I love David Simon
This blog isn’t about acting, but it is relevant to actors, so I do hope you’ll read it nonetheless. I’ve been working long hours on my acting book, so something different for today please…
It’s true, despite being happily married, I think I love David Simon.
Who is David Simon? A former journalist turned writer and producer. The writer and producer of the most significant television drama ever, The Wire.
The Wire wasn’t easy, the first hour was actually difficult. I wasn’t sure, a full hour of drama, a real sixty minutes without being spoon-fed. It was tough for a kid brought up on 45 minute CSI or the easy viewing if British dramas.
But what emerged was something we rarely see on the gogglebox these days, a character based drama that refused to give the audience an easy ride. It forced them to become involved and for 5 seasons, it made for compelling viewing, we consumed the show, hour by quality hour.
Recently I saved up about 10 hours of Simon’s new show Treme on my Sky Box. Just as The Wire, I struggled with the first hour, I’m so used to the easy formula of Law & Order or Criminal Minds, neither of which require that much of the viewer. When faced with a large ensemble of new characters and drip fed storyline across an entire season, that really requires attention or real interaction.
Treme is astounding. The three-dimensional characters and the sense of that city’s culture make me laugh and weep in a single hour’s episode.
What makes Simon’s work so special, beyond simply being unpatronising, is the way that his work is so character focused, but also that the spirit of a city is infused into the work, place is as important as people. In The Wire it was crumbling Baltimore, in Treme, it’s post-Katrina New Orleans.
There’s nothing on British television to equal the quality of the idea behind The Wire and Treme, and it’s not budget or scope, it’s the idea behind it, the quality of character and the demand placed upon the viewer. You cannot do the ironing while you watch these shows, they are as demanding as the best theatre.
And for that reason, I love David Simon, for making television intelligent again.