New Television as Neo-Naturalism: The Wire and The Shield

What is it about?

This article examines The Wire (HBO, 2002–8) and The Shield (FX, 2002–8) and the extent to which they employ particular attributes of new television in order to engage with notions of determined behaviour familiar from literary naturalism (and, through them, important contemporary political ideologies). The Wire and The Shield are part of a growing body of neo-naturalist works in contemporary American culture. Like Dexter and Breaking Bad, they portray the actions of their protagonists as heavily determined by outside forces. But while The Shield’s deterministic naturalism tends to lend tacit support for more authoritarian social control, The Wire’s use of similar architecture is a means to advocate for urgent institutional reform.

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