Influence of The Wire

mwnger

I was thinking about the influence of The Wire on pop culture so far.

Not much as yet, except for... The Dark Knight! Yep, the more I hear about the next Batman film, and it's multi-layered, multi-character storyline, it reminds me of The Wire. Seriously! Hear me out :-)

Just like the way Balitimore itself is the main character of The Wire, the main character of The Dark Knight appears to be Gotham City - in the sense that we get a portrayal of the city as a whole, with all its main players and factions, and how they all interact.

The recent trailer makes it look like a straight showdown between Batman and the Joker, but we also get in there a mob war, police corruption, Gordon's own 'major crimes unit', Harvey Dent's political campaign, corporate tomfoolery in Wayne Enterprises and a love triangle! They've packed a lot in!

Have you seen this? It gives a good idea of the Wire-influence on the film:

http://www.thegothamtimes.com/page1.htm

Cool, huh?

Notice the DA running against Dent is called Garcetti! Is Garcetti a deliberate reference to Carcetti?

I myself am only halfway through Series 3 but I heard that the fifth series focuses on the media. Got that covered too :-) a fairly major character in the film is Mike Engel, played by Anthony Michael Hall, who's a celebrity TV journalist reporting on events in the city, but soon finds himself embroiled in them.

There's also a police character featured called Ramirez, who closely resembles a figure from the comics - Det Renee Montoya. Guess what? She's a lesbian police officer with an ethnic background! Check out the Gotham Central graphic novels for that, hugely influenced by The Wire and highly recommended!

Of course they can't be that similar - The Dark Knight being a superhero film after all, but there are definite parallels. Even Omar is a little bit Batman-ish in his antics isn't he? A law unto himself, legendary figure in his own community, sometimes helps the police. And their both gay!

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if someone like Christopher Nolan was a Wire fan - coming from his filmaking background - and incorporated some of that into this film.

Well, that's one. Anyone else come across any Wire-influenced... stuff?

silvine

Interesting comparison. The Garcetti-Carcetti thing does seem like more than a co-incidence. The city analogy standy ups to.

Omar is a bit like batman like but since when is Batman gay??

Fremen

silvine wrote: »

Interesting comparison. The Garcetti-Carcetti thing does seem like more than a co-incidence. The city analogy standy ups to.

Omar is a bit like batman like but since when is Batman gay??

I've been waiting a looooong time for someone to ask that!

silvine

Yowsers!

godtabh

I dont see the influence myself.

Are there any writers involved in the two projects?

silvine

Well it's a good comparison..

frank bauer

Hear Bruckheimer's prepping CSI Baltimore-only kidding. But like Oz before it, the cast of The Wire will turn up in nearly every primetime police/federal/law tv show for the next few years, until Hbo commisions something genius like both those shows. If you've seen Gone Baby Gone, think it's the first film to take influence and actors from The Wire.

mwnger

Yeah, I only recently heard that Gone Baby Gone was based on a book by Dennis Lehane, who wrote a couple of episodes of the Wire - he also wrote the novel Mystic River, later made into a film by Clint Eastwood.

Damn! Is it still on anywhere? I'd love to see it now. I'll admit I was put off by the fact that Ben Affleck directed it but by all accounts its brilliant -helped by Benny boy deciding to stay behind the camera for this, letting his more talented, less irritating younger brother Casey take the leading role.

And Amy Ryan is in it too!

brianthebard

silvine wrote: »

Interesting comparison. The Garcetti-Carcetti thing does seem like more than a co-incidence. The city analogy standy ups to. Omar is a bit like batman like but since when is Batman gay??

the guy that wrote the dark knight in the 30's or whenever was gay and there are supposed to be a lot of things about batmans life that mirrored a gay man.Ie double life,etc. Thats not really part of batman now though but perhaps the dk title is a reference to this period?In that case it reminds us that batman was originally little more than an armed vigilante,possibly like omar?(have only seen the wire a few times but its ace)

Lafortezza

silvine wrote: »

Omar is a bit like batman like but since when is Batman gay??

godtabh

lafortezza wrote: »

It is a sexy hat

mwnger

Speaking of comic books, here's a nice interview with Alan Moore (writer of Watchmen) waxing lyrical about the Wire:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20213004_4,00.html

godtabh

Just out of interest was any one at the Batman screening tonight?

Over heard some lads talking about the Wire at it. Not something I usually hear