Dear Reader,
HBOs acclaimed drama "The Wire" will end its fifth and final breathtaking season on March 9, much to the chagrin of the entire In These Times staff. In our March issue, Associate Editor Brian Cook articulates the hidden joy we find inside the show's layered and often grim depiction of life in fictional Baltimore.
Its characters are almost lovingly drawn: complex, sympathetic, flawed, human. The dialogue is not only painstakingly realistic, but often wildly funny. The performancesfrom an ensemble cast of more than 70 actorsחare uniformly excellent. In this way, "The Wire" suggests an answer to the intractable social problems it details: If we approached those problems with the same care, attention to detail, passion, intelligence and love as its creators collectively bring to the show, the world would be a better place.With the series coming to a close, we asked Cook to highlight one of his favorite scenes from the series' early years:
- So many good ones, but a relatively minor one that has nevertheless stuck with me is from Season three, when Brother Mouzone forces his henchman to search Baltimore's gay bars in a vain attempt to locate Omar. In one bar, the henchman's unease in this milieu is visibly
apparent, and the bar's clientele begin to have a good laugh at his expense, ridiculing his square homophobia. Suddenly, one of the laughing patrons at the end of the bar who was previously obscured comes into view, and it's Deputy Police Commissioner Rawls, about whom there's never been even the slightest hint about his sexual preferences.
The revelation comes as quite a shock, and yet when you analyze it, it's hard to say why. In fact, what strikes me most about the scene is that Rawls not only seems to be laughing at the henchman's homophobia, but at the viewer's "shocked" reaction to Rawls' "outing." A lot has been written about how empowering it is for one of the show's strongest characters (Omar) to be a homosexual, but I think this scene is equally powerful in the way that it simply normalizes Rawls' homosexuality. In the moral universe of the show, Rawls' homosexuality is just not that big a deal, certainly a less important character trait than the fact that he's something of a spineless careerist. Tolerance of "differences" is simply taken as a given, and what makes a man (or woman) isn't what he or she is, but how he or she acts.
Click here to read Joys of "The Wire" from our March issue.
Although our Sunday nights are reserved for "The Wire," In These Times has not ignored the presidential primary race. Our March cover story by Erica Falk explains how historically, the media has held a strong bias against female presidential candidates.
Despite striking advances over the last century in womens social and political rights, and in attitudes about women in politics, press coverage of women candidates is not much better today than it was in 1872. The most significant consequence of this is not that, should a woman run, the press would make it less likely for her to win. Rather, the real problem is that such press coverage may make women less likely to run.
For more, click here to read Cutting Women Out.
Finally, our Assistant Publisher Jarrett Dapier is looking for some help in our office and wanted to pass along this message to our Chicago readers:
- We here at In These Times are excited by the momentum and growth our magazine is experiencing. But we would not be here without you - our community of readers. Are you looking for a way to become even more active in this community? Do you wonder what more you can do to help In These Times? Consider volunteering.
We are currently seeking volunteers of all ages who are available to commit 4-8 hours per week assisting our publishing department in a variety of organization-building administrative tasks. Computer skills and phone skills are necessary. This is an excellent opportunity to become active in the movement of our magazine as it grows.
If you or anyone you know - students, retired individuals, friends and family - are interested in learning more about what we have in mind, please email me - jarrett@inthesetimes.com.
We appreciate all your support.
Yours Truly,
Adam Doster, senior editor and acting Web editor