Support NeoGAF

[Frog-fu]

Could be interesting. Will judge after watching.

 

[Emarv]

Semi-related, you guys should all watch their movie Beyond The Lights. Definitely recommended for a classic romance movie.

 

[ldcommando]

I would watch that.
I really miss southland

 

[E the Shaggy]

 

[DoktorEvil]

is this going to be like that show The Slap

Could anything be as goofy as this?

It could be like American Crime or just bomb horribly.

 

[Slayven]

Fox is also developing a show where a white family moves to the "hood" because their son is a star basketball player . It will focus on them adapting to their strange new environment.

 

[akira28]

Could anything be as goofy as this?

It could be like American Crime or just bomb horribly.

She breastfed that boy until he was 7. That should be the true travesty of the tv show, not the slap. An indictment of modern mothering.

 

[BajiBoxer]

Could be good. I admit, it got my attention. Very curious to see if they can handle fliping the script on a current national problem like this without it seeming clumsy or exploitive. Lol at a couple people pretending to not see what the potential problem could be.

 

[freeofgreed]

You understand the problem in America is that black men are shot at a disproportionately higher rate than white men because of some grotesque racism on display from police officers, not that no white men are shot by the police or that the number is hilariously low, right?

I think my issue with it is that, if they want to talk about police brutality in general that's one thing. But the fact that they've explicitly chosen it to be a black cop and a white victim means that they want to add a racial angle. Now I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure black cops killing white people because they're racist isn't something that happens a lot. Creating a show based on this particular dynamic misses the mark completely and imo will only further serve to further muddle and taint perceptions about the situations as a whole.

 

[JayTapp]

Reminds me of White man's Burden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37U_vQOKooE

I think i'm the only one to have seen this at the movie theatre.

edit:arg beaten!

 

[Ganzlinger]

Could be good.

 

[ryseing]

Could be interesting...but I don't really see how the show would work beyond one season...also don't Fox shows normally have 22 episode seasons? I don't feel like this will work well on this channel. If it was something like cable show in the realm of True Detective(S1) or American Horror Story where they do something like this each season, it could be good...actually that just reminds that American Crime Story is coming out next year...this show won't work on Fox I think.

Event series= mini series. Will probably be similar to American Crime which airs on ABC.

No reason why it can't work. Anthology series are all the rage right now.

 

[freeofgreed]

Reminds me of White man's Burden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37U_vQOKooE

I think i'm the only one to have seen this at the movie theatre.

edit:arg beaten!

My history teacher showed this to us in high school. I actually really liked the movie and thought it did a good job at transcribing all the subtle prejudices that black people face for a white audience. Don't think the two can really be compared though. White man's Burden worked because in that fictional universe black people were the majority and held the power structure. Unless this show does the same, it won't work if it's still a society were white people are the dominant majority.

 

[Ayt]

So are the writers behind this terrible or are people just assuming it will be terrible because of the premise?

 

[Slayven]

I think my issue with it is that, if they want to talk about police brutality in general that's one thing. But the fact that they've explicitly chosen it to be a black cop and a white victim means that they want to add a racial angle. Now I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure black cops killing white people because they're racist isn't something that happens a lot. Creating a show based on this particular dynamic misses the mark completely and only imo will only further serve to further muddle and taint perceptions about the situations as a whole.

Exactly, if they were just exploring police brutality then that would be cool. But they want to open up a discussion on race, then their agenda is apparent from jump.

 

[User 73706]

You have to make this shit up.

*cough*

 

[Clefargle]

Is this gonna be like "God is not dead?"

 

[kewlmyc]

That sounds like a press nightmare waiting to happen.

 

[Cagey]

I think my issue with it is that, if they want to talk about police brutality in general that's one thing. But the fact that they've explicitly chosen it to be a black cop and a white victim means that they want to add a racial angle. Now I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure black cops killing white people because they're racist isn't something that happens a lot. Creating a show based on this particular dynamic misses the mark completely and only imo will only further serve to further muddle and taint perceptions about the situations as a whole.

Agreed in full. I don't know nearly enough about the show writers or anyone attached, so I'll just give the benefit of the doubt and assume the show will be expertly written and handle the actual subjects (police brutality, police violence, racism from the police in policing black men specifically, etc.) in a thoughtful, discussion-provoking manner. That all sounds fine for a TV show.

What I feel confident in assuming is that, despite all the above possibly happening, any sort of evaluation and critique about the racial dynamics of police departments (predominantly white but we've seen blue is the ultimately problematic color here) handling situations with black men will get lost among those who damn well need to hear the message under a sea of "see they can be racist too." And then the data points on whites getting gunned down in higher overall numbers (proportionately less than blacks) get tossed out there not to advocate for police reform because it could happen to them too, but instead its to say "there's no problem black people stop crying."

My hunch is the show needs to be more on-the-nose and flipping the roles adds too much nuance that, as you said, muddles and taints the issue..

 

[freeofgreed]

Exactly, if they were just exploring police brutality then that would be cool. But they want to open up a discussion on race, then their agenda is apparent from jump.

Yup.

Agreed in full. I don't know nearly enough about the show writers or anyone attached, so I'll just give the benefit of the doubt and assume the show will be expertly written and handle the actual subjects (police brutality, police violence, racism from the police in policing black men specifically, etc.) in a thoughtful, discussion-provoking manner. That all sounds fine for a TV show.

What I feel confident in assuming is that, despite all the above possibly happening, any sort of evaluation and critique about the racial dynamics of police departments (predominantly white but we've seen blue is the ultimately problematic color here) handling situations with black men will get lost among those who damn well need to hear the message under a sea of "see they can be racist too." And then the data points on whites getting gunned down in higher overall numbers (proportionately less than blacks) get tossed out there not to advocate for police reform because it could happen to them too, but instead its to say "there's no problem black people stop crying."

My hunch is the show needs to be more on-the-nose and flipping the roles adds too much nuance that, as you said, muddles and taints the issue..

Sadly this is exactly what I think will happen. Like I was saying earlier, if they want to make this particular dynamic (Black cop, white Victim) work. Then they'd need to do what White man's Burden did and have black people be Dominant social class and have white people as the minority. That way they can still at least convey the effects of what happens when you have a dominant class and an underclass divided by race. Outside of that I really don't see how they can make it work in a way that isn't totally disparaging.

 

[TheSlySoul]

If "The Slap" can be a show, then I don't see why this cannot be one.

 

[BobTheFork]

Is Murdock going to take a writers credit on this?

 

[freeofgreed]

Could anything be as goofy as this?

It could be like American Crime or just bomb horribly.

If "The Slap" can be a show, then I don't see why this cannot be one.

Never heard of this show so I looked it up and the premise at least, does seem very interesting as it actually studies a real world social dynamic (which this show does not).

 

[Cagey]

Yup.



Sadly this is exactly what I think will happen. Like I was saying earlier, if they want to make this particular dynamic (Black cop, white Victim) work. Then they'd need to do what White man's Burden did and have black people be Dominant social class and have white people as the minority. That way they can still at least convey the effects of what happens when you have a dominant class and an underclass divided by race. Outside of that I really don't see how they can make it work in a way that isn't totally disparaging.

Actually, I think there's plenty of ways for the writers to make the show itself work without being disparaging or requiring a flip-society angle.

Here's one, for example: run the script the same way but simply flipping the race of the two initial participants (black cop shoots white teenager). White teenager is innocent in the end, but was engaging in some sort of action or activity that put the black officer on edge... for example, he was in a part of town known for meth issues. He "appeared" dangerous because he had the look of meth heads looking to score, all well known to the department. Department leaks info on his record (suspended from school! fights! broken home!), and he may have been looking to score meth, so the officer panicked when he acted "erratically". A town with a 60/40 white/black population is split as to whether this is outrageous or if he was the thuggin thug he's been painted as. Prosecutor gung-ho in going after the police officer. Town also split, this time starkly along racial lines, about why Dylan's case warrants prosecution but Jamal's case from two years before was quickly ruled justified and forgotten. From there you can have the town sucked into the national debate and explore that dynamic.

I think it can work as a show. I won't watch most likely because cop shows bore the ever living shit out of me, but it can work.

I just think those ways will only speak to people who understand the problem exists, and sail over the heads of those that don't.

 

[Slayven]

Never heard of this show so I looked it up and the premise at least, does seem very interesting as it actually studies a real world social dynamic (which this show does not).

Watched 3 eps, hilariously bad. The characters were all horrible people, the most likable was the one that slapped the kid.

 

[Messofanego]

Could anything be as goofy as this?

It could be like American Crime or just bomb horribly.

Whenever someone mentions this show, I just keep on getting reminded of How Can You Slap?