Television: Times, Trends and Technologies (EAF2511)
Essay
How Quality Television demands an immersive viewing experience: The Wire
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Television: Times, Trends and Technologies (EAF2511)
Instelling
University Of Exeter (UoEX)
In this essay, I will be questioning why David Simon’s The Wire (HBO, 2002), a prime example of quality television within an American context, must strive for an immersive viewing experience in order for viewers to understand the complexity of the narrative. Specifically, I will be analysing the ...
Television: Times, Trends and Technologies (EAF2511)
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Voorbeeld van de inhoud
1
Quality television’s ‘status... is made possible only by the context of premium,
subscription viewing of television in a manner more closely allied with the detailed
attention paid to film than with the sporadic and flickering attention, disrupted by
advertising, that characterise television viewing in an earlier context of production...
[Quality television] strives for the immersive viewing experience more often attributed
to film’ (Sheryl Vint, The Wire [Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2013], 21).
With reference to this quotation and one series, consider how quality television
encourages particular viewing practices. In what ways does its narrative structure and
aesthetic composition demand this kind of viewing? What kinds of technology might
facilitate this kind of ‘immersive viewing experience’?
Series Chosen: The Wire (David Simon, 2002)
In this essay, I will be questioning why David Simon’s The Wire (HBO, 2002), a prime
example of quality television within an American context, must, "strive for the immersive
viewing experience" (Vint, 21) Sheyrl Vint references to, in order for viewers to understand
the complexity of the narrative. Specifically, I will be analysing the extent to which The
Wire possesses the power to control the behaviour of its viewers, whether promoting or
resisting narrative engagement, through its complex structure and visual approach.
Throughout this essay, my argument will be framed with reference to Vint and further
scholars’ analysis on the conventional tropes of quality television in order to understand what
this style of television programming means, entails and demands. In describing quality
television, Robert J. Thompson has asserted how “Quality TV is best defined by what it is
not. It is not ‘regular’ TV” (Thompson, 13.) This directly correlates to HBO’s well-known
slogan “It’s not TV, its HBO” which promoted the cable networks high quality content and
original programming. In its aim to distinguish itself from other television networks, HBO’s
, 2
production of The Wire provided “viewers a narrative form unlike that offered typically by
television, and with a scale (in terms of pure length, obviously, but also in terms of narrative
sophistication) unparalleled by most cinema” (Potter, 9.) The differences that The
Wire’s narrative form has to those “offered typically by television” (Potter, 9) will be further
argued to come down to its reliance on viewer memory and engagement with the narrative. I
will therefore further debate whether these differences to “‘regular’ TV” either a alienates
viewers or allows for an immersive viewing experience. Furthermore, in focusing on
moments in certain episodes across season one, my exploration into the importance of
concentrated viewer engagement in regard to The Wire will also be argued through an
analysis of the technological trends at the time in which the series was produced, and how
they might affect a viewer’s experience.
The first season of The Wire focuses on the corrupt law enforcements attempts and
failures to combat Baltimore’s war on drugs. Told from both the perspective of the police and
the Barksdale drug organization, Simon communicates an intricate web of political,
economic, and social relationships through a complex long form narrative. In defining
complex narratives and their demands, film scholar Jason Mitchell notes how “to call
something complex (…) suggests that the consumer of complexity needs to engage fully and
attentively, and such engagement will yield an experience distinct from more casual or partial
attention” (Mitchell.) In this, Mitchell’s perspective aligns with the demands of The Wire in
that the multi-layered storylines of the narrative, intricate dialogue and interchanging
perspectives requires an engaged viewer in order to understand the plot in depth and therefore
be engrossed with the series as a whole.
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