June 25, 2020 2:26 pm. DISNEY+ subscribers are staging a staunch boycott of the revamped Mulan movie due to lead actress Liu Yifei’s political stance. by. What duty do the filmmakers owe to the issue, the Black Lives Matter movement, the real-life victims of police brutality, and the black audiences who watch these black deaths on screen? Nodeep Kaur, a Dalit trade unionist will complete 26 days in custody at the time of her next bail hearing. Morons! Individuals are bringing this allegation to bear witness that police neglected their Fourth Amendment against nonsensical arrests. When he’s brought in for questioning during an investigation of the white cop who killed the black man, Dennis decides not to speak. The movie, like the book, is structured as an open letter to Coates' adolescent son Samori about what to expect as a Black person living in the U.S., and the words still ring true in 2020 … Nov 23, 2020 11:35am PT. Ideally, we’d see an even broader spectrum of films on the subject. Floyd, an African-American, died after a policeman pinned him down by keeping a knee on his neck even as he struggled for air. They shouldn’t gloss over the violence and pain of systemic racism, because that reflects real life for black America. Both characters believe in their roles as keepers of the peace and agents of justice, but both films suggest that a black cop is a kind of paradox. What’s surprising is how writer-director Reinaldo Marcus Green styles their choices as tantamount to witnessing the actual initiating violent act — and perhaps even more personally devastating, as they face the external or psychological repercussions of their election. Movies tagged as 'Police brutality' by the Listal community. Though the film doesn’t question the morality of the shooting and escape through its protagonists’ minds, as those other recent films about racist police brutality do, it does comment on the topic via its ancillary characters. In the years since the Black Lives Matter movement began addressing the long-standing problem of violent, unwarranted police action targeted at black people, American entertainment media has gradually gotten bolder about fictional depictions of the physical toll racism has on black citizens. Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "police-brutality" ... Police Brutality Murder (489) Police (469) Violence (423) Death (350) Blood (346) Beating (304) Police Officer (297) Shot To Death (291) Shootout (286) Pistol (278) Revenge (273) Chase (269) Shot In The Chest (253) Punched In The Face (246) Explosion (243) Police Station … Floyd, 46, died following an altercation with police officers. The more surprising trend of these movies is how the sufferers of police brutality — not cops, but regular individuals — are caught up in similar moral dilemmas. In Blindspotting, a young man named Collin (Daveed Diggs), who’s on his last days of probation and spends his days working for a moving company with his best friend, sees a white cop shoot an unarmed black man in the back, and must decide whether to take retributive justice when he later encounters the cop in a vulnerable position. 832 THIS YEAR. That fantasy is what makes Queen & Slim’s final moments so devastating, and perhaps even damaging to black audiences who watch. These movies and a host of others are alike and different in a plethora of ways, yet they all share a common trait: the loss of Black lives at the hands of police and the fear of being next. Movies > Police brutality Movies. Mr. Bokat-Lindell is a staff editor. A young black cop who discovers them sides with them instead of with the police. All these police-brutality movies, in their varying degrees of quality and measures of success, question the protagonists’ moral responsibilities. In the infinitely more artful Monsters and Men, the issue isn’t so easily resolved. At worst, it’s a grotesque shadow play, re-creating the injury in order to position the audience as the victims. The subsequent cross-country escape from the law also figures as a budding love story. If the officer had the sensible defense to believe the person had completed a wrongdoing, the catch is reasonable, and the Fourth Amendment has not been harmed. We cannot normalise this pain,” while Jay-Z also called for justice, adding: “Yes, I am human, a father and a black man in pain and I am not the only one.”. Floyd, who was African-American, was killed when a white police officer appeared to kneel on his neck as he was being arrested in Minneapolis. Is a narrative about black love and blackness that’s largely free from the physical and psychological effects of systemic racism an undeliverable fantasy, even in fiction? In the film’s final moment of conflict, she literally stands in the middle of an armed standoff between black community members and white policemen. Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix In 2020, the racial justice movement reached a new level of public consciousness. Apart from some brief reflection, the pair don’t linger on the moral implications of the confrontation. Protests have since erupted across the US and the world, while a number of well-known people in the world of music and entertainment have spoken out and given support to the Black Lives Matter movement. In addition to dealing with the psychological effects of violent institutional racism, they’re addressing how the victims are burdened with a decision tethered to a crisis of conscience. TV Shows and Movies You Can Stream to Learn More About Racial Justice and Police Brutality this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Both undergo tense altercations with white policemen, and both characters reveal that they’re also police — the obvious point being that even working in law enforcement doesn’t protect them from racist judgments. Movies that explore a broken system. Other black characters call her an Uncle Tom, and one cop asks her, “You think they your people? Directed by Kathryn Bigelow with a script from James Cameron, Strange Days is a confusing but chilling look at the dark underbelly of police corruption. Instead of questioning causes or solutions, they fetishize black trauma. Its characters also suffer from racially motivated police brutality, but when they act, they don’t brood over the moral implications, or worry about how they might redefine themselves in relation to their community. And ideally, we’d be presented with emotionally complex figures who face their complicated moral questions without being wholly defined by their victimhood. Like Alicia West, Starr is granted the fairy-tale award: Her worlds are neatly consolidated into a hopeful resolution because of her loyalty to justice and truth over all. facebook; twitter; google; pinterest; Days of Year * 24 Hours / … Or characters empowered to act out against or in spite of the damaging systems at work, without being burdened by paralyzing moral quandaries incited by other people’s violence. Perhaps there are no black stories of racist violence that can unburden its heroes of the moral crisis that comes with it. It then cuts real-life footage of the deaths of Eric Garner in 2014 and Floyd last week with a scene from Lee’s own 1989 movie Do The Right Thing. He wonders whether he should risk his future for something he deems morally important. The world's defining voice in music and pop culture since 1952. They Live (1988) Watched - Wanted Custom. Sometimes, we need films where blackness does translate to freedom and escape, comfort and mirth. Former police officer Derek Chauvin was sacked and has since been arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. 1323 2019. Why Is Police Brutality Still Happening? What we’re seeing instead is a kind of Newton’s third law perverted into a racial cinematic politics: For every violent white action against black people, a black person will face an equal and opposite ethical burden. But the movie trains the audience to watch his face through every exchange, looking for clues about how the scales are tipping for him, and how he’ll inevitably act. Spike Lee has released a powerful short film on social media highlighting police brutality and racism in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Ahmaud Arbery just went out … — Reborn (@Rehmaanism) June 28, 2020. This page exists to document the violence committed by police on peaceful protesters during the protests & riots of 2020 … Perhaps there are no black love stories that can end in joy. In short: variety. The new wave of police-brutality movies puts the burdens in the wrong place Instead of questioning causes or solutions, they fetishize black trauma By Maya Phillips Mar 2, 2020, 10:13am EST The United States has been brought down to its knees by protests and riots following the killing of George Floyd. These nine movies, and one miniseries, are a good first step for those who want to learn more. 1310 2020. What this genre of films needs is stories that also hold white audiences accountable, and stories about black tragedy that go beyond rote suffering. Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor. Neither does it glorify taking action; Manny acts, but suffers the consequences. Unlike the other films in this subgenre, Queen & Slim doesn’t emphasize the moral significance of the victims’ actions. been arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, number of well-known people in the world of music and entertainment, Rihanna, Dr Dre, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, Harry Styles, Cardi B and more demand justice for George Floyd. In the former, Alicia West (Naomie Harris) is jogging through a predominantly white neighborhood; in the latter, Dennis (John David Washington) is driving while singing along to the radio. That isn’t to say that there’s no place for such films, or for difficult work. Lee introduced the film on CNN, telling presenter Don Lemon: “How can people not understand why people are acting the way they are? Little has changed. Get live facts about police brutality, violence, crimes, misconduct, and the growing American Police State . Filmmakers who position their black characters in the middle of moral quandaries, saddling them with a psychological test of merit atop their trauma, face a tricky conundrum. In the movie, two black strangers, Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya), meet up for a Tinder date. Even as black victims deal with the aftereffects of violent confrontations with police, they’re being forced to make moral choices about their responses, and to consider how asking for justice might affect their relationship to their communities. But it’s an escapist fantasy in a psychological sense as well. FUCK RANVEER SINGH. In Monsters and Men, Dennis’ story is just one of a narrative triptych, all linked by the same shooting. facebook; twitter; google . In The Hate U Give, a girl named Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg), a teen sneakerhead perched on the line between her predominantly white, upper-class school and her black, lower-class community, sees her childhood friend get shot by a policeman, and must decide whether to speak out. … You’re blue now.” The nexus of Alicia’s conflict isn’t that she witnessed a crime, but that she refuses to choose between her identity as a black woman and her position with the police. When the world is protesting against Police Brutality, Karan Johar and Ranveer Singh decides to re-release Simmba in Australia and Fiji. You should watch these 12 documentary films about racism and police brutality in America, today on #BlackOutTuesday and always. https://www.nme.com/news/film/spike-lee-releases-short-film- It’s not simply that the story ends in tragedy; it’s that a narrative of black love and fantasy of black freedom is necessarily destroyed with a drama befitting Greek tragedy. If catharsis is the aim, the escapist redemptive fantasy of Queen & Slim or the retributive justice fantasy of Nate Parker’s still-unreleased American Skin are undercutting the intended emotions for the sake of grit and relevance, potentially injuring black audiences in the process. The European Union's foreign policy chief has condemned the killing of protesters demonstrating against police brutality in Nigeria, and has called for justice, according to AFP news agency. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna … This movie is available for rental on YouTube. Police brutality and democratic governance: a case study of lagos state (2015-2020). From chapters one to five 3 talking about this. Queen promptly decides they have to run, because the racial dynamics ensure they have no hope for justice. But they also shouldn’t have black characters being brutally picked off for the sake of Hollywood showmanship, their deaths fetishized and sensationalized to create a fantasy of a noble black victim gunned down in slow motion to a maudlin score. In the first, a witness named Manny (Anthony Ramos), a friend of the victim, films the killing on his phone. At times, it’s almost buoyantly defiant, liberating and indulgent to the point of being gratuitous, in its story about a black couple trying to survive. This is not new, we saw with the riots in the 60s, the assassination of Dr King, every time something jumps off and we don’t get our justice, people are reacting the way they feel they have to to be heard. 8.8. In the end, her dedication to the truth saves her, so she doesn’t have to choose. Thousands of African-Americans and their allies … Following the last in a series of deaths at the hand of the American police, millions of people across the United States and the world have gathered to raise their voices against police brutality and racial violence. The Associated Press. SHARES. But at some point, we could imagine, and even hope, that filmmakers could learn to include fewer wearying tropes, more nuance, and perhaps even joy. The new wave of police-brutality movies puts the burdens in the wrong place. It’s unclear why — whether he’s siding with his profession, worrying about retributive action, or some combination of the two. 5405 watched 793 … For the first time in history, all 50 US States have joined together in protest. In order to depict a complex, nuanced picture of police brutality and its effects on the black community, artists have to consider how individuals internalize and process that violence. Just two hours into the night, Gio's life is forever changed. One character says it doesn’t matter how their story ends, because either way, they’ll be immortal, and it’s true; we see their images later, re-created as a political message. Other black characters — a female bartender in a hole-in-the-wall bar down South, and a hilariously blunt, snappish man outside a fast food place — both praise the protagonists’ choices. FUCK ROHIT SHETTY. A fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man affects the whole community, and Dennis uneasily faces protesters, learns of seemingly retaliatory police murders, and attempts to defend himself and other police officers during a tense dinner, as a friend grills him about police accountability and hints at his complicity. BN MEDIA's highly anticipated short film on Police Brutality in Nigeria is officially less than a week away from release. Jake Coyle. pdf DOWNLOAD. Brothers Miguel and Paolo Guico of original Pilipino music band Ben&Ben wrote a protest song regarding the bloody killing of a mother and son in the hands of a police … Even more, it’s a story incited and bookended by white violence, reinforcing the idea that there is no space for blackness to exist outside the bounds of white antipathy. The movie tells the story of the all-Black 24th regiment during World War I. Atlanta rapper Lil Baby dropped the song “The Bigger Picture” on June 12, addressing police brutality and featuring audio from … Amy Sussman/Getty Images . FUCK SALMAN KHAN. This article is more than 6 months old. In creating and focusing on the moral crisis that their victim-protagonists face, the movies may seem to indict their viewers, too — particularly black audiences, who might question how they would act in the face of this kind of violence. Their imperative is clear — to save themselves while the media labels them as criminal cop killers. But when they’re pulled over on the drive home by a white cop with an itchy trigger finger, the altercation ends with Slim shooting and accidentally killing the cop in self-defense. As protests sparked by their journey erupt nearby, Queen and Slim have sex for the first time. The Birthday Cake (2020) Crime, Drama, Thriller | Post-production On the 10th anniversary of his father's death, Giovanni reluctantly accepts the task of bringing a cake to the home of his uncle, a mob boss, for a celebration. Directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station is a biographical drama about the 2009 death of Oscar Grant, a young Black man who was pinned down and shot in the back by BART Police in San Francisco at Fruitvale Station. The moment in question sees character Radio Raheem die as he is restrained by a white police officer. We are seeing this again and again and again… This is the thing: the killing of black bodies, that is what this country is built upon.”, 3 Brothers-Radio Raheem, Eric Garner And George Floyd. Monsters and Men seems in favor of action, but it doesn’t make Dennis a villain for deciding not to expose the white cop. In Black and Blue, Alicia is framed for a police murder of a black boy, then tracked down by both the police and members of the black community. Facebook Twitter. But recently, there’s a new trend around police-brutality stories. News Entertainment National Sports Events Movies & TV. ... 17 Aug 2020. Features, News. © 2021 NME is a member of the media division of BandLab Technologies. A similar decision sits at the climactic cruxes of two other 2018 films. Movie review: In 'The 24th,' police brutality and unrest, 103 years ago. Source: Fatal Encounters. They’re chasing freedom and pleasure where they can find it. Jada Pinkett Smith on Police Brutality and Animated Short ‘Cops and Robbers’ (EXCLUSIVE) By Jazz Tangcay. Unlike the industry’s Green Books, which deliver white saviors and other “white good guy” stereotypes as a kind of reassuring fan service to white audiences, so many of these police-brutality films seem angled toward black audiences more than white ones, though in their more sensationalist moments, it can certainly seem otherwise. But we’re meant to pay attention to these characters’ strife and interrogate their response to this kind of trauma, even when they choose what seems like the most moral option, and it only compounds the complications. Recommended movies, shows, podcasts, and more addressing systemic racism and police brutality By EW Staff June 10, 2020 at 05:25 PM EDT Still, these “conflicted black cop” types are familiar and predictable. The Godfather (1972) Watched - Wanted Custom. The death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, sparked protests across the US and the world. 14. A grousing, no-nonsense car repairman tells the couple he won’t help them because he disapproves of their actions, but his starstruck young son has a radically different response. FUCK AKSHAY KUMAR. We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight…We’re broken and we’re disgusted. 846 watched 153 wanted: 2. 7.1. AMERICANS KILLED BY COPS. These movies explore police brutality and other law enforcement injustices. Rihanna has spoken of “devastation, anger [and] sadness” that she’s felt since Floyd was killed, adding: “Watching my people get murdered and lynched day after day pushed me to a heavy place in my heart.”, Beyoncé said: “We need justice for George Floyd. Shameik Moore Blasted For Comments On Police Brutality, Rosa Parks. STATS; CONTACT . EVERY 7 HOURS COPS KILL AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. The protagonists of these films become versions of St. Sebastian, or Prometheus, trapped in a cycle of martyrdom. pic.twitter.com/EB0cXQELzE, — Spike Lee (@SpikeLeeJoint) June 1, 2020. The claim that is routinely validated against the police is a false catch. NEW Videos of Police Brutality in America during the George Floyd BLM Black Lives Matter Protests against Police Violence for Breonna Taylor Fruitvale Station - Official Trailer | HD This week the movie star, who plays the … Blindspotting, Monsters and Men, and Queen & Slim are undoubtedly executed with mastery and finesse, but it’s easy to fear a trend of movies where violence against black people and their subsequent moral entanglement are the only modus operandi. Though the situation is inherently political, and the people around them respond politically, Queen and Slim are more focused on themselves and their relationship. At best, it can be a necessary pinprick, enough of an injury to open the audience to the hurt being artfully captured on screen, in order to bring them catharsis and heal them afterward. She was arrested from a protest site near Singhu border on 12 January. 2019’s Queen & Slim is an exception to these rules. A large degree of labor — physical, emotional, mental, psychological — comes with simply being black in America, so it’s easy for fiction to compound those issues, or dramatize them in the guise of realism. Police can seize without a warrant for … In stories where there’s no catharsis or resolution, audience members who empathize with the depicted may end up feeling that blackness and victimhood are synonymous. At first, the film’s romance and moments of laughter make it feel like an escapist fantasy: Two black people aim for a life free of racist brutality and its consequences. Videos of state-sponsored killings have been going viral for years. While planning their escape, they take time out to drink and slow-dance in a bar, and talk about what they each hope for in a lover. Months before the 2016 presidential election, Alternet writer Adam Johnson used the term “copraganda” to describe any media story that “that uncritically advances a police department’s image or helps undermine reform efforts.” The same label can be applied to the way film and television have … Then he has to choose whether to expose the truth on behalf of his friend’s memory and the community, or to stay safe and not make waves. The movie doesn’t go for subtlety; Alicia’s tiresome, 108-minute ordeal is framed with characters who try to forcefully pigeonhole her into one camp or the other. Yet creators also have to recognize that art portraying tragedy and trauma can be a kind of violence inflicted on the audience. Anna Turner June 2, 2020, 4:52 pm 3.5k Views. Despite allegations of custodial torture and sexual assault, her arrest remains missing from mainstream media. Sort by: Tag popularity - Top Rated - Top Rated Popular - Want to watch - Release Date - Recently wanted - Date Added. 1. In the clip, entitled 3 Brothers-Radio Raheem, Eric Garner And George Floyd, Lee begins with the question: “Will history stop repeating itself?”. But if part of the central premise of these films posits that black Americans must bear the weight of not just their injuries, but also the moral double bind of deciding whether to demand justice for them, these films are potentially putting their audiences through grim ordeals just to perpetuate damaging tropes. They’re in love, free of guilt in a racist world where their defensive action was warranted. FOR MAKING MOVIES THAT GLORIFY POLICE BRUTALITY … Many have been left wondering how they can help and make a difference — one way is to educate yourself about systemic racism throughout American history. Premise: The Oakland Police Department had earned a reputation for misconduct and violence over the years.. “The Force” focuses on a new chief who starts in 2013 with yet more reform measures and further attempts to stop the brutality. The last story of the film asks a similar question of a young athlete, Zyrick (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), who has a bright future as a pro baseball player, but struggles to decide whether he should take action in the protest movement against police brutality, and if so, how. Trump twists stats on police brutality: 'more white people' are killed . FUCK AJAY DEVGAN. By Spencer Bokat-Lindell. She can remain a part of her community while also retaining her honor as a cop. 2019’s Black and Blue and 2018’s Monsters and Men both open with scenes where a cop confronts a black protagonist.