I don't see why people should not explain the subtext. The ultimate purpose of stories is to entertain us by teaching us something about ourselves and the world in which we live. If we cannot learn to decipher the message that we are being given (and 'The Wire' is certainly rich in the profundity and subtext of its messages), what is the point of even watching superb shows like this one?
I HATE THIS SHOW NOW, I LOVED IT BUT THEN EVERYBODY STARTED TO DIE, BODIE DEEANGELO,OMAR AND MARLOS CREW WERE NR.1 BUT IF AVON WOULD NOT GO TO JAIL MARLOS CREW WOUL NOT BE IN SEASON 4 AND 5
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I HATE THIS MARLO MOTHERFUCKER. FUCK THE FUCKING SUBTEXT. FUCK ANYONE WHO HAS THE SLIGHTEST SYMPATHY FOR THIS MOTHERFUCKER. FUCK YOU. YEAH, YOU, WHO IS ABOUT TO THUMB DOWN THIS COMMENT, FUCK YOU TWICE...
"You want it to be one way" = you want your corny youtube comments to sound smart and insightful, "but it's the other way" = you are boring and obvious
see whats going on here is that the guard wants it...and i repeat..."to be one way" but you see what you might have missed about this scene is that it is in fact "the other way". i hope this has cleared any doubt up for you.
The security guard want the control, power, respect and authority he expects, being the older, honest , hard working, "father figure" ( one way), but it's Marlo, the young, dishonest, criminal, who hasn't "paid his dues" that has all the control, power, respect and authority (the other way)
what's most interesting to me about this scene is that the marlo's line, when written in the script, reads "you want it be one way, but it's the other" obviously explaining to the guard that he's not beholden to rentacop authority despite the guard's entreatment. but instead of delivering the line as most people would, the actor puts an emphasis on "one way" implying that there are instead several, and only later clarifying that "it's the other way". a very zen moment
Most of yall missing the main point. When theyre takin the bodies out of the vacants, one was of "some security guard". Think about it. Marlo killed dude outta lack of respect. A family man at that. Basically, one way is the land of righteousness, where every crime is punished and the bad guys get locked up.But its the other, grimey, immoral lawlessness where cats'll kill you over holdin to your values of an idealistic society.
avon barksdale was way better. marlo was just a lucky punk that filled the void in his absence. avon earned respect or made you show it. marlo had brains but was not into working with others his was a short reign.
@kvoorh33s just like avon, they did not show avon from soldier to the calling the shots! but they did show marlo's rise to control the streets, the cops arrested his main rivals in the barksdale organization. He took over when this ravals when his enemies were weak! Marlo is simply a opportunist. don't kid yourselves people. also chris is the devil- he would kill his own mother if marlo told him to!
Here it is in a nutshell, Marlo says"you want it one way", meaning I need to respect you for being a man or whatever the guard was talking about, but "it's the other way" meaning I don't respect you, you respect me!
The Guard is the one who is supposed to be in charge. He doesn't exercise his authority out of fear but still wants to have his way by reasoning with Marlo. He obviously doesn't watch the Wire.
'.....but its the other way.'
This is the hood. Marlo calls the shots. Literally. The guard has no authority.
This isn't just the hood, this is everywhere. The hood is a little tiny microcosm of The Game. Madoff is a Kingpin. Cheney is a Kingpin. Little whiny ass ghetto niggers are exactly what they've always been, even back to Africa. Silly retarded babies who can't even keep their women in check. Check yourself...
This was the only line in the show I didn't get thanks to the people like eidon513 who explained it, I don't agree 100% but I think your explanation is the best I heard
I always liked "Aint much point having the crown, if the nigga wearing it always getting his shit took" .... although the BEST line, season 2 "Your a SOBOTKA!!"
Marlo name meant everything to him, "my name is my name", so when Omar was calling him all kind of names, nobody told Marlo because they knew how ugly he can get, he found after Omar death and he was still furious at his people for not telling him.
You're half right and half wrong. WE don't understand Marlo that well, but Simon obviously does. It's not like he wrote the season piecemeal. This scene is one of our first looks into Marlo's deeper character. And you're right: he does do it "just to", as Bodie says, but because he enjoys it. It's not out of curiosity or fascination or anything. He's a sociopath. He enjoys the power he has and the pain he causes.
eidon513 u went too damn deep. marlo stole some candy, the security gaurd saw him and went outside to confront him. marlo aint bucced and left. thats all. o and marlo kill the gaurd
sorry jontray but I'm gonna have to agree to disagree. Eidon nailed it spot on. There's not much that occurs in the wire that only has surface level value. It's like saying the show is just about cops and drug dealers.
The point of the scene is that Marlo is obsessed with his power. This is a demonstration of the same character trait he shows by killing people he doesn't need to: he enjoys power and uses it just to do it, not solely for practical purposes. In response to a few comments down: David Simon himself said that he felt Marlo received a kind of justice. Even though he "survived physically" as one guy put it, his name is dead. The kind of power he craved he no longer has. Money is meaningless to him.
"You want it to be one way"- you want everyone in the world to have the ability- free choice- to choose good over evil- for example, playing it straight and getting a legitamate job. "But its the other way"- like butchie told Omar after bunk put a guilt trip on him- everyone in this world does what they do implying there is no free choice- Therefore Marlo said, "but its the other way". That is the source of true evil, when people think they have no control over their actions.
@eidon513 agreed. and i would also point out that this scene takes place immediately after marlo was "emasculated" (so to speak) at the poker game so he is using this moment to "reassert" his dominance.
@eidon513 The true irony of Marlo's fate is that he received exactly what his onetime rival Stringer Bell always wanted (he can become a legitimate businessman)... but Marlo doesn't want it.
Stringer Bell hated "The Game," and wanted to be a suit. Marlo lived for the game.
Omar and Avon was a joke compared to Marlo. So is Prop Joe. Those guys let their emotions get to them. Look at Stringer's beef with Avon, they went separate ways, their entire organization was a mess in Season 3. The cops didn't even need to step in, they lost the game themselves.
Marlo never had no need with no emotions or some outside influence or some shit like that. He had no morals, and that was what made him good. He had plenty of followers who did whatever he said at the drop of a hat.
All was concerned about was his rep. When he said "you want it to be one way" he was saying you think you can confront me on the street and not have anything happen to you I'm a boss even if you see me stealing you look the other way or deal with the consequence. That security guard sealed his fate as soon as he talked back.
The security guard wants to get out of West Baltimore without getting involved in ''the game'', by working a legit job and feeding his family. Marlo wanted to show him things don't work that way.
after the card game,marlo walked into the store to buy a drink and peeped the security guard lookin at him. and marlo lifted lolipops right in front of the man jus to show him that he wasent gonna do shit.
lookin real hard with that there lollipop
thebrodeo1234 1 week ago
@thebrodeo1234 Did you see the whole scene?
Sabbatai 1 week ago
One Way = Getting Job, being a chump
Other Way = You gotta hustle to make that paper you know?
focusinc 2 weeks ago
Marlo got bled dry by that politician just like stringer bell lol
NotGangster100 3 months ago
I don't see why people should not explain the subtext. The ultimate purpose of stories is to entertain us by teaching us something about ourselves and the world in which we live. If we cannot learn to decipher the message that we are being given (and 'The Wire' is certainly rich in the profundity and subtext of its messages), what is the point of even watching superb shows like this one?
Sackobooks 4 months ago 4
You want it to be one way, ......but im about to go to Subway!
dagreatcapri82 5 months ago
Excellent moment
DavKellar 6 months ago
I HATE THIS SHOW NOW, I LOVED IT BUT THEN EVERYBODY STARTED TO DIE, BODIE DEEANGELO,OMAR AND MARLOS CREW WERE NR.1 BUT IF AVON WOULD NOT GO TO JAIL MARLOS CREW WOUL NOT BE IN SEASON 4 AND 5
kevinbranislavstanko 6 months ago
sociology101 what did marlo mean when he said to the security guard you want it one way? lolll
givemeblowjob69 7 months ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I HATE THIS MARLO MOTHERFUCKER. FUCK THE FUCKING SUBTEXT. FUCK ANYONE WHO HAS THE SLIGHTEST SYMPATHY FOR THIS MOTHERFUCKER. FUCK YOU. YEAH, YOU, WHO IS ABOUT TO THUMB DOWN THIS COMMENT, FUCK YOU TWICE...
0nmyw4y 8 months ago
All these comments explaining the subtext... How many "Intro to Sociology" students we got on YouTube anyway?
ZeusMantooth 9 months ago 3
@ZeusMantooth how manny niggas from the streets? real niggas...tch...you want it to be one way.....
Novinte 8 months ago
@ZeusMantooth Unlike you, a lot of them probably went past their intro courses.
gatchAttk 3 months ago
"You want it to be one way" = you want your corny youtube comments to sound smart and insightful, "but it's the other way" = you are boring and obvious
hurting 1 year ago 18
@hurting Seriously!! Way too many keyboard scholars
blackula55 5 months ago 3
Comment removed
hurting 1 year ago
see whats going on here is that the guard wants it...and i repeat..."to be one way" but you see what you might have missed about this scene is that it is in fact "the other way". i hope this has cleared any doubt up for you.
alexthemod1 1 year ago 7
@alexthemod1 Say it again but speak slower please?
johnnyk427 11 months ago
PLEASE STOP EXPLAINING THE SUBTEXT!
FinbarFinbarFinbar 1 year ago 4
why is he trying to look like a hardass with a fucking sucker in his mouth
Indieexploration 1 year ago
shouldve just let him take the fucking lollipop
KojachBaumherr 1 year ago
The security guard want the control, power, respect and authority he expects, being the older, honest , hard working, "father figure" ( one way), but it's Marlo, the young, dishonest, criminal, who hasn't "paid his dues" that has all the control, power, respect and authority (the other way)
Damn I miss The Wire!...
mvembathegriot 1 year ago 6
what's most interesting to me about this scene is that the marlo's line, when written in the script, reads "you want it be one way, but it's the other" obviously explaining to the guard that he's not beholden to rentacop authority despite the guard's entreatment. but instead of delivering the line as most people would, the actor puts an emphasis on "one way" implying that there are instead several, and only later clarifying that "it's the other way". a very zen moment
jlk2100 1 year ago
Most of yall missing the main point. When theyre takin the bodies out of the vacants, one was of "some security guard". Think about it. Marlo killed dude outta lack of respect. A family man at that. Basically, one way is the land of righteousness, where every crime is punished and the bad guys get locked up.But its the other, grimey, immoral lawlessness where cats'll kill you over holdin to your values of an idealistic society.
KidCassat 1 year ago 6
damn... this scene is really good and it's audio is sampled for a hip-hop song im trying to remember.. as a king of intro...
treazon6 1 year ago
@treazon6 im trying to remember this song too, been looking for a few minutes. did you figure it out?
taxbax 1 year ago
@treazon6 scratch that, found it on a "the Smoking Section Comment" (wont let me link)
Sirens by Little Brother from Get Back at the end of the track. The song has a lot more Wire samples though.
taxbax 1 year ago
I hate it when gangsters put words into your mouth so that they've got a reason to do something to you.
kandinskyforfootball 1 year ago
BUT IT'S THE OTHER WAY
kvoorh33s 1 year ago
avon barksdale was way better. marlo was just a lucky punk that filled the void in his absence. avon earned respect or made you show it. marlo had brains but was not into working with others his was a short reign.
yacayou 2 years ago
marlo was a soldier just like avon, the difference was they started marlo's story after he already proved himself in the streets
kvoorh33s 1 year ago
@kvoorh33s just like avon, they did not show avon from soldier to the calling the shots! but they did show marlo's rise to control the streets, the cops arrested his main rivals in the barksdale organization. He took over when this ravals when his enemies were weak! Marlo is simply a opportunist. don't kid yourselves people. also chris is the devil- he would kill his own mother if marlo told him to!
yacayou 1 year ago
Here it is in a nutshell, Marlo says"you want it one way", meaning I need to respect you for being a man or whatever the guard was talking about, but "it's the other way" meaning I don't respect you, you respect me!
FLASHBLAK 2 years ago
marlo's the baddest mothafucka of all tv series of all time!!! i would love to see a marlo vs. omar street fight
makster86 2 years ago
@makster86 marlo is a bitch! without his evil henchmen he would get ass raped! FUCK MARLO STANFIELD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yacayou 2 years ago
i loved this part i told my brother that for weeks all the time
IMME01234567 2 years ago 2
Marlo didn't have to terminate the security guard like that. Damn shame.
toprookie 2 years ago
Possibly my favorite scene from the series.
Yinnzio 2 years ago
'You want it one way...'.
The Guard is the one who is supposed to be in charge. He doesn't exercise his authority out of fear but still wants to have his way by reasoning with Marlo. He obviously doesn't watch the Wire.
'.....but its the other way.'
This is the hood. Marlo calls the shots. Literally. The guard has no authority.
Thats my take and I agree that its a power play.
Lonewolf2581 2 years ago 49
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@Lonewolf2581
This isn't just the hood, this is everywhere. The hood is a little tiny microcosm of The Game. Madoff is a Kingpin. Cheney is a Kingpin. Little whiny ass ghetto niggers are exactly what they've always been, even back to Africa. Silly retarded babies who can't even keep their women in check. Check yourself...
beowulven 1 year ago
This gave me the chills, that Marlo would kill some one for this! Terrifying!
legitamatethursday 2 years ago
marlo = best character in the show
chipsanchez 2 years ago
naw..Omar..den snoop..den marlo..naw..Bodie..den marlo
Blizthedon 2 years ago
This was the only line in the show I didn't get thanks to the people like eidon513 who explained it, I don't agree 100% but I think your explanation is the best I heard
MrLesWhite 2 years ago
This is my fave Marlo line, although he's best screen moment is in season 5.
'I wasn't made to be the son'.
They wasted this charcter imo, and the final season was weak.
Thanks for the vid.
Lonewolf2581 2 years ago
I always liked "Aint much point having the crown, if the nigga wearing it always getting his shit took" .... although the BEST line, season 2 "Your a SOBOTKA!!"
OldboyLescott 2 years ago
what did he mean by You want it to be one way.
undisputes 2 years ago
Marlo name meant everything to him, "my name is my name", so when Omar was calling him all kind of names, nobody told Marlo because they knew how ugly he can get, he found after Omar death and he was still furious at his people for not telling him.
djEssatu 2 years ago 5
marlo was such a jerkoff
pjds88 2 years ago
what does one way says
tyreik89 3 years ago
marlo shouldve showed the man some respect cold bastard
prezance 3 years ago 3
When im wrong, im wrong. i posted that before understandin marlo truly, but after watchin season 5 i began to see whut he lived for.
and trust, i kno, the wire is NOT jus a cop show. its my favorite show.
jontray87 3 years ago
what is he talking about one way?
Uptowntwan 3 years ago
The guard things he should get respect (and he should) but Marlo won't let me have it "that way".
kidd2k1 2 years ago
You're half right and half wrong. WE don't understand Marlo that well, but Simon obviously does. It's not like he wrote the season piecemeal. This scene is one of our first looks into Marlo's deeper character. And you're right: he does do it "just to", as Bodie says, but because he enjoys it. It's not out of curiosity or fascination or anything. He's a sociopath. He enjoys the power he has and the pain he causes.
eidon513 3 years ago 8
eidon513 u went too damn deep. marlo stole some candy, the security gaurd saw him and went outside to confront him. marlo aint bucced and left. thats all. o and marlo kill the gaurd
jontray87 3 years ago
^that's not what happened here. as w/most scenes on the wire, all is not as it seems.
504Diva 3 years ago
sorry jontray but I'm gonna have to agree to disagree. Eidon nailed it spot on. There's not much that occurs in the wire that only has surface level value. It's like saying the show is just about cops and drug dealers.
greenie62 3 years ago 4
This was such a wasteful death out of so many in the wire. I can see marlo's logic behind so many, even devonne, but this one is just tragic.
robertmurray7782 3 years ago
The point of the scene is that Marlo is obsessed with his power. This is a demonstration of the same character trait he shows by killing people he doesn't need to: he enjoys power and uses it just to do it, not solely for practical purposes. In response to a few comments down: David Simon himself said that he felt Marlo received a kind of justice. Even though he "survived physically" as one guy put it, his name is dead. The kind of power he craved he no longer has. Money is meaningless to him.
eidon513 3 years ago 43
"You want it to be one way"- you want everyone in the world to have the ability- free choice- to choose good over evil- for example, playing it straight and getting a legitamate job. "But its the other way"- like butchie told Omar after bunk put a guilt trip on him- everyone in this world does what they do implying there is no free choice- Therefore Marlo said, "but its the other way". That is the source of true evil, when people think they have no control over their actions.
def42 2 years ago 4
shit is deep
BANE9 2 years ago 3
@eidon513 agreed. and i would also point out that this scene takes place immediately after marlo was "emasculated" (so to speak) at the poker game so he is using this moment to "reassert" his dominance.
ebbNflow48 1 year ago
@eidon513 I agree he lost his titile as KING.
kirgeez 1 year ago
@eidon513 A fate worse than death for the character. Poetic justice at its best.
Darnellius 6 months ago
@eidon513 The true irony of Marlo's fate is that he received exactly what his onetime rival Stringer Bell always wanted (he can become a legitimate businessman)... but Marlo doesn't want it.
Stringer Bell hated "The Game," and wanted to be a suit. Marlo lived for the game.
Sylocat 2 months ago
Could someone explain this scene to me? I'm pretty savy about The Wire but this one went over my head.
wad0cash 3 years ago
Omar and Avon was a joke compared to Marlo. So is Prop Joe. Those guys let their emotions get to them. Look at Stringer's beef with Avon, they went separate ways, their entire organization was a mess in Season 3. The cops didn't even need to step in, they lost the game themselves.
Marlo never had no need with no emotions or some outside influence or some shit like that. He had no morals, and that was what made him good. He had plenty of followers who did whatever he said at the drop of a hat.
LifeFirst 3 years ago 4
cos lil wayne said so
sweatizzle 3 years ago
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
BlackBronson 3 years ago
All was concerned about was his rep. When he said "you want it to be one way" he was saying you think you can confront me on the street and not have anything happen to you I'm a boss even if you see me stealing you look the other way or deal with the consequence. That security guard sealed his fate as soon as he talked back.
boombap73 3 years ago 4
this is the correct response
robydid 3 years ago
The security guard wants to get out of West Baltimore without getting involved in ''the game'', by working a legit job and feeding his family. Marlo wanted to show him things don't work that way.
lgnwarcraft 3 years ago 3
it's not always the other way!
urbandiversityud 3 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
marlo wants it both ways?
sound kinda gay to me.
sweatizzle 4 years ago
Can someone please tell me who was this security guard to Marlo???
Tajforever 4 years ago
after the card game,marlo walked into the store to buy a drink and peeped the security guard lookin at him. and marlo lifted lolipops right in front of the man jus to show him that he wasent gonna do shit.
illflip 4 years ago 4
That security guard looks like David Banner.
astewart2005 4 years ago 3
haha!! sure does!
jmz106 4 years ago
No...he looks like Steven Harper (the Principal) on Boston Public.
DanielTokyo 3 years ago
Yeah, he does. LOL
astewart2005 3 years ago
Fuckin' Marlo... he's juss a dirty nigga man
boss12 4 years ago 7