Crime Stories

People love crime stories, but why?
Is it the intricate scams and plots devised for a big score?
Is it the rush of seeing a dangerous life that we will never live?
Or, does it all fall back to the age old man vs society conflict?
Probably all of the above, but what I want to talk about is why I like crime stories (one is particular), and why I think others should too.

Obviously we are exposed to crime stories at an early age, even Looney Tunes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and GI Joe told crime stories.  But the earliest quality crime show that I remember watching was Homicide: Life on the Street.  I was probably 10 or 11 when I first watching it when staying over at a friend’s house.  Every time I stayed over it seemed like his parents were watching Homicide.  It was so different from what I had seen before. My family didn’t watch a lot of TV dramas, so every time I stayed over and got to watch it, I was totally drawn in.  At that age, maybe it was the violence, but I also think it was the dialog.  It wasn’t a normal show, you had to pay attention, every crime was a puzzle that you watched being solved. It was like learning critical thinking, but not with books or in a class room.

In my teens this love of crime, while not overt, showed itself in my taste in movies.  I found my favorite films Memento and Pulp Fiction and at this point realized the amazing stories that could be told through this medium.  And these stories could provide more then entertainment, they could carry a message as well.

Now I find myself in my twenties, writing this, and crime is still there in the books I read, comics (Criminal), and TV shows. And while all these stories are entertaining, one in particular carries some very important messages. The Wire.  I watched The Wire a few months ago and the more I think about it the more I find myself in love with it. The Wire takes major elements of society (economic class, the drug trade, politics, and education) and shines a light on them in a way newspapers just can’t. It exposes the underbelly of society not through articles and editorials, but by telling a story with characters that you really care about.  Sure the characters are warped and self destructive, but they feel real.  The show exposes the cracks in our society in such an elegant and entertaining way that it’s only flaw is that you may be too entertained to realize its message. Coincidentally, The Wire was created by David Simon, the same man that created Homicide and introduced me to this genre when I was younger. Mr. Simon, truly had something to say with this series that was dwarfed by The Sopranos during its time on HBO.

Now, there have been plenty of reviews of The Wire in the past year, with its final season airing and arriving on DVD, so hopefully more people will continue to discover it and its message.  But most of all I hope people watch the show, and try do something about the problems it identifies. The Wire shouts “Look, this is what the problem is!” and it’s up to us to do something about it.  Unfortunately, most people are too busy perpetuating the problems… it’s a crime.

There is a great 2-part interview with Simon here.