
- jhildner
January 14, 2008 at 4:28pm
When a Wire fan talks about hope, it gives the hope talk more credibility. For example, sometimes Bruce Springsteen* will pop out with something hopeful. When the freak who wrote "The River", "Born in The USA", "Downbound Train", and a whole careerful of jaw-droppingly depressing songs says [albeit in a different song] that life is [still] worth living and fighting for, it's automatically much more believable than when it's from some candyass who, say, doesn't like to watch "depressing" movies. Those people are hopeless cowards.
*I don't want to hear any g.d. too-cool-for-school ragging on Bruce Springsteen. And even if you hate him, that's beside my point. But it's tiresome anyway.
- psantillana
January 14, 2008 at 6:05pm