The low-rises and vials, the burners and binoculars and west Baltimore in all its grit and glory have been transformed in an animated homage to The Wire.
San Francisco Bay area animator Elliot Lim turned the acclaimed HBO show into a brief video, full of the sounds and signatures of the show. In less than two minutes, the game of cat and mouse between dealers and cops with no clear heroes, is depicted in stark colors and smooth animations, set to Way Down in the Hole, the Blind Boys of Alabama song that was the original series’ theme.
Lim told the Guardian that he has long wanted to animate something in honor of the “brutally honest” show, which “had a bigger impact on me personally than anything else I’ve seen on TV”.
“I think it really shows that the world, even when it comes to something as divisive as the drug trade, is not black and white,” he said. “I appreciated how the show refused to condemn or vilify any of its characters, no matter how flawed they might be. I had never seen anything quite like it. On top of that, it was just an incredibly entertaining, gratifying experience, with great characters and writing.”
The Wire aired from 2002 to 2008, and although it was little-watched during its original run, the show has had an outsize impact on popular culture, gaining in popularity over the years. Its creator and head writer, David Simon, has continued to produce acclaimed, socially conscious shows such as Show Me A Hero, and has also been a vocal critic of the war on drugs and the consequences of unchecked capitalism.
Lim said he believes the show is “just as relevant today as it was when it came out”, when surveillance became increasingly central to policing in US following the 9/11 attacks. Lim also noted the riots and protests that overtook Baltimore last summer following the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who died in police custody.
Baltimore’s police chief was subsequently fired, and the city has continued to grapple with many of the same problems portrayed on the show and typical of several major American cities, including Philadelphia and Chicago: racial inequality, poverty, corruption and police conduct in the war on drugs.
Cast members of The Wire, some of whom came from Baltimore, reunited last year to tell the stories of men and women involved in the protests.
