MovieChat Forums > The Wire (2002) Discussion > Somebody please explain Prop Joe to me.

Somebody please explain Prop Joe to me.

posted 8 years ago by Born_Tomorrow
9 replies | jump to latest

I don't get him. Please help me out.

I woke up this way...

[–] hammerbutt 8 years ago

Is there something more specific you can share that you don't get.

[–] Born_Tomorrow 8 years ago

Who's side is he on? How did he last so long without getting killed off because he seemed to have betrayed everybody.

I woke up this way...

[–] BigBadDolemite 8 years ago

Who's side is he on?

There are no sides.

How did he last so long without getting killed off because he seemed to have betrayed everybody.

Because nobody ever figured out that he betrayed him except Omar and Marlo. And you see what he went through when they found out.

[–] Born_Tomorrow 8 years ago

Okay thanks. I think I get it now. So basically Prop Joe was a sneaky snake that's not to be trusted.

I woke up this way...

[–] hammerbutt 8 years ago

I don't think Marlo figured it out more like Cheese told him. Not that it mattered

[–] Patrick_Bateman_777 8 years ago

Google is your friend: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposition_Joe

[–] Eldo7777 8 years ago

Somebody once asked Louis Armstrong what Jazz was. His answer was "if you have to ask what Jazz is you'll never understand."

[–] samhmd-7489 8 years ago

He's a Druglord who tries to stay in the Drug Business despite all the players by remaining beneath notice and by making sure that if he moves against someone and they survive that no one knows he was part of it.

Unfortunately, eventually someone DOES find out and he gets whacked.

[–] keywestmusicinc 8 years ago

Yes Prop Joe was smart enough to know he was not a drug dealer who was going to survive in the direction the Baltimore drug game went. So he was always brokering deals with the major players, being a middle man to EVERY faction of the drug scene. That way, everyone sort of "needed" him from time to time. That way he was able to work at his appliance store, have a 9-5, and stay out of daily tug of war the drug dealers went through in the city. Since he pretty much was in the middle of everyone's business because of this, he was usually going to be involved in every major purge of power, or re-structuring of 'business' in the city. That's why he was the biggest supporter of "The Co-Op", because his drug business would never survive without it. But, as said, his business model eventually caught up to him.