Watch: ‘The Wire’ Is ‘The Wire’: All of the Show’s Tautologies in One Supercut

In addition to bringing the phrase "True dat" and the word "S************************************************it" into the public lexicon, David Simon’s ‘The Wire,’ as YouTube user Propolandante’s supercut shows, flooded us with tautologies. Ah, the tautology: that simple statement with a matching subject and predicate nominative: "It is what it is," "what’s done is done," "let bygones be bygones." Here, these statements are replaced by "The game is the game," "the street is the street," and other tough utterances. The tautology can be used to provoke reflection, to invite us not to make more of something than it is, but in the case of Simon’s gritty-is-an-understatement Baltimore drama, the tautology is like a strong hand, swiveling the viewer’s head around and forcing a reckoning with reality.