"The Wire" on HBO

he's talking about robbing drug dealers. they both leech off them.

bit of a difference between being paid by drug dealers to represent them in court, and robbing drug dealers at gunpoint.

maybeit would be a better dramatic conflict if the dealer had a court-appointed lawyer (im unfamiliar with the US legal system but i guess you have these?).

if he had a court-appointed lawyer it would make less sense, they don't get money from the defendants. i think you're just taking his zing too literally :/. i mean if they really were the same it wouldn't be that shocking for him to say that.

its implied that he at least knows levy is on the take from that crew. levys not helping him out of the good of his heart. of course there's a difference but theres also a similarity in that they both leech off of them.

helping them

and the scene is pretty hamfisted in the way its written, i'll give u that

why do people like this, or agree with it? it would make a bit of sense if omar knew that levy was involved in killing people (which he is iirc? he not-so-tacitly recommends a murder?) but he doesn't know that, does he? levy's a lawyer who acts for criminals.

It seems like in the world of the show Levy would be known as a somewhat sleazy lawyer who makes his business helping drug dealers in semi-unsavory ways as well as legit legal ways. I agree it's not the show's sharpest point though - if Omar just means it about the kind of lawyer Levy is, it's so obvious that it hardly needs to be said. Levy is already pretty much the most detestable character on the show at point, whereas Omar is practically Robin Hood. There's nothing subversive about suggesting that a sleazy lawyer is sleazy. But if the show is making a comment about criminal defense lawyers in general, then it's a cheap zing and not a very thoughtful commentary.

It made sense to me. They both profit off the drug trade, whether people know it or not. Just as Omar "leeches off the violence of the drug trade" (by robbing them), Levy leeches of it too (maybe it becomes more clear later that Levy is a bit more than a guy that just represents them in court - which in itself is a still a job that is based around keeping violent drug dealers in business, so to speak).

I think a lot of it is made for affect. the face Levy makes, etc. And it ties into the whole idea that develops later about how the money goes everyone, and in some ways, everyone is complicit, so says Lester Freamon at least.

they have no choice but to pay him if they want to continue doing what they do so it's like extortion, and their money (which they get from selling drugs) goes to him. if people stopped doing crimes he would stop making money. he is therefore a bad man. xposts

it's a valuable zing imo

actually, that part about drug lawyers isn't exactly right...

I should also have read the other messages have been posted part

oh I meant that part about representing drug dealers being based on keeping violent drug dealers off the street isn't a matter of fact point.

"your honor, motion to strike omar's zing from the record"
"sustained"

which in itself is a still a job that is based around keeping violent drug dealers in business, so to speak

ahhh... this is the bit i can't rly get behind. even rapers and pedos get to have legal representation.

i don't mind the scene *that* much, it's just that it crops up regularly in lists of best 'wire' quotes.

it's not an attack on the right to have representation, it's just pointing out that he benefits from crime. which is true of all paid defense lawyers but that doesn't undercut the criticism.

I think the reason people like it is because the "aaaah in your face Levy" element is funny.

I think a lot of it is made for affect. the face Levy makes, etc. And it ties into the whole idea that develops later about how the money goes everyone, and in some ways, everyone is complicit, so says Lester Freamon at least.

Levy also advises them on ways to launder money, unless I'm mistaken?

what is so hard to understand about this

not everyone is as smart as u

well the context is levy is trying to cast aspersions on omar's testimony because he profits off drug dealers and omar's like pfffft, who are you to talk? i agree the scene is kind of hokey but williams sells it.

yeah plus Omar knows that Levy isn't some public defender, but someone kept on retainer by Avon and his crew.

the wesley snipes in the courtroom scene in new jack city is better imo

this is BIGGER than nino brown! this is BIG BUSINESS!!

Nino Brown: I'm not guilty. *You're* the one that's guilty. The lawmakers, the politicians, the Columbian drug lords, all you who lobby against making drugs legal. Just like you did with alcohol during the prohibition. You're the one who's guilty. I mean, c'mon, let's kick the ballistics here: Ain't no Uzi's made in Harlem. Not one of us in here owns a poppy field. This thing is bigger than Nino Brown. This is big business. This is the American way.

LET'S KICK THE BALLISTICS HERE

otm

ain't no UZIS made in HAAARLEM

the director's cut has the lawmakers, politicians and colombian drug lords all put on trial and found guilty.

LET'S KICK THE BALLISTICS HERE

awesome

the director's cut has the lawmakers, politicians and colombian drug lords all put on trial and found guilty.

― ♖♕♖ (am0n), Monday, January 4, 2010 12:34 PM (38 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

we the jury find the ballistics kicked

there was some discussion here a while ago of the chess scene and why it's held as emblematic of how sharp the show is or whatever - with that, and with omar in court, i don't think it's so much that they're considered the best moments of the show, but that they're reasonably rare moments which epitomise what the show's about, that step back and summarise the dynamic of what's going on. they stand out from the text for being fully formed, quotable and standalone, compared to other moments which might be more niftily constructed, but are more specific in what they're dealing with.

maybe applies with chess more than omar in court, i don't know, but i can see why omar leveling the playing field and making broad transcendental comparisons would be popular.

eh the chess scene is too writerly and on-the-nose

omar-in-court is pretty clearly the writers just letting rip and having fun with a character they love. they do return to it thematically with clay-davis-in-court. the point, i think, is that the courts (or "the system" as a whole) grinds on with its boring mixture of corruption, incompetence and inertia, but every now and again there are moments of really flagrant and charismatic corruption that are a) interesting and b) might even bring about "just" ends in a perverse way.

well yeah - it's fairly rare in the show for someone to have the opportunity to "speak truth to power" - so when it happens, like in that courtroom scene, it's refreshing.

^^ argh this is what i mean. he isn't speaking truth to power.

but that's how it's presented in the context of the show!

exactly!

the scene and omar himself argue pretty strongly against the possibility of justice.

yeah he is not supposed to be "speaking truth to power" at all! it's just a nihilistic joke

xp - regardless of whether you agree with what he's saying, it is a refreshing moment, in the context of the rest of the show where almost no one directly criticizes those in power or is even given the opportunity to do so, and those that do are punished, while Omar is essentially rewarded.

people like that scene/speech for the same reasons we have a zing thread.

i shd resmallscreen this but i think mimicking the form of 'speaking truth to power' in order to sucker the jury might have been omar's m.o.

i don't think omar really gave a shit about convincing the jury of anything.

Levy isn't "power", he's a bent lawyer on the make.

what????

yeah i think the scene gets misread as omar "speaking truth to power" when its really more about a specific power struggle between levy and omar in the context of that cross-examination

its not like "damn omar u deep i have to think about that" its like "damn omar u just made levy look dum"

^^^ OTM.

?? that's what he was there to do, put the dude away who tortured and murdered his lover. he did it by lying and being charming and funny.

the jury convicted a guy of murder w/o much evidence, because a star witness was really charismatic. luckily/conveniently the convicted guy really did do the crime it issue, but it's not really a good outcome.

xps

well, i think it's supposed to be a bit of both - but primarily about omar zinging levy.

It ties in with a theme that comes up throughout the series: how far are should the "good guys" stretch the truth in order to get the right outcome. See also Kima refusing to ID one of her shooters, McNulty coming up with the serial killer case, etc.