"I'll do what I can to help y'all. But, the game's out there, and it's play or get played. That simple. "

I think the best way to end this blog is with a dedication to a pop culture icon-- Omar Little. Omar is a stick-up man (he steals money from drug dealers with a sawed off shotgun) who lives by a strict moral code of not swearing only murders those who are involved in the drug trade--no innocents. Perhaps most interestingly is the fact that Omar is gay. Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that David Simon does not focus on Omar's homosexuality. He just allows it to "be," even though there has never been such a bad-ass, complex, gay, black character before (at least in such a large forum).

According to Alastair Mackay,

In one of the stranger moments of the American presidential election campaign, a reporter from the Las Vegas Sun asked Barack Obama to name his favourite television programme. Without hesitation, he mentioned The Wire, which was understandable because, a) David Simon’s drama is almost monotonously described as the best television show ever and, b) it shows life in the blue-collar city of Baltimore in all its tough reality. But Obama went further, suggesting also that his favourite character was Omar Little. “He’s not my favourite person,” Obama said, prompting some nervous chuckling from his interviewer, “but he’s a fascinating character. He’s this gay gangster who only robs drug dealers, and then gives back.” Omar, said the future President, was “sort of a Robin Hood. And he’s the toughest, baddest guy on this show.”

See? Even our PRESIDENT loves Omar!

I think that Omar Little has the potential to be one of the greatest pop culture icons of a television series...ever. It seems that David Simon took a gigantic leap in making him such a complex character. There has been much discussion throughout the years regarding the homosexual current that rides right below the rap mainstream. I recall a woman on VH1 asking the audience to consider whether LL Cool J was always shirtless and licking his lips for just the lady viewers. The answer is no. The fact that Simon was able to create such a complex character without beating every viewer over the head with the fact that he really IS so complex has opened the door for so many. The time has come for homosexuals, women, people of all races to be represented by not their social stereotypes, but as the complex people we all are.

Watch Michael K. Williams talk about stuff here