This past Sunday night, while many my age and a number of others were watching the MTV VMAs in a year that did not honor the types of music you find on Fordham University's radio station; I was watching the concluding two hours of what I think is HBO's third important television event of the year. The first two were the Andrew Jarecki documentary miniseries The Jinx and the Alex Gibney film Going Clear. I could possibly add a third already in Andy Samberg's brilliant sports faux biography 7 Days In Hell. Yet, this might have outclassed all three of them.
David Simon is clearly one of the most inventive writers and producers of TV out there today. Show Me A Hero, a collaboration of ideas between Simon and his team along with noted filmmaker and Oscar winner Paul Haggis, is easily the best television program to have been shown this year. It may not be at the same groundbreaking and innovative functions set forth in The Wire; yet this does come quite close in miniseries form. Like many of Mr. Simon's projects, this delves in relations in a community in changing times. However, this story told is one that is entirely true.
When Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan was first elected to the US Senate in 1976, one of his goals relative to his home state of New York was to see implementation of housing for families and individuals with lower income levels relative to the norm in the state. It was not until the 1982 election of Gov. Mario Cuomo, a fellow New York Democrat and political figure with a working class background, that Sen. Moynihan was able to have a statewide ally in housing plans. At the time, New York was a state where there were an equalization between liberal minded areas and conservative minded areas. Usually in the cities like Manhattan and the Five Boroughs, then as now, projects like public housing were given wide support.
However, the suburbs and rural sections of the state were far more conservative and Republican oriented. None the less, some of these enclaves like Long Island (namely Nassau County) were able to acquiesce to federal mandates for housing; willing to go along due to Republican Sen. Al D'Amato's approval of the projects. A noted suburb that held out in initiating public housing was the Westchester County city of Yonkers. Yonkers at that time, and now even, is a location for city dwellers without having to actually live in the city; that would include the Bronx. Not making derogatory statements; just mentioning a fact that people who want to be close to NYC yet are not living there will prefer the housing locations in Westchester County as a more family friendly alternative. Much of the demographics of Yonkers in the 1980s were for the most part well-to-do white families.
That all began to change by 1987. As a result of federally funded legislation to desegregate public housing, New York Southern District Court Judge Leonard B. Sand declared the city of Yonkers in contempt of court. This was followed by an order to develop 200 housing quarters for lower income families in Yonkers' east side. Many of the people living in Yonkers did not take this order lightly. As I mentioned before, it was a predominately Republican community rejecting the more Democratic minded policies that needed to be done. It is here that Show Me A Hero offers the stories and glimpses of many of these people who were either directly involved with providing the housing or were tenants for these projects.
Like many of David Simon's series, there is not one central person to look at when so many lives are intertwined. Yet if there is a central figure, it would need to be Yonkers Mayor Nick Wasiscko, a Democrat who was elected to the city Council in 1985 at just 26. Two years later, Wasiscko was elected as the youngest Mayor in the history of Yonkers at only 28. In this miniseries, Oscar Isaac portrays Nick Wasicko in a role that were there any justice in this world he would have been given the Emmy for Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie straight away. In some respects, Mr. Isaac shows us a multi-tiered look at Wasiscko that does not make him look like the second coming of a Lincoln or a Roosevelt. In fact, Wasiscko was elected Mayor on a platform of rejecting the housing decision. Yet, after Wasiscko's election, the City of Yonkers' appeal was lost.
There is a line in the miniseries that Oscar Isaac says during one of the more raucous council meetings which I think sums up the need to press forward with the housing projects. The line, "Majority rules but it cannot rule contrary to the law", does give the noted conundrum on how certain matters of law need to be accepted. And admittedly, the first three parts of this miniseries might be found by non political people to be a bit dry; what with the emphasis placed on the city council as well as the federal circuit courts. Yet, there are not too many movies or shows that relate to the inner workings of local government when it is usually the decisions of a town council or city ordinance that will directly affect the needs and desires of its populace.
As I mentioned earlier, Oscar Isaac and his portrayal of Nick Wasiscko may seem to be the central focus of this miniseries. Yet, there are of course many other actor involved that merit recognition.
Catherine Keener: her portrayal of Yonkers resident and advocate Mary Dorman would also be worthy of at least an Emmy nomination. Keener does not show up until part two; yet it is an interesting yet understated role that reflects Mrs. Dorman's evolution from being against the public housing initiative to becoming one of the few white homeowners outside of public office willing to become friends and partners with the African-American and Hispanic communities. There is no dramatic epiphany or any sort of emotional outburst making the change known. Rather, similar to the gradual evolution of characters we saw on The Wire (and I am particularly thinking of Andre Royo's brilliant Bubbles), the eventual reversal of ideals comes without forewarning and yet feels as if these ideals were already in the making.
Alfred Molina: Molina plays Mayor Hank Spallone, whom defeated Wasiscko for the job in 1989 before Spallone himself was defeated two years later. Mayor Spallone was a brash sort of political figure that felt more at ease with being the antagonistic pest, rather than running a city. Mr. Molina is one of our greatest actors, and even in a kind of smaller scale role, when Molina is on screen, he owns the scene.
Ilfenesh Hadera: she is a newly minted actress that portrays Alma Febles; a single mother from Puerto Rico that would over the years become a success story in earning a decent living and providing well for her children and now grandchildren.
Natalie Paul: another new actress who plays Doreen Henderson. Ms. Henderson started out having drug problems which intensified after the death of a male companion in the inner cities (played by one of the kids from season four of The Wire; I think the one that played Namond.) She did become a success story in effectively being the leading advocate for people living in public housing, similar to what Mary Dorman was for her community.
LaTanya Richardson Jackson: her portrayal of Norma O'Neal is rather interesting. Ms. O'Neal was a nurse practitioner who eventually went blind due to diabetes. She also was very much involved in matters relating to housing, yet did not fully integrate due to different forms of opinions with newer generations of civil rights leaders.
Clarke Peters: the important gem in any David Simon series. Mr. Peters only shows up in the last two parts, yet it is his portrayal of Robert Mayhawk (possibly not an actual person) that provides the conscience and wisdom of the matters relating to housing and integration. And like in previous roles, Clarke Peters has the lines which I think matter most.
Carla Quevedo: her portrayal of Nay Wasiscko is quite important, namely as the eventual better half of the relationship. I do hope we hear more from Ms. Quevedo to come.
There are of course other roles and many other actors to note for this miniseries. Winona Ryder doing excellent work as Vinni Restiano, Jim Belushi in a rare dramatic role as Mayor Angelo Martinelli, Bob Balaban doing superbly as Judge Leonard B. Sand, Jon Bernthal providing some important ideals as NAACP lawyer Mike Sussman, Peter Riegert in the role of Oscar Newman that is an important insight into how housing plans are developed. Dominique Fishback is another up and comer portraying young single mother Billie Rowan.
I will have a second essay to explain a lot more on many of the interesting touches made to this miniseries. Perhaps this one is quite long as is. None the less, it is a great miniseries; one that I think should be required viewing for anyone involved with community services pertaining to local matters.
More coming; stay tuned,
Robert
PS. I am liking the new Google logo. And I am keenly interested in what Alphabet will bring to the table of new ideas.
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