“Still had the idea, though.”
A brief
anecdote about capitalism. Now, if you read Steve Jobs’s biography, or really
any story about him, you’ll notice two things. One, hes ridiculously rich. Two,
he founded Apple. Now, that’s obvious, but the interesting thing is that they
aren’t as connected as one might think. Apple is often held up of an example of
capitalism at its finest, with money flowing into a firm that produces
widely-loved products, and that is largely correct. But a good majority of
Steve Jobs’s fortune came from an idea that wasn’t his. Specifically, it was
his investment in a little group called Pixar, an investment that came with no
creative influence, that gave him a lot of his personal fortune. It was John
Lassetter, Brad Bird, Andrew Stanton, et. Al., that had the ideas that made
Pixar the national treasure it is today, but Steve Jobs profited from it. He
profited more than the creators did.
D’Angelo
has a conversation about McDonald’s chicken nuggets that gets at a similar
economic insight. He basically rants about how the guy who came up with the
idea for delicious, delicious chicken nuggets probably made no money off of it.
It’s a common insight: capitalism abuses the workers, blah blah blah. But the
interesting thing is the response, which is the epigram I chose for this post
(You’ll notice I am going to start every blog post with an epigram I choose,
and end with the one David Simon chose. And, obviously, I know better than the
creator/showrunner/genius of “The Wire”).
Its an
interesting point: that there is this sort of implicit reward of creating, be
it chicken nuggets or a story about toys that come to life. And the flipside is
the indication that those who make money are, quite simply, just the best at
gaming the system that gives people money. Investors, yes, but also, taking an
example from the episode, the officers whose first concern is getting overtime
instead of doing their work. That sounds sh**ty, but perhaps that’s not the
worst thing in the world. People who want money can get it, but it comes at
that immeasurable cost to what English majors like myself call their “soul.”
McNulty, flawed as he may be, wakes up with purpose. It’s a reward, even if its
nonquantifiable.
The
question of merit hangs over “The Wire,” but I think this episode is unusual in
its treatment of financial rewards. McNulty gives Bubbles 20 bucks because of
his excellent work on the Barksdale case (and even if he is a druggie screw-up,
he does more for the case than anyone else has. And the policemen are getting
much better per-hour wages). McNulty is the “good” cop, even if he is
oftentimes a pretty terrible guy, and he believes in meritocratic rewards,
while simultaneously understanding how unmeritocratic the world he operates in
is.
Of course,
the problem with an unmeritocratic financial system is that a lot of positions
of power become filled with people who have clear incentives not to do their
job. Take Lieutenant Daniels. When he talks with his wife, she offers the exact
opposite of the advice most kids hear when they want to quit at something that
becomes trying. She reminds her husband (she serves, here, as a kind of cynical
and detached Lady MacBeth.) of the truest way to success in the brutal
Baltimore of David Simon and Ed Burns.
“You cannot lose if you do not play.” —Marla Daniels
Biggest Miss
n
I personally think this episode is a substantial
improvement from the pilot, with few scenes striking a false note. I think the
short scene of Herc ranting about Greggs’s being a “dyke bitch” is a little
off. It’s less a question of whether Herc would say that (he would), but I just
think something is a little off about the emotions underlying the words.
However, the later scene with Herc, Carver, and Prez contemplating going to the
highrise is brilliant, specifically in how Carver and Prez play the still-young
versions of their characters. They will change, and you can see those changes
start even here.
Biggest Hit
n
The clear, and correct, choice is the previously
discussed “Chicken McNugget” scene. It’s one of the highlights of the first
season, but I’ll also point to the scene with Avon cooking at the party as a
great one. You see how these guys are, fundamentally, just like everyone else
in the community, and perhaps even better than most at the things most average
people want to do (being family men, reaching out to others). It just so
happens that they will also break most moral codes to get there. Also, and I’m
sure I’ll write a post specifically about this later, but the sound. Wow. The
Wire has the best use of diegetic sound I can think of on television: it gets
those mundane, little details just right, and the music is also great (even
though there’s that one song that became the sample for Pitbull’s “Back in Time,”
the clear frontrunner for worst song of 2012. “The Wire” was before its time,
but not that far.)
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