The pilot introduced the main characters and their situations. "Show and Prove" explores them further. Admittedly, there's not much of a plot yet, but that's because David Simon is setting things up, giving us the background info about the porn and prostitution industries.
One striking thing that's got across is the illegality of the industry and the relationship between the prostitutes and cops. Arresting the girls is an almost daily routine. Will it change anything? No. They'll go right back out onto the street the next day. Arresting them is something they do just because it's the law. Rodney hits the nail on the head- it's like sweeping up leaves on a windy day.
The same goes for porn. Only softcore porn is legal, but that doesn't stop hardcore porn from existing, and the store owner's meagre excuse when he's arrested for having hardcore porn in display in peep shows is that he put the wrong one in. Doesn't matter, because no doubt he'll be selling hardcore porn again tomorrow.
The effect of the illegality of hardcore porn is not good, because it removes the right of the pornstar to have their content copyrighted. Darlene's porno is being sold over the counter but she can't do anything about it because the content itself is illegal. It's an important point, because David Simon uses this to show how politicians intervening in markets they don't understand often leads to worse results for the people they're supposed to be protecting. Essentially, an argument that's in favour of neoliberalism, the very system this show is supposed to be arguing against. Oops, David Simon, you unintentionally put forward a key capitalist argument ;)
One amusing scene for me is when Candy stars in her first porn. Anyone who thought because this show was about sex it would be sexy would be wildly mistaken. What it does remarkably well is showing the unsexy reality of porno shoots. Neither the actors or the actresses are remotely turned on by this, the guys are faking masturbation as their hands aren't even touching their penises and the girls are having fake semen squirmed over their faces. Plus, the guys must feel stupid wearing viking helmets.
And onto the pimps, it's sad to see C.C. cruelly manipulating Lori like he did Ashley. She genuinely feels that he cares for her, just like Ashley did. But at some point the truth will hit her hard. How many girls has he used and thrown away like this?
Meanwhile, the parts of the episode dedicated to characters such as Vincent and Abby aren't as interesting. No doubt they'll be meeting the sex industry soon, but they feel isolated from the rest of the plot at the moment.
One striking thing that's got across is the illegality of the industry and the relationship between the prostitutes and cops. Arresting the girls is an almost daily routine. Will it change anything? No. They'll go right back out onto the street the next day. Arresting them is something they do just because it's the law. Rodney hits the nail on the head- it's like sweeping up leaves on a windy day.
The same goes for porn. Only softcore porn is legal, but that doesn't stop hardcore porn from existing, and the store owner's meagre excuse when he's arrested for having hardcore porn in display in peep shows is that he put the wrong one in. Doesn't matter, because no doubt he'll be selling hardcore porn again tomorrow.
The effect of the illegality of hardcore porn is not good, because it removes the right of the pornstar to have their content copyrighted. Darlene's porno is being sold over the counter but she can't do anything about it because the content itself is illegal. It's an important point, because David Simon uses this to show how politicians intervening in markets they don't understand often leads to worse results for the people they're supposed to be protecting. Essentially, an argument that's in favour of neoliberalism, the very system this show is supposed to be arguing against. Oops, David Simon, you unintentionally put forward a key capitalist argument ;)
One amusing scene for me is when Candy stars in her first porn. Anyone who thought because this show was about sex it would be sexy would be wildly mistaken. What it does remarkably well is showing the unsexy reality of porno shoots. Neither the actors or the actresses are remotely turned on by this, the guys are faking masturbation as their hands aren't even touching their penises and the girls are having fake semen squirmed over their faces. Plus, the guys must feel stupid wearing viking helmets.
And onto the pimps, it's sad to see C.C. cruelly manipulating Lori like he did Ashley. She genuinely feels that he cares for her, just like Ashley did. But at some point the truth will hit her hard. How many girls has he used and thrown away like this?
Meanwhile, the parts of the episode dedicated to characters such as Vincent and Abby aren't as interesting. No doubt they'll be meeting the sex industry soon, but they feel isolated from the rest of the plot at the moment.