David Simon on why he created The Wire | Observer Ideas
Vložit
- čas přidán 28. 06. 2024
- Author and TV writer David Simon takes to the stage at the Observer Ideas festival 2014, at London's Barbican, to talk about how he came up with HBO hit series The Wire.
Subscribe here ► bit.ly/subgdnmembers
David Simon discusses why he set it in Baltimore, reactions from all sides of the political spectrum and what he's working on now.
Find out how to join Guardian Membership ►membership.theguardian.com?CMP=sco-7
Find out more about Guardian Live events ►membership.theguardian.com/ev...
The Guardian on CZcams:
The Guardian ► / theguardian
Guardian Football ► / guardianfootball
Guardian Music ► / guardianmusic
Guardian Tech ►
Guardian Food ► / guardianfood
Guardian Culture ► / guardianculturearts
This guy is beyond intelligent
He's reaching elegance, basically
Shoaib Ashraf Yep, he's a genius. A certified one, actually.
This comment however is well short of intelligent
@@brobsty1856 Yours as well...
I wish more people had the knowledge of this man; myself included. The world would be a much more empathetic place.
This is making a whole lot of sense in 2020
As I'm watching this video that is my very thought.
@@kelvinwallace5565 Same here, very pertinent point right at the start - 'when the first black kid went to a white school, the loss of the tax base'. Explains everything about modern white American Angst.
And definitely in 2021!
And yet, in Chicago more children have died this year from guns than covid in the entire country.
Will make sense in 3020 also. The theme is too low level(I mean basic, philosophically speaking, like a programming language). It touches accurately, the aspects which every person and every city faces. Even if we live in interplanetary civilizations, these problems will still persist.
the socioeconomic analysis that the show uses to unearth the chaos of living in a post-industrial city like Baltimore is absolutely brilliant. you’ll learn more from this show about socioeconomic issues than you would from most intro-level economic and sociology classes.
Agreed and what’s particularly great (and rare), is that it doesn’t dumb it down and over explain, or promote a specific agenda - you watch it and gradually see the bigger picture and how messed up it all is. You can’t watch the series and decide that “we just need to do X” or “it’s all Y’s fault”.
I watched the Wire before and after studying sociology, and I have to say, it only adds in enjoying the show. Much in the same way that Richard Feynman enjoys the beauty of a flower
David Simon, thank you for creating the greatest series ever. Thank you
What an amazing show. Very hard to explain what this show was about because it was so multi-faceted with so many themes.
The Sopranos is the greatest TV series of all time. Don’t get me wrong, The Wire is a masterpiece. But i think The Sopranos and Breaking Bad are better, and I would even say that Lost is better.
@@CipherSerpico damn you have a shitty taste
@@CipherSerpico LoSt better than The Wire!!!! Go back to bed boy
I'm perfectly aware the time it's been
I didn’t know he created My Mother the Car
man, David Simon is awesome. he creates, even in what he talks about, consistent truth.
The Wire was by no means your conventional flashy show meant to catch your attention with every phrase, it was just The Truth. you're rewarded by the amount of attention you put into it.
it was the most honest I've ever seen TV.
Well put! Honest is a great word choice. Cheers!
True dat!
This guy deserved so many Emmys it’s ridiculous.
This show was a documentary
lowkey
Bassicly
sfdude3 No. It was more true than a documentary.
The wire is probably the best piece of art ever put on the screen.
He looks like Herc.
I bet he's still looking for his camera.
@@cesarrodriguez8893 😂
You know what big hands mean right?
He looks like Herc and Levy got warped together
I think his mannerisms and eyes resemble those of the "imaginative" reporter in season 5, Scott Templeton. I hope not - the reporter making up stories didn't get portrayed in the most positive light. Then again, even if the character was supposed to resemble David's own journalistic history, then I can just say that forgiveness is important. All professions have a tendency to corrupt, and even more so when the "cheating" is lucrative and without any apparent drawback.
Mr Simon really raised the bar with the Wire, I don't know if another show will ever top it. The Sopranos is a close second
Bfr74vz GOT hahaha
@@nishantdsouza gay
@@theyeking7023 being sarcastic da
I have it other way around but I can see the argument for vice versa .
@Sargoy Of Mossad Sopranos is correctly rated, and don't @ me back
Why doesn't this have more views?
DreadfulControversy society is fucked up, thats what the wire shows in a way... dude you didnt understand shit of the true aim of creating that masterpiece.
DreadfulControversy Everyone's busy watching the Kardashians that's why..
DreadfulControversy Because people dont know how to follow the money
+DreadfulControversy As Kendrick would say, "Critics want to mention that they miss when hip hop was rappin’
Motherfucker, if you did, then Killer Mike'd be platinum."
+DreadfulControversy Everyone keeping up with the Kardashians -_-
As a white Gen Xer raised in Baltimore's last white working class neighborhood (Old School Hampden), The Wire filled in quite a few gaps in my knowledge of my city from sources outside my experience. I had realized early in life, much earlier than many of my peers that The Ghetto was not black in nature and not built in a day ,a week, a year or a single generation...and not without direction from those outside.
Salute for you to have been able to see that.
Its odd that Baltimore is such a small city compared to most major cities. And yet, still suffers from such awful conditions. I can never understand why people choose to stay.
@@Goffe909 they can’t afford to leave, there ain’t many places in MD you can move to since so many places here have such a high cost of living
@@FALLENSK8ER1995 That is true Maryland is expensive, I live in California and it's even more ridiculous out here.
The wire could be remade today. Nothing has changed. Justice
With the body of Herc and the brain of Prezbo, I intruduce David Simmmon.
The guy is incredible.
"Fear and money are the currencies of conservative American thought". He's exactly right.
And yet, Joe Biden authored the 94 crime bill huh.
Oh yeah, I forgot that all the Republicans opposed that bill. It's all the Democrats' fault. Thanks for the insight.
@@troupsterT If Biden and Harris never locked you up: "then you ain't black!!" 🤣🤣
Did you guys not just listen to this video??? WTF the internet is so detrimental in the way people argue
@@Goffe909 What??? Go look at the votes for that bill. Ignorance breeds silly comments like the one you just made.
There a couple of episodes of Show Me A Hero aired now, and it is excellent. It really shows Simons' commitment to not shy away from complicated problems and refusing to go for simple answers.
agree. hard to believe a miniseries about housing projects could be one of the year's best and yet it is. amazing storyteller
+Mike K Exactly. It sounds deeply boring and I would not have guessed I'd like it. But its great.
Thats actually the beauty of the Wire. Its themes are universal and timeless.
Name another showrunner with this much to say. "The Wire" is a masterpiece, and its creator is a genius.
Season 5 was pretty horrid and a struggle to make it through.
@@Goffe909 I really liked season 5
@@Daudlegur It had a few choice moments in there.
Season 1 was slow at first, hard to get into
Season 5 was slow too
@@allaboutthemurzic Do you feel because of the storytelling, or just in general?
It's a shame the simple, common man can't comprehend these ideologies and a man with this caliber of intellect won't win the support and attention of our nation simply due to fear of that which these men don't understand. Knowledge is frightening to those not willing to learn
The heck you talking about Ben you aren't american
Go back to Australia, mayt
@@JoseDiaz-ms4my you noticed that as well. Neil de Grasse Tyson and David Simon, the free flowing exchange of ideas emanating from the conversation would make for an excellent podcast or TED TALK.
Quite an elitist viewpoint to be honest
Poor Simon. On account of The Wire and some of its characters, each a worthy achievement its own right, I've an enduring affection for the dramatist and wish him well. But I don't envy the personal intellectual reckoning ineluctable in his future--be it in a few years or a few decades from this speech. For, after he's lived a little more, read a little more--and after life has forced upon him (as it does all of us) a little more humility--he'll have to look back at himself and the ethos he espoused, especially in terms of ideas and ideologies, as rendered in discussions like this one, and I pity the intense cringing he'll suffer when he does. The same as print, video imparts a cruel dual power: it at once magnifies our sophomoric errors and crushes our ego.
No strong female characters in the police department and drug corners? Kima and Snoop?!? Possibly the two toughest most badass characters in both areas (after omar of course)
'Strong character' doesn't mean tough or physically strong. It means that a character is fleshed out, layered, three dimensional, etc.
@@TarjeiElias Kima is pretty fleshed out
@@TarjeiElias not sure I could argue that Snoop is fleshed out, but there are certainly hints to a deeper side to her character.
I just pointed out the definition.
@@NoKapprio I didnt think so tbh. Her home life was not compelling
David Simon is amazing. Though I would say Kima was a strong female character.
Elena McNulty
Snoop
Beadie and Rhonda
Delonda
I think it was just meant more generally
He's right about the destruction of the idea of "the collective." Being responsible for other people has been limited to the notion of "family values" - which is just a way of not caring for anyone else's family or those without the luxury of a support system of their own.
Yep. People don't want to realize that universal healthcare, parental leave, and education are family values- not hating gay and trans people.
That's conservative values for ya. Republicans don't care about anyone else except themselves. They would burn the entire world down if it means saving themselves, damn everyone else.
@@ken_yap have you ever tried to save a drug addict?
Its a waste of time and eventually parasitic systems kill the host. The majority of people are a net negative and thats a fact
@@ken_yap As a conservative, that is simply not true. You obviously know nothing of conservative values.
@@flipierfatalbina4757 keep strawmanning any political group you disagree with, that'll definitely change some minds
This guy should be allowed to speak annually on the US Congressional floors.
What a LEGEND! The WIRE is a masterpiece so well written
I wish this guy taught in college.
so that the world would have less Top TV shows?
I wish this guy ran for public office.
He would wither and die.
He reaches way more people, and with much greater effectiveness, this way than if he were sequestered behind the ideological and financial paywall of some educational establishment. Hearts have to be changed before the minds will follow, he's sewn some seeds with great potential for the future by sneaking his message past an array of political and ideological mental watchdogs.
Dont worry there's plenty of liberal socialists teaching there already
5:17
"Heroin took the black men in the 70s and cocaine came and got the black women in the 80s and 90s."
The frank way he says this.....wow, amazing speaker.
Drugs are a victimless crime.
D D. E
He is right. Live in Oakland.
What about these last two decades?
@@mitchrc3 The only victim is the user, which is why it's even more ridiculous that they are the ones persecuted.
Actors get all the fame when the writers made it happen.
The Wire's actors had to wait 6 years to get SOME kind of light(except for Idris Elba and MBJordan). And even know they're still not getting all the fame(Dominic West was robbed by Kevin Spacey for The Affair at the golden globes). And by the way, David Simon is the best TV author in TV history, the best writer in the history of filmmaking and he's developing another mini-series. He's been speaking the truth at various festivals for two or three years. He held a lecture at Harvard where, along with a few cast members from The Wire, he educated the Harvard's kids. He's an artist and a genius, fame is not a part of what he is. He got A LOT of respect, though. Sadly his country will never listen to him.
Fuzzy Dunlop Kevin Spacey did not rob Dominic West of an award. He's a good actor, but you are being ridiculous.
Fuzzy Dunlop method man was the only person who was even remotely well known during the entire show
@@ssj4goku18825theepic Steve Earle wants a word with you.
EXACTLY!! That's why I like David Chase better then James Gandolfini. Gandolfini would'nt be famous if it wasn't for Chase. Chase is the brains behind the Sopranos!
It’s 2020 in the middle of a global pandemic with an impending economic depression on the horizon. David Simon in 2015 speaking on collective responsibility vs the American impulse towards libertarianism: we are headed for the “brick” scenario mentioned at the end of this video.
Just finished watching the five seasons in the wake of BLM and now I'm binging on The Wire analyses and videos like this.
It's just amazing how prescient he is.... and The Wire is still the best ever... Shakespearian..
Completely genuine. Smart dude. Looking forward to watching this show.
This talk is one of the best summaries of modern society you will find anywhere.
That men heroin and women crack line though that’s something powerful fr definitely got to look into it
You'd think that after more than a decade, the show would become less relevant but its actually more relevant than ever before.
Thank you for The Wire.
The title of this video should be: Davis Simons: Why he created the greatest TV series ever....
Great writing David, great to hear him in person
Almost brings a tear to my eye
Well MR Simon project is a piece of art and we're all thankful for it.
Would love to see David Simon and David Chase talking about their art
Would be beautiful
Chase is prickly and Simon rants it wouldn't be cinematic
David Simon's excellent talk at the Observer Ideas festival 2014. Well worth a watch...
Everyone loves different aspects of the wire but for me it's how complex it is. It's mind blowing how they linked hundreds of characters from different departments and fields play into same storyline.
Inteligent talk. David Simon impress me. If I was to try to rehash my own view which I think match somewhat with his, it is that dogma poisons everything. Dogma could be religion, communism, nazis, free market extremists or whatever. Whenever somebody decides one idea overrides everything and is always right no matter the cirumstance or condition then things will eventually go very wrong.
And that goes for all parts of life, not just politics but also professional life. People have these simple commandments how how things should be done regardless of specific problem being solved.
Yup. That's why if someone asks my political affiliation, I tell them I'm an anti-ideologist.
WVURxMan That is a good one ;-) I do sort of feel like saying I have some values though, like there are some things to strive towards: like freedom of speech, democracy etc. I do think securing people's material well being is important to happiness, but that doesn't mean I think we should be dogmatic about the means to achieve that. E.g. right now a marked economy based approach seems to work best to achieve that. But in principle I should be able so accept a planned economic approach if that proved better at securing material well being, protect the environment etc better.
Trouble starts when people make the tools like marked economy into a goal in itself. Like you measure success by the degree an economy is a market economy etc, instead of measuring the outcomes.
WVURxMan wvur xman you said a mouthful. oh ya I am an ani-ideologist
Charles Ferdinand I was until you totally outshone him with your sharp intellect as demonstrated by the deep insights found in your marvelously articulated comment above.
People always default to black and white thinking when under stress. It's a universal human failing.
To bad i can't forget about this series and watch it like fresh again. Its amazing
I always thought the most important aspect to the show was how the responsibility starts at the top, and that the problems trickle down from there despite how well intentioned the rest of the people are.
no, you missed the point totally.
the point is that this is SYSTEMIC. best shown with the young mayor, who REALLY wanted to change everything for the better, and the system FORCED him to become jaded, corrupt, and duplicitous. if he wasn't elected, NOTHING would change, the other mayor would act the same.
@@uncletimo6059 No he made those choices, he got in by lying and his true nature came out, he wanted more power and Baltimore was just a stepping stone for that.
@@shanequastunningbrave5376 hard disagree. I think that yes, he wanted more power - all politicians are narcissists and psychopaths that way - but he DID want to improve Bmore.
@@uncletimo6059No he chose to look after himself, the fact people are still fooled by politicians is mind blowing
@@shanequastunningbrave5376 what was his incentive to NOT look after himself and continue in Bmore? Deal with the super corrupt politicians and police and other bigwigs? They would have destroyed him. He did what he could, being what he is - a slimy, smarmy, self centered narcissist politician IN THAT EVIL SYSTEM.
It's the best TV series ever created, like an epic classic literature snapshoting the modern city will be studied in colleges in future centuries.
However, it is very scary and I still not sure what can we do with a dying city which is spiraling down due to its institutions negative feedback loop. Such things usually ends with civilization/cultural collapse or some very bloody revolution and civil wars best case.
This should have way more views.
sharing is exactly what ia needed.
I am a huge fan of The Wire and amazingly enough the series still sparks such a dialogue. Is there ever any way that we can get a sixth season or a movie?!?
Have you seen the Omar super cut? You've seen it already but still. It's the closest thing you get to a film. Or watch Homicide. One of the cops in that show is playing the same character who's the journalist/editor dude (bloke with the hat).
Yeah. I've got to get the Homicide DVD set. I read the book about 2 months ago and really enjoyed it.
If you haven't read the immortal life of Henrietta lacks yet why not give it a chance? Based in Baltimore and the medical institution. Carried the same theme of people making unethical policies for profit. Couldn't help but think another season of the wire could have been set in the medical institution.
Jazzi Hill, if you haven’t seen The Corner, it’s worth a look. Simon did it before The Wire.
The house I live in
Amazing insight. Thank you for sharing.
What a guy! I wish I could meet him at a bar and hear some wise talk from him!
Makes sense in July 2021!
I always registered as unaffiliated because I couldn’t get behind either side 100%. I’ve loved the Wire for years but never heard David speak. I feel like finally someone is eloquently putting out into words what I’ve thought for a long time.
Looking back in 2021, his words make a lot of sense.
Being from Baltimore and still living here this gives me chills
How close to the truth does The Wire get? How is it today?
@@WonderTracks he in the vacants now...
Bravo!
25:00 - a brilliant description of the "purchase government"
David Simon speaks convincingly and is pragmatic. He reflects on a future that is happening everywhere where we forget those around us. I am not surprised that the middle class is being hollowed out and people who are not aggressive and part of the sharing economy are loosing out. If anything we need real mutuals who are there to benefit everyone who is willing to be responsible and commit to limiting their consumption. I am inspired again.. I forgot that this is who I am. thank you.
A white man who really GETS IT. Such a refreshing sight. The Wire's brilliance is in no way coincidental. Kudos David Simon!
90% of the statements below are exactly what Simon is speaking against. To subscribe generally to one ideology when it comes to vastly different issues is pure idiocy and the true reason problems have yet to be solved while we as a country have been arguing about the same things for 50 years.
Ex. (And this will take flack, ready for it) Capitalism can be argued to be the natural state of human affairs and therefore the fairest system, Socialism can be argued to be the ideal - where everyone gets what they need and society is healthier as a whole. Neither system has been worked to perfection. Unchecked capitalism leads to massive inequality while most socialist states fall behind in economic growth and tend to collapse. Where does a reading of history lead us? Logic would tell us to new synthesized ideas - yet it hasn't. And society still does not progress - the individual does not progress.
Unfortunately, this in itself falls on individuals. It is one's own responsibility to learn different viewpoints - from the classic to the new age - and come up with new solutions. Education should be geared toward independent critical thinking and not leading young people toward a structured value system (at least relative to political thinking). People like David Simon should make more work and have lectures like these aired prime time on NBC. It should be recommended viewing on everyone's Google+ account, yet it sits at the back of youtube for over a year with 43,000 measly views. It's gross.
Willem DaFuckedUp did u read his full comment I'm pretty sure he made your point aware
R JN socialism is no ideal. READ HISTORY - Russia and China killed more people than Germany during wwII
Willem and Kalvin, did you read the above post? Your posts show a complete lack of reading comprehension. You literally have no idea what his argument was. Reread it and then what you wrote.
@@iank3924 lol The tragedy of the human predicament captured in 3 youtube comments.
because as both sides can tell you ''it wasn't **pure** socialism/capitalism''
Love this guy
Well I liked this... As has been said, many more should perhaps take a listen..
Every aspect of The Wire, the drug trade, the neighborhoods, the politicians, the police…all of it could have been taken from Rochester New York or any other mid sized urban center in this country.
I’m just asking why doesn’t David Simon have more opinions? Being in the newsroom with this guy would have been like SAS training
Even when he's spoonfeeding we'll find ways to turn our heads and say "nnNOO!
well said! this man is a genius! He speaks with real insight and knowledge. Yet we have people talking negatively about a good suggestions on how to improve our country.
@@MrMReed7 I know it's a real pessimistic thing to say but I can't help but feel the following statement: We get the world we deserve. We have detailed solutions to MANY crippling problems that even the most desperate people are reluctant to apply. Nobody can feign ignorance anymore
Edriss Scofield facts! Well said!
This is great. Wow
I completely agree with pretty much everything he says. We focus too much on our own freedom and liberty, and not worrying about each other. Plus, we seem to only have certain response to certain issues, which, as he says, doesn't work every time. Clever bloke!
The fact that this was 8 years ago....
What was that he said about prison numbers? America having more prisoners than China and a way smaller population. Prisoners being the new dependable currency for America and that's due to the burgeoning middle class. Either way sounds like he knows what he's talking about.
I would love to see an in depth documentary explaining lobbying and how capitalism will always pay to keep making its money. Just to see it broken down for my tiny brain to understand, and also that of the American People!
In the UK we saw that 120,000 broken families living in the poverty line in 2010 were costing £9bn to support annually. Our government set up a troubled families unit in 2011 with under half a billion to fund the next three years, trying to fix these families. Of families that received interventions (f**k off Jeremy Kyle!), 90% of them were turned around. £75K annually is an average cost one broken family has on the system.
Nice to know we are not asking for more prisons for these people. That's the point I'm making. But this is our government doing this. How can this be done in America when they are wanting people in prisons!?
Superb
The game is the game.
"nah man, its strictly business" Stringer Bell
WISE MAN. Thank you for your work.
This man is a legend.
This dude. Damn.
Legend.
Woah this is lovely
Collective responsibility vs freedom & liberty.
Wise analysis.
Sublime speech.
D. Simon is a genius.
A true Genius.
It's not about the unions man it's about the fellas and lovely ladies. You showed that perfectly to us in your phenomenal show. It's not us that'll be the downfall of us, it's the fellas.
David Simon for President!!!! He gets it
Everything this guy is saying is relevant to this day. The media would never let this guy speak on CNN or Fox News
thank you for the wire. thank you, thank you..
Genius.... just total genius
It’s like a social experiment caught on film.
why hasn't this video 200k+ views? it's a sad state of affairs...a shining city on a hill indeed...
the best way to run things is a balance of free markets (capitalism) and government intervention (socialism). a flexible system. in america we try that mix of both, and manage to get the bad parts of both of them together.
A very smart awnser sir, my compliments. That's how we do it in the Neatherlands
Great talk, "the wire" is truly a special show and it would be nice if more people took your words to heart, but sadly, more often than not, as the saying goes, "money to be made, morals to be discarded".
David Simon is a Godsend.
27:30
the wire will be discussed in 200 years time, it is a true work of genius. nothing in tv comes anywhere near it
everything he said has so much truth to whats going on now.
still the best show ever made
Genius
Woah.
Would love to see him do a show or movie about when an entire society descends into Mass psychosis.
24:30 Do I hear Slavoj Zizek?
David Simon should make a show about the downfall of HOLLYWOOD and the reasons why movies like indies aren't doing well in the box office worldwide.
He's being so brave. He munched that stage.
which one of two things is happening?