Too damn confusing
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micirisi — 9 years ago(June 11, 2016 01:55 PM)
It's really good. You have to watch it twice with subtitles. A lot of the blacks look the same to me also more confusing with their assorted nicknames. So I'm a racist, F me. There is also a lot of innuendo in the conversations that will fly over your head. Great show! Deserves another peek.
He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator. -
petr-dalajka — 9 years ago(June 17, 2016 07:16 AM)
- Watch it with subtitles. I need them too. The slang they use is way too much for me to understand enough to make sence a lot of times.
- Thats either conected with point one or you are not very observant person. The story is no so complicated to be hard to understand.
3),4) There are lot of characters, who play very small roles and you dont have to know them all by name to enjoy the series. If you want to go in depth, look them up on imdb.
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pistrix — 9 years ago(September 18, 2016 07:49 PM)
Point 1 I can agree, though they were speaking their Baltimorese/ghetto version of English.
Whenever I am watching something for the first time, no matter what it is, if on DVD I will actually put the English subtitles up. Yes some phrases were confusing for a second like the phrase "gotta get got." That is not common vernacular for me, so I had to think it over a second. I maybe even looked it up, but either way I sorted it out.
They have their version of slang. But yeah I subtitled the show to understand what they were saying.
2) What do you mean what is going on? Pretty much the whole series is basically life in Baltimore. Each season focuses on 1 main issue, but with the drug trade arc spanning the series.
3) I don't fully get what you are saying. Which characters?
4) Er I cannot help you there as they all look different to me.
((Damn the remakes, Save the originals.)) -
sati_84 — 9 years ago(September 19, 2016 03:59 AM)
The meaning of most of the slang is obvious when looking at the context. Your example, the phrase "gotta get got" is doubly so. I'm not a native English speaker, and watched the show for the first time with English subtitles, second time with Hungarian subtitles to check out the translation (Hungarian is my native language). At first viewing, there was some confusion the first time I heard phrases I was not familiar with ("stevedores" gave me a few scratches of head), but I kept on going without looking up anything, just paying attention. And I figured out all plot relevant slang terms by the end of the series.
Bottom line is: use subtitles and pay attention. The Wire rewards a viewer who pays attention.
I was looking back to see if you were looking back at me to see me looking back at you -
pistrix — 9 years ago(September 19, 2016 03:54 PM)
Exactly you understand the slang and Baltimorese, as we call it, when seeing the context it is in. I do know non-English speakers have at times had issues with US slang, and then of course there are different terms pending geographic location in the US as well. We don't like to make things easy around here. LOL.
But yeah things can be figured out while viewing so it is not completely unknown. Just for me, no matter what movie or show I am watching on DVD, I always watch with subtitles first. The Wire did have some language that took some working out.
((Damn the remakes, Save the originals.)) -
Kewl_Kat — 9 years ago(January 06, 2017 02:20 PM)
- NO OFFENSE OR RACISM but the black characters look very similar to each other.
I think this is only true when you first see a bunch of people of a certain race together for the first time. It's because virtually all black people have dark hair and brown eyes, for example. Natural eye and hair color varies with American white people, making it easier to distinguish when taking a quick glance. It would be tough to confuse a red-haired person with blue eyes with a blond person with green eyes or a dark-haired person with brown eyes. They all have obvious differences.
However, the OP says he is Indian. This is also a group of people with basically black hair and brown eyes. A lot of people would make a "they all look alike" comment about this demographic, also. Right?
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- NO OFFENSE OR RACISM but the black characters look very similar to each other.
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jimprideaux2 — 1 month ago(February 28, 2026 08:57 PM)
I just rewatched the series. I had the same problems. It's not about Blacks it's about Black Characters. I had no problems differentiating between and or understanding Commissioner Burrell, Daniels, Bunk, Kima, Carver, Lester. On the street side Proposition Joe, Bubbles, Stringer Bell were OK. Most of the rest were, to me, indistinguishable. I saw them as generic drug seller or drug muscle. I used the closed captions, but with hearing aids I use closed captions on just about everything. But even when I read the words the syntax and jargon made little sense to me.
I'd like to see a remake with Lester Freamon dubbing everyone on the street