Bubbles Depot

Why do I love Bubbles so much?

In the real world, he would probably be someone most of us would walk on the other side of the street to avoid. Someone we would see and use as a warning showing the harm of drugs to our kids. He's a dirty, addicted, petty thief, snitch who leads a dispicable life...and I can't get enough of him

In most every single movie, television show, book, or play, a junkie is usually portrayed as a less-than-human social parasite. They are there to act stoned or give the cops trouble. They commit murder, robbery, and sloth upon themselves. But with the complexity of a Tony Soprano comes Bubbles. Our anti-hero hero. A philosophical drug abuser who the viewer comes to root for, and dare I say, love.

Perhaps this is why I love the character of Bubbles so much: a human face on an otherwise socially ignored ill. If you have read up on the actor, Andre Royo, he tells an interesting story of being on the set and during a break in shooting he was approached by a "real" street junkie who assumed Andre (dressed as Bubbles) was in fact a real user as well. The fellow junkie handed Andre a bag of heroin telling him he looked as if he needed it more than him.

What is my point here? My point is that the Bubbles character exemplifies the realism of this show. Down to the way a character looks. It also show us that The Wire does not follow any standards in writing or storyline. We love junkies (Bubbles), cops (McNulty, Kima, Lester, etc.), dealers (Wallace, D'Angelo, Bodie), and even the kingpins themselves show human sides.

It truly messes with your mind when you root for or against characters that in the past you have been programmed to root for or against. Bubbles and his tee-shirt selling, advice giving, heroin shooting, caper running self is one of the most beloved characters on the show. His constant attemps to get clean show us that not all users of drugs are just addicts looking to get a fix. It shows us that they are humans and have feelings and emotions and the street smarts to survive in a morally corrupt world. We root for Bubbles to get clean because we know he wants to get clean.

In many ways, Bubbles is the hero of our show. A character that survives the game as humaly possilbe by playing both sides and being untouchable by them both. He shows the audience the true side of the user: the daily rituals to get cash for the next fix, the inner self doubt and hatred for what he has become, and the dreams of a man who wishes to live a clean life but simply doesn't know how.

I love Bubs.