The good,the bad or the queer: Articulations of queer resistance in The Wire

Abstract

Although the representation of queer characters has grown significantly in contemporary western television, most of the popular fiction series are still dominated by hegemonic heteronormative discourses. However, this article demonstrates how the critically acclaimed series The Wire, through its subversive articulations of queer characters, resists heteronormativity. This implies that the series can be read as a defiance of an essentialist, hierarchical and oppositional way of thinking. Our textual thematic analysis reveals how the series uses both deconstructive practices that expose the way heteronormative practices function, and reconstructive practices offering counter-discourses that transgress societal assumptions about gender, sexuality and identity.