Family, The Wire, and MacLeod

            It truly is the truth when Dr. Jamerson said Ain’t No Makin It correlates extremely well with season 4 of The Wire.  That being said, here’s a little bit of character analysis. 

            Randy might be my favorite character of the four seasons thus far.  For one, he walks the line of code-switching (throwback to Anderson).  His friends are all mostly street and he even participates some in the drug trade.  However, his near mastery of the underground economy (throwback to Venkatesh) is largely in response to his broken family.  A mother strung out on drugs, an overflowing household to which he must be the 8^th grader parent, and yet still Randy has at least some academic aspirations.  He is a bright kid but for him, survival comes first and thus he skips class to make a few bucks here and there.  He has very little support networks available for him despite his seemingly apt intelligence.  Unfortuantely, the observation “I can’t really say [his] parents are bad, but their parents aren’t helping any” fits Randy in full effect (MacLeod 59).

            On the other hand, you’ve got a guy like Namond who epitomizes street culture.  He’s an extreme case and even amongst the 10 extreme street kids Colvin pulled out, Namond has truly be put in an individualized “solitary hole” as he called the special class.  His parents are highly influencial on his aspirations but not by the middle-class norms of the educational institution.  Through episode seven, I’m not sure yet if Namond has what it takes to be a drug dealer, but his mother and father are doing everything to groom him in that way of life.  While his parents “exercise a good deal of authority over him” (MacLeod 59), this authority both equates and contrasts to that of the Brothers’ parents.  Both parents enforce time and productivity, in that the Brothers have extra-curriculars and curfews, while Namond is either learning from the books or learning from the corner with no exceptions.  However, the Brothers have prospects after their teenage years.  Namond’s prospects for mobility are likened to that of Hallway Hangers.