Some of the same issues came up with “Brooklyn Nine Nine” (a show which I in part enjoyed because I knew Andre Braugher in college and even saw him play Hamlet):
Brooklyn 99 has some parallels...in general though it presents the cops as goofy but sympathetic and committed to good, and as generally useful in small ways. So I think it's coming from a pretty different place overall.
"Brooklyn 99 has some parallels...in general though it presents the cops as goofy but sympathetic and committed to good, and as generally useful in small ways. So I think it's coming from a pretty different place overall."
At the same time, while BROOKLYN 9-9 did consider its cops essentially okay people, it highlighted policing issues in a way "serious" cop dramas rarely did: Lt. Jeffords being harassed by White NYPD officers who only see "Black Dude", his frustration at getting justice for himself—and being discouraged from it by Captain Holt who's Black himself; Det. Peralta's fetish for new "toys" that militarize the police force, and inability to see why that's a BAD thing; and the casual sexism that female cops face both on the street and inside the office, even from "good" superiors like Holt and Jeffords.
Being an office comedy meant that it had to pull its punches some, but also that it could present issues and resolutions more realistically than dramatic shows where even the best of them had to mostly reset to the base configuration once an episode or arc ended unless some actor's contract was up or they'd had a public scandal.
"This isn’t a trenchant critique of institutions or a searing exposé of corruption. It’s just a dumb joke about how cops have impunity to kill people, are lazy jerks indifferent to public safety, and obsessed with free snacks. But the dumb joke gets at a truth that more sober treatments."
From its beginnings as the television series "Police Squad!" in the early 1980s, this franchise has said with humor things that other straight-drama approaches will not address.
I fondly remember the Naked Gun of the 80s. This critique is spot on, but I can’t tell if I should see it. Did the humor work? (I admit to liking that kind of humor. I recently rewatched Airplane and it didn’t disappoint.)
It's...a bit more "looney" than the television series or the movies starring Leslie Nielsen, but as the jokes start to pile up the humor starts to work so that, by the climax, it's actually pretty funny—watching Drebbin, Jr. take down the villain is especially hilarious, and apt!
i think that as a satire of entertainment representation of police and justice in the USA, this movie points to how fictional narratives drive our acceptance of atrocious cop behavior in real life.
There's a YouTube series from SkipIntro called "Copaganda" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udhDawfCLHo&list=PL2ac8vr2QyTdlWwd8OQIc1it6bAfMGPPC )that explains the history of cop shows, how they're helped by (and often beholden to) the police, and how even the best shows are limited by a combination of genre tropes and audience identification. Can you imagine how NYPD BLUE might have developed if Dennis Franz hadn't been the actor people would rather see than David Caruso? Or if Franz hadn't been willing to stick around after Jimmy Smits decided he didn't want to renew his contract?
Some of the same issues came up with “Brooklyn Nine Nine” (a show which I in part enjoyed because I knew Andre Braugher in college and even saw him play Hamlet):
https://111-words.ghost.io/brooklyn-nine-nine-and-tropes-of/
Brooklyn 99 has some parallels...in general though it presents the cops as goofy but sympathetic and committed to good, and as generally useful in small ways. So I think it's coming from a pretty different place overall.
"Brooklyn 99 has some parallels...in general though it presents the cops as goofy but sympathetic and committed to good, and as generally useful in small ways. So I think it's coming from a pretty different place overall."
At the same time, while BROOKLYN 9-9 did consider its cops essentially okay people, it highlighted policing issues in a way "serious" cop dramas rarely did: Lt. Jeffords being harassed by White NYPD officers who only see "Black Dude", his frustration at getting justice for himself—and being discouraged from it by Captain Holt who's Black himself; Det. Peralta's fetish for new "toys" that militarize the police force, and inability to see why that's a BAD thing; and the casual sexism that female cops face both on the street and inside the office, even from "good" superiors like Holt and Jeffords.
Being an office comedy meant that it had to pull its punches some, but also that it could present issues and resolutions more realistically than dramatic shows where even the best of them had to mostly reset to the base configuration once an episode or arc ended unless some actor's contract was up or they'd had a public scandal.
"This isn’t a trenchant critique of institutions or a searing exposé of corruption. It’s just a dumb joke about how cops have impunity to kill people, are lazy jerks indifferent to public safety, and obsessed with free snacks. But the dumb joke gets at a truth that more sober treatments."
From its beginnings as the television series "Police Squad!" in the early 1980s, this franchise has said with humor things that other straight-drama approaches will not address.
This makes me wonder a little deeper.
Where does the funding keep coming from to keep making junky films?
I fondly remember the Naked Gun of the 80s. This critique is spot on, but I can’t tell if I should see it. Did the humor work? (I admit to liking that kind of humor. I recently rewatched Airplane and it didn’t disappoint.)
It's...a bit more "looney" than the television series or the movies starring Leslie Nielsen, but as the jokes start to pile up the humor starts to work so that, by the climax, it's actually pretty funny—watching Drebbin, Jr. take down the villain is especially hilarious, and apt!
thanks for an excellent and insightful essay.
i think that as a satire of entertainment representation of police and justice in the USA, this movie points to how fictional narratives drive our acceptance of atrocious cop behavior in real life.
There's a YouTube series from SkipIntro called "Copaganda" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udhDawfCLHo&list=PL2ac8vr2QyTdlWwd8OQIc1it6bAfMGPPC )that explains the history of cop shows, how they're helped by (and often beholden to) the police, and how even the best shows are limited by a combination of genre tropes and audience identification. Can you imagine how NYPD BLUE might have developed if Dennis Franz hadn't been the actor people would rather see than David Caruso? Or if Franz hadn't been willing to stick around after Jimmy Smits decided he didn't want to renew his contract?
Your description was so tempting I wandered off to DuckyGo to see if I could watch it.
Now I am disappoint.
You did not mention it just got released and it's paid streaming only.