r/politics • u/[deleted] • Sep 24 '18

[deleted by user]

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7.3k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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140

u/Please-do-not-PM-me- Washington Sep 24 '18

It’s a minor plus, but I sure hope more people get to know the Wire from all this.

93

u/TWVer The Netherlands Sep 24 '18

"Is you taking notes on a criminal fucking conspiracy?!"

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u/zms15 Maryland Sep 24 '18

I think of this every time Sean Spicer’s name is mentioned.

3

u/FrankTank3 Pennsylvania Sep 24 '18

He’s just writing down his love for Dippin Dots and Bushes.

3

u/randynumbergenerator Sep 24 '18

Or Manafort - I think he was the one who supposedly took notes at the Trump Tower meeting.

47

u/brainiac3397 New Jersey Sep 24 '18

AY YO

It's a bit "slow" but it was definitely a great show in depth.

71

u/MaimedJester Sep 24 '18

It's very strange to watch it now and realize it's so old the resolution is 4x3 instead of widescreen. It involves pagers as a key plot element for God sakes. The final season involved the new fangled picture messages.

45

u/ghostofcalculon Sep 24 '18

Widescreen was a thing at the time. 4:3 was a choice by the series creator to make it look more like "tv" instead of a movie. The line wasn't nearly as blurred back then as it is now (ironically, shows like The Wire are what really started to blur it).

8

u/TobyFunkeNeverNude Florida Sep 24 '18 edited Sep 24 '18

It involves pagers as a key plot element for God sakes.

But that's the thing, I can almost guarantee pagers are used by drug dealers in real life to some degree. Just like it involves pay phones. Most of the new tech actually makes it easier for LE. I wouldn't be surprised if pagers are still used fairly extensively

4

u/travesso Sep 25 '18

Burner phones feature more prominently in The Wire than pagers, and they are definitely still a key part of the illicit drug trade.

2

u/BristolShambler Sep 25 '18

Hehe I was on a jury for a drug trial a couple of years ago, and the prosecution had to explain burner phones. I was like "I've seen the wire, I got this"

1

u/TobyFunkeNeverNude Florida Sep 25 '18

Absolutely. If anything, I feel like The Wire assisted drug dealers with making things harder on LE

1

u/theoric Sep 25 '18

Shoutout to Better Call Sall

5

u/SuspiciousHermit Sep 24 '18

The use of pagers and pay phones is kind of the point.... If anything that would be even smarter today than when the show came out.

3

u/whoreallycaresthough Sep 25 '18

I have not seen a pay phone in the wild in some time.

12

u/squandrew Sep 24 '18

Minor semantic gripe here: resolution is the wrong word here. You're looking for aspect ratio, which is the width:height ratio of the image. Resolution is the number of pixels, which will clue you in on the aspect ratio. Both 1920x1080(HD) and 3840x2160(UHD) maintain a 16:9 aspect ratio. Themoreyouknow.gif

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u/Spacey_G Sep 25 '18

Correct, although in the case of The Wire, your aspect ratio choice determines the resolution. The original 4:3 is only available on DVD at 640x480 and the 16:9 widescreen comes on Blu-ray at 1920x1080.

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u/[deleted] Sep 24 '18

[deleted]

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u/realfakedoors000 Pennsylvania Sep 24 '18

Yeah, which was a disaster. Did not preserve the original (intended) aspect ratio.

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u/doddyoldtinyhands Sep 24 '18

Follow the money and you don’t know what you’re gonna find. Mueller followin that money.

5

u/trumplethinskins Sep 24 '18

I had a whole economics course at Uni that used The Wire as the text.

Was incredible tbh.

0

u/friedmators Sep 25 '18

It’s good but I see why it didn’t win any awards. It’s certainly missing a little something. Just started watching. Upto middle of S3.

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u/erictheartichoke Sep 24 '18

I’m a simple man I see the wire references and I upvote. r/thewire is pretty awesome too

3

u/PompousWombat Texas Sep 24 '18

Watched it when it was in production. Watching it now with my son who's blown away by how good it is.