"The 1956 novel Cop Hater is a groundbreaking police procedural—the origin point for Hill Street Blues, The Wire, Law & Order SVU, and endless other television cop dramas..."
To say nothing of more comic portrayals of the police. McBain was the clear dramatic precursor of "Barney Miller" and "Brooklyn 99" on TV, and the "Police Academy", "Naked Gun" and "Zootopia" movies, among others. And it did have antecedents in other earlier film projects such as "The Naked City" (which was adapted for TV at the time the novel came out) and "Detective Story" in previous years, so it wasn't operating in a vacuum.
The 87th ended up being a very long-lasting series, as McBain kept writing novels, novellas and short stories about the precinct until he died in 2005. And while he did his best to keep up with the time, he could never shake the flaws of the multi-character arc style of writing he pioneed here.
My father is a retired cop and I grew around cops. It was the 70s and policing wasn’t quite the military endeavor that it is now. They were decent guys for the most part, but they definitely saw themselves, and the world, in black and white. There are good guys and bad people, and it was unquestioned that they were good, even if they had to do bad stuff sometimes (lie, violate rights) to get the bad guys. It’s amazing the stories they would tell, with no push back.
Since then I’ve had a couple of experiences with police, and I’m always disgusted with how they relish the power they have. They can fuck up your life in an instant whether you have broken a law or not, and they make sure you know it. I look harmless, and the worst law I’ve broken is driving with expired tags, but even pulling someone over is an act of immense power. Once they turn their lights on, you are their bitch until they decide they’re done. Yeah, my opinion of cops isn’t very high.
I think we see this in any group with impunity to control others.
Without oversight they devolve to racing to show depersonalization and indifference to suffering. Then to cause the suffering.
From normal armies to death squads to library boards and town councils.
William L. White wrote the best I have found on the universal tendency of groups to seek closure, insulation, control over the standards by which they will be measured, and preventing outside scrutiny. "The Incestuous Workplace."
One person speaking out will be extruded as just 'a crazy'.
Two members speaking out will be labelled 'two crazies who found each other.'
But three or more have to be taken seriously, one way or another.
I read plenty of books and watch movies as well. But I just don't tend to really understand the deeper messages. Had I read this book I likely would have come away thinking, "Gee, that was a neat plot twist" without giving more thought to what the story really tells us.
So, thanks for really digging into these and doing so with your clear, no-nonsense prose.
"The book pretends that men live under matriarchy because that’s one way you justify, and obfuscate, patriarchy.
Reactionaries' playbook for any systemic issue.
Bravo!
"The 1956 novel Cop Hater is a groundbreaking police procedural—the origin point for Hill Street Blues, The Wire, Law & Order SVU, and endless other television cop dramas..."
To say nothing of more comic portrayals of the police. McBain was the clear dramatic precursor of "Barney Miller" and "Brooklyn 99" on TV, and the "Police Academy", "Naked Gun" and "Zootopia" movies, among others. And it did have antecedents in other earlier film projects such as "The Naked City" (which was adapted for TV at the time the novel came out) and "Detective Story" in previous years, so it wasn't operating in a vacuum.
The 87th ended up being a very long-lasting series, as McBain kept writing novels, novellas and short stories about the precinct until he died in 2005. And while he did his best to keep up with the time, he could never shake the flaws of the multi-character arc style of writing he pioneed here.
My father is a retired cop and I grew around cops. It was the 70s and policing wasn’t quite the military endeavor that it is now. They were decent guys for the most part, but they definitely saw themselves, and the world, in black and white. There are good guys and bad people, and it was unquestioned that they were good, even if they had to do bad stuff sometimes (lie, violate rights) to get the bad guys. It’s amazing the stories they would tell, with no push back.
Since then I’ve had a couple of experiences with police, and I’m always disgusted with how they relish the power they have. They can fuck up your life in an instant whether you have broken a law or not, and they make sure you know it. I look harmless, and the worst law I’ve broken is driving with expired tags, but even pulling someone over is an act of immense power. Once they turn their lights on, you are their bitch until they decide they’re done. Yeah, my opinion of cops isn’t very high.
I think we see this in any group with impunity to control others.
Without oversight they devolve to racing to show depersonalization and indifference to suffering. Then to cause the suffering.
From normal armies to death squads to library boards and town councils.
William L. White wrote the best I have found on the universal tendency of groups to seek closure, insulation, control over the standards by which they will be measured, and preventing outside scrutiny. "The Incestuous Workplace."
One person speaking out will be extruded as just 'a crazy'.
Two members speaking out will be labelled 'two crazies who found each other.'
But three or more have to be taken seriously, one way or another.
Closure is powerful.
I love these reviews of books and movies.
I read plenty of books and watch movies as well. But I just don't tend to really understand the deeper messages. Had I read this book I likely would have come away thinking, "Gee, that was a neat plot twist" without giving more thought to what the story really tells us.
So, thanks for really digging into these and doing so with your clear, no-nonsense prose.
Was this novel ever made into a film?