Baltimore photographers are thinking about the impact of the HBO drama on the city where he grew up, 20 years after the show’s debut.
I was born and raised in Baltimore. I was a junior high school student when “The Wire” was created — it was shot near McCullough Holmes, and sometimes near Harlem Park, where my school was. Everyone was thinking at the time, awesome, this is the moment in Baltimore. It was a very exciting experience for the city.
I was too young to see “The Wire” in junior high school. When I saw it in college, I thought the acting was really great. Wendell Pierce, who played Bank Moreland, was one of my favorite actors, and as a queer, I thought Michael K. Williams’ Omar was really beautiful. Such a thing was wonderful.
But little about Baltimore’s interior life, and little to celebrate every aspect of the city. It has shown only this flattened idea of Baltimore as drugs, poverty, crime, corruption and violence. As a black man when you are watching TV, you want to see a black man rendered in humanity and rendered as you know in the world. I don’t think the show succeeded in showing it.
But I was curious about how the community felt. Who likes it and why? How was you 20 years after the show was filmed in your neighborhood? What did “The Wire” do or didn’t do to Baltimore?
I know my thoughts, but I wanted to know the thoughts of others.
Michael Turner Jr., an adult day care worker raised in West Baltimore: I think I was honest about Baltimore. There is a city of ratchets, raw ass, and they gave ratchets and life in “The Wire”.
Hair stylist Terry Elliott Lamont, who grew up and lives in Baltimore: It’s the same hood, the same place, and gives the same from “The Wire” 20 years later.
Carnell Burrow, owner of Everything Auto Repair in West Baltimore: “The Wire” brought back memories of the early 80’s. Eastside and Westside, the reality that people are killed and put into vacant buildings. The truth is the truth — “The Wire” didn’t do that. I think many other cities have come to respect Baltimore.
Gilda Bain-Pew, Resident of the Reservoir Hill District of West Baltimore: I definitely see Pennsylvania and people are selling drugs. The policeman is sitting in the corner of the car and seems to have no problem at all. I do not understand. You know the impact of what the drug does on the community, and do you sit there and allow it to happen? I do not understand. I do not understand.
As you grow up and look at “The Wire,” you think it looks like this: They did a whole show about us. So you understand, OK, those people showed you the famous people in their community for the drug dealers they were. So if you can’t gain fame by doing other things and that’s the way you’re doing a lot in your community, that’s what you’re doing.
Peggy Butler, a retired primary school teacher who taught at Baltimore City Public School for 18 years: The positive thing about the show for me was that after every drug addiction, there was life after every death. And if people could grab it — then there was life. But no one could grab it.
Serena Noble lives near the place used as “Hamsterdam” at the show: I thought it was great that they were doing something. In short, people didn’t like the way Baltimore was portrayed. But it was good that people decided to do it here and, as you know, decided to make something for our town.
Wendell Braylock from northeastern Baltimore: In my opinion, it’s positive in the sense that the city has brought one of the best scripted TV shows to date to the forefront. The downside is that many see it as a portrayal of America as a whole, not just in Baltimore. That’s all we do. And it’s not.
Les Davies who hadn’t seen “The Wire” until recently: I’m from here so I didn’t want to see “The Wire”. I literally watch everything they portray on television every day. So I didn’t want to see it portrayed like them to the masses.
Jacob Marley was in elementary school when the show came out: I have created a template for future media.
It feels like there’s a popularity contest with America’s most violent and dangerous cities. For shows like this, and for what the show is based on, we certainly have a little edge on us.
Felicia Pearson’s character Snoop Cheyenne Zadia: From the point of view of the real relationship Baltimore, I can’t list too many shows that showed such lesbians on television at that time.
James Scott Sr. from West Baltimore I saw when “The Wire” was aired.: It was the best thing that has ever happened in this city. Because people can be involved with different characters. Tough guys, weak guys, down low guys, all of them. I had to watch it every week, and I wasn’t really a TV guy. But when it came, I liked it.
Benjamin Werner, a writer and lecturer at Towson University volunteering at a school in Baltimore: It remains a kind of voyeur place of danger to people outside the city. It’s a strange point of pride, especially for educated middle-class whites — a kind of negative way. It’s a way of saying that you came from a kind of “tough” or “dangerous” place without actually having to get involved in the community.
One of the things that “The Wire”, who now works in several city schools, did was to humanize students and young people attending public schools in West Baltimore...
Some of those characters, especially kids, have been sticking to me for 20 years..
Maurice Braxton in West Baltimore: Many spend time in Chicago and know that Chicago is not what you are looking at. For example, “Chicago PD” and “Wire” are different for us. Wherever I go, when I say I’m from Baltimore, I immediately think of “The Wire.”
The fact that there is a heritage — that’s a shame. It was supposed to be a TV program, but I was told that it was a great program and went on. But they confused “The Wire” with reality. It’s not the reality of Baltimore.
Tamira Hall in West Baltimore: The game hasn’t changed. The player has changed.
Rob Ferrell moved to Baltimore for an art school when The Wire debuted: I feel it’s almost predatory. yes. Because crime exists all over the country. Narcotic sales are nationwide. Corruption is nationwide. Corrupt police exist all over the country. Why is this the dominant story of the life of black people in this city and in this city? This doesn’t happen in Seattle, right? Or to the majority of white cities. This is the majority of black cities. It doesn’t fit my spirit perfectly.
It was a great TV. But you cannot divorce from the fact that it depicts a picture of a city and the real life of real people. It’s friction for me and the tension I’m struggling with. The impact is disappointing.
Tiffany Fuller, a mental health counselor on the outskirts of Baltimore, Columbia, Maryland: I was thrilled. When it started, it was telling a story in the city center. And, of course, there was a horrifying act that happened in it. But it was telling a story. That was a difficult truth, but I needed to tell it.