Why is omar gay

It takes three suspense-filled episodes before The Wire introduces us to Omar Little. The Wire , available to stream with a NOW Entertainment Membership , introduces us to Omar Michael K Williams as he is scouting the young corner boys who are running between trap houses and swiftly exchanging notes.

Later on, when darkness falls, Omar will snatch both their cash and dope, shotgun in hand. They were effeminate, camper than an Elton John live show and written with the laziest of stereotypes.

Cultural juggernaut shows of the 90s and early noughties were very specific in how they viewed gay men, with characters high-voiced, loose-limbed and the victim of homophobic jokes.

It was a subliminally effective way of limiting what gayness could be seen as. These characters were gay first, everything else after. For the first time in the mainstream having grown in popularity since its release, The Wire quickly became iconic TV gay men, and in particular gay black men, had someone that was actually like them. Williams, many of his queer Black admirers have been reflecting on the importance of his groundbreaking portrayals of gay Black men.

Omar was a terrifying stickup man who stalked the streets of Baltimore fearlessly robbing drug dealers while wearing a billowing duster concealing a sawed-off shotgun. His role as Freeman earned him his fifth Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series. He was willing to play those roles and push back against heteronormativity in Hollywood.

Author Robert Jones Jr. His passing leaves a cavernous hole in the fabric of existence. He sits by the side of the low-rise housing projects in a van - all scarred and scary.

He tugs insolently on a cigarette while he scopes out the young drug hoppers going about their business. The camera dwells on his narrowed eyes as he plots his next move with sinister, methodical calm. You're not quite sure who he is or what he's up to, but you're instantly engrossed. They said they wanted to expand the role and told me to go and watch The Wild Bunch. They'd based a lot of the character on those old westerns.

Its strange to hear him self-deprecate, guffaw and use phrases like: "Dance was my first passion. I never dealt drugs or went to jail but I was always getting myself in what I call knuckle-headed trouble.

Jumping into situations I could have avoided. The gangsters knew who I was and left me alone. On the night of his 25th birthday he got involved in a bar brawl in which he was slashed across the face with a razor, leaving him with that distinctive scar.

He passed out and was losing blood fast so I had to get him to hospital before he died. But not all of Williams' life played like an episode of The Wire. For much of the s, he worked as a professional dancer with the likes of Crystal Waters, Technotronic and CC Peniston. But in the end age caught up with me.

His striking looks attracted the interest of casting directors and the odd acting job arose. He trained at drama college and was soon cast in Bringing Out The Dead, during which Martin Scorsese told him he was a damned fine actor.

Then things slowed down for a few years. He was working at his mothers daycare centre to make ends meet when he received a script from The Wires producers. I wanted to play him with sensitivity and integrity. He wouldn't scream or shout or get respect by intimidating people. Compared to most of the violent street kids caught up in The Wires drug game, Omar cuts an almost Wildean figure.

He swaggers through the streets of Baltimore like a gun-toting dandy in his long coat and fancy headscarves. He is poetic, lacing his dialogue with old-fashioned, incongruous phrases like "indeed", "do tell" and "I think not".

He is a mine of insight and wisdom on the ugly, broken world he lives in.