Learning from Omar's rules (The Wire)
Can fictional characters instruct us on how to live?
One of my favorite TV shows in history is The Wire. It does so many things well, from great characters, deep storylines and insightful commentary on the systems American’s depend on and how they work, or more often, don’t work. I’ve watched all five seasons of the show many times.
For many fans of the show, their favorite character is Omar, played by Michael k Williams. He’s an anti-hero. His livelyhood is robbing drug dealers, but because he commits crime only against criminals, his choices have a moral ambiguity to them. It’s easy to find yourself eventually rooting for him in some way.
Part of why he is charismatic is the strict set of rules he follows. I asked ChatGPT “what were omar's rules to live by on the wire” and here is the list it gave me:
No harming civilians: Omar refuses to harm innocent people.
No profanity: Omar generally dislikes profanity.
No using his gun on those not in "the game": Omar only uses his gun on people who are involved in the drug trade.
Challenging the status quo: Omar tries to undermine drug empires that intimidate the community.
What ChatGPT doesn’t say here is Omar is a murderer. He kills people in cold blood. He is violent. He is willing to lie. In many ways his actions reflect the breaking of many common rules most people respect (thou shall not kill, etc.).
But because of the rules he does follow and how strictly he follows them, it’s easy to admire him. He has high integrity, among the highest of any character on the show. He protects the people that he cares about. He knows himself and has chosen his own rules, but clearly pays a price for them. They make his life harder in some ways. But they also simplify his life in others. He is also self-aware. One of his most famous lines from the show is: “A man must have a code.”
What fictional character has rules to live by that you think about? I’m looking for more to study.
I asked my friends for some characters and they said the Doctor from Dr.Who and Superman/Clark Kent.
Personally I thought of Lord Henry Wotton from Dorian Grey, more so as someone impossible to argue with. He himself doesn't live by the rules that he "poisons" Dorian with, and you're left wondering if he actually agrees with them. Here's some of his "rules" or maybe more like advice--
"Conscience is just a polite word for cowardice. No civilized man regrets a pleasure."
"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself..."
"Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind, and poisons us. The body sins once, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification. Nothing remains then but the recollection of a pleasure, or the luxury of a regret."
"I represent to you all the sins you have never had the courage to commit."
"The things one feels absolutely certain about are never true."
"It is only the sacred things that are worth touching... When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance."
He's just so good at convincing you to be a hedonist! And flipping logic on its head. He is so difficult to argue with, but you know that something is wrong with the things that he says. If you fully devote yourself to hedonism, you really dont have to care about anything, like how he wants Dorian to become. But you as the reader know that it's not ethical and you should feel guilt following him...
So fascinating. The one that came to mind instantly was the polar opposite rules that Pacino and De Niro's live by in Heat.. Two sides of the same coin.