What are we going to say?
Omar Little, and good advice. Plus, 7 other things worth your time.
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Actor Michael K. Williams died last week. I included a link in one of the newsletters. He played Omar Little on The Wire, among other roles.
Ha. “Among other roles.” Who are we kidding?
Williams had a good career as an actor, but he’ll be remembered as Omar: one of the most complex, iconic, and entertaining dramatic characters of the 21st century.
It’s not just me saying it:
Let’s just say that if you’ve never seen The Wire and have no idea what I’m talking about… well, I’ve got your next binge-watch for you.
The show was a crime drama set in Baltimore, created by author and former Baltimore Sun police reporter David Simon. Williams’s character, Omar, was a stickup artist who robbed drug dealers—although that barely scratches the surface.
Anyway, today’s column isn’t really about Omar. Instead, it’s about Williams himself, and the question he apparently made a habit of asking Simon each season before they started shooting The Wire.
That question was: “What are we going to say?”
As Simon wrote in the NYT over the weekend, he wanted The Wire to be much more than just a crime show; it was to be a biography of the American city.
One season it worked to say something poignant about the rise of the drug trade; the next was about “the death of legitimate work.”
Another season was about toxic politics; another had something to say about failing schools; yet another was about the news media.
It was just a TV show, sure, but even though they’d already written most of each season’s scripts by the time Williams asked the question, it sparked a long conversation about the themes—so that as they faced a million little decisions during shooting, they’d have a bias toward choices that reinforced the central message.
As Simon wrote, not many actors had the drive to focus on the arc of the show like that, as opposed to the arc of their character:
He gave us an astounding gift—an act of faith from a magnificent actor who could have played his hand very differently.
Television usually chases its audience—if they love them some Omar, you feed them more Omar. … Never mind story and theme.
Instead, Mike bent his beautiful mind to a task that even the best writers and show runners often avoid. He thought about the whole story, the whole of the work.
…
“I started to realize that, oh, this is not about me,” Williams once told an interviewer, looking back. “It had everything to do with … just great tapestry, this great narrative of social issues … things that are wrong in our country.”
I loved the TV show, as you can probably tell, and I was sad to hear of Williams’s passing at the too-young age of 54.
So I’m glad to have a chance to write about him, and double-down on this epitaph. I think we’ll all be telling stories one way or another today. Maybe I’ll think a little bit harder about what I want mine to say.
Call for comments: Actually, I’m curious how many readers will fall into the “I never watched The Wire,” category, and how many, like me, could probably quote half the show by memory. So maybe let us know. But also, in honor of this great question: “What are you going to say today?”
7 other things worth your time
The FBI has begun declassifying documents related to 9/11 and Saudi citizens. Victims’ families have long petitioned for the release of this data. (BBC)
British teen Emma Raducanu stormed to an unexpected Grand Slam victory in the US Open tennis tournament, pulling off the win even after gashing her leg open during play. (CBS Sports)
California passed a landmark bill requiring employers to disclose their tracking algorithms and metrics for warehouse workers. It’s aimed squarely at Amazon, which has come under fire for metrics that, among other things, allegedly prevent workers from taking bathroom breaks or rest periods. (The Guardian)
The family of a man who died of heart issues in Mississippi is asking people to get vaccinated for COVID-19 after 43 hospitals across three states were unable to accept him because of full cardiac ICUs. (USA Today)
Remember murder hornets? They haven’t forgotten you! The second nest of the year has been destroyed, and a third has been marked for eradication in the hopes of halting the dangerous invasive insects. (CNN)
10 best cities for renters in the USA, according to WalletHub. Locations in the Dakotas, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska top the list. (CNBC)
Miami football fans caught a falling cat in an American flag in the middle of the action over the weekend, sparing one of the tabby’s nine lives. I have no idea how the cat wound up in the stadium to begin with. (BBC)
Thanks for reading. Photo credit: fair use screenshot. Want to see all my mistakes? Click here.
Just reading through the comments so I guess I’m going to be odd woman out here when I say I really hate anything pertaining to crime, criminals, syndicates or anything along those lines. I think what turned me totally off was being taken on a date to “Scarface”. So, between this issue and the fact that I watch very little TV, I’ll have to remain ignorant about your main theme Bill. See, I’ve said too much already 🤭.
I've never seen The Wire or even heard of it prior to hearing about the actor's death. I don't usually have time to watch TV, but I do binge watch shows after I've heard about the good ones. Now this one is on my list. As for my message for today...I woke up feeling I've been awfully grumpy and short-tempered lately - and thinking how it feels like everyone in America is grumpy these days. So, my goal was to be more positive today... to not let the stress of work and everything going on in the world be an excuse to be a grump. To take breaks to breathe deeply or meditate or whatever it takes to get some inner peace and use that peace bring joy to everyone around me today. It's still early...but so far, so good!