Ron Sheltons biased commentary and directing - Dark Blue (2003) Discussion

[–] jeff667 19 years ago

I fully agree with your criticisms. As the talk show host Dennis Prager laments, CNN and other news outlets only played the few minutes of the tape of Rodney King being beaten, which come at the very end. He suggests that if you see the whole tape from beginning to end, the actions of the police officers make a lot more sense in context, because King without question was not the peaceful and compliant suspect he is portrayed to be in the film's opening. This is why Prager believes the Simi Valley jury acquited the officers, not because of white fears of black people, but because they saw ALL of the evidence, not just the part that the media wanted to show.

I am big. It's the pictures that got small....

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[–] Thewhiteglove87 19 years ago

I thkn its funny (and rather sad) that some of you are trying to justify the beating of Rodny King. WOW

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[–] tragicallyL33T90 19 years ago

One: There was no cocky laugh.
Two: Why do you care? that was over 10 years ago.

http://www.number3productions.tk/

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[–] bestintheworld82 19 years ago

Man shut the hell up. The tape obviously shows the cops beating Rodney King, and the reason why the riots took place is because these pigs didn't do any time for beating the man.

I always tell the truth even when I lie-Tony Montana (Scarface)

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[–] Bak_Mei 19 years ago

Pigs, huh? Good one, real nice. Cops have one of the most demanding stressful jobs in existence. They get hardly any appreciation for it. It's funny how useless people such as yourself get off on calling them pigs, yet usually they're pretty quick to dial 9-11 if, say, their residence gets burglarized or car broken into.

Get some facts, man. To begin with, the man Rodney King was a total waste, thug with a sizable criminal record to begin with. The cops pull him over for barreling down the road at 100 m.p.h., completely drugged up. They try to arrest him and he attacks them. Twice he attempted to snatch a gun from one of the officers. It's not as if the cops "just went ape-s**t on the poor brotha", they used standard police procedure to subdue him. They did absolutely nothing wrong, they shouldn't have stood trial at all. Oh well, in the end who cares, at least the cops were acquitted - justice was served, albeit after much wasted time and resources. In my opinion, that idiot King didn't get nearly the beating that he deserved - it's a good thing those cops he encountered were more even tempered I am.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Macduff316 19 years ago

Also, take note that there were two other african americans in the car, and the police did not beat them in any way. If their motives were racist why not beat on everyone in the car?

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[–] this_is_the_way_the_world_ends 19 years ago

Well, I am not taking sides either way, but that doesn't prove anything. You only have to beat one person to make your point. Because you are then using intimidation on the spectators. In fact, the main reason for most racial violence isn't the violence itself but the messege it sends on the rest of the memembers of the race to 'stay in there place.' 9 times out of 10 it's an oversimplification to say that someone was beaten or killed 'just for being black'- usually it's that the black person has done something that the attacker feels can not go unchallenged, weather it would be not cowtowing to whites or running for office or whistling at a white woman, or writing an article, or reporting a racist action or whatever. Sometimes it's a random black person who gets attacked out of anger for something in the news such as school integration- and the point of course is to intimidate the entire community.

so just because the other black people weren't beaten doesn't prove the point either way.

___________
Amyanda2000
~You okay honey?

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[–] rcharles54 18 years ago

It frightens me to realize people like you exist. He was severly beaten. No society should allow police to beat people without restraint.

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[–] activista 12 years ago

@Bak Mei

Since when the hell is "standard police procedure" beating the hell out of a unarmed man and damn near bashing his head in? Apparently YOU didn't see the whole tape either. FYI, the cops had already shot and subdued King with some kind of taser shot, which is why he could barely move off the ground. So how the hell was he any real threat to the officers, when he couldn't even get the hell up? Also, all the cops were armed, he wasn't. Also, even King himself admitted that driving like a nut while drunk was stupid as hell on his part. But did it justify the officers beating him damn near to death for that? Hell,no, and hell,no again!

I understand that cops have a hard, tough, difficult job dealing everyday with the scum of society, but it damn sure dosen't mean that they have carte blanche to do whatever the hell they want to whoever the hell they want to do it to. THEY have to abide by the law too,dammit. Also, when the hell have you ever heard of a white driver who did what King did beat damn near to death for drunk driving? He was drunk and was doing stupid s***, but they didn't have to damn near kill him for it. The dude had some major issues, but I would hardly call him a "total waste", he managed to clean up his act and to some extent, managed to get his life back together somewhat, before his untimely death a few months ago (not long after his book came out,sadly).

And FYI, the main reason the riots started is not just because those cops basically got away beating the s*** out of King, it's the fact that white officers in L.A. had been doing that same s*** to black people for years and gotten away with it most of the time. Black people felt, with good reason, and considering the LAPD's racist history toward black people, that it was pretty much open season on them/nobody gave a damn about them/they had no rights they couldn't be violated as far as the LAPD was concerned. That's the real reason they rioted---King's case was simply the last straw that broke the camel's back, as well as the case of Latasha Harkins, a 14-year-old black girl who was shot to death by a Korean storekeeper after putting an orange juice in her bag to purchase. She and the store owner actually had a fight over it, and when she turned her back and stomped off, the store owner shot her dead, which was pretty *beep* up (the security tape of it was played on TV). The store owner was never charged with murder, and that's another reason the riots jumped off--basically it was another case of someone shooting a black person and getting away with it.

But,apparently you think it's okay for the police to just beat the s*** out of anyone like that and get off scott-free? You're a damn fool and an idiot, frankly.

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] JRotten9802 19 years ago

It is not biased to say the beating was excessive. A few whacks to subdue the guy is one thing, but to allow yourself to lose control and keep beating the ever-loving *beep* of an unarmed man on the ground is blight on everything the badge stands for. A stressful job, yes. A license for excessive force, no. Rodney King was no saint, and the riots were started by individuals looking for an excuse to loot. The brutal beating of Reginald Denny, for instance, was truly despicable. But this does not mean the excessive force employed on Rodney King was, in any way, justifiable. On another note, the character played by Kurt Russell in the film, seems to be something of a precursor for Vic Mackey on "The Shield".

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[–] jbrsj 19 years ago

<<<<<<<<<<But this does not mean the excessive force employed on Rodney King was, in any way, justifiable>>>>>>>>>>>

King was high on PCP and alcohol, they tried to stun him twice, with a 50 kilovolt zat gun.

Perhaps you would like to explain to the rest of us how to deal with people like that? Let them bash your head in? At least then nobody can call you racist.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Bak_Mei 19 years ago

Well said. Shelton and other liberal creeps should try being a cop for a while, and dealing with violent scum such as Rodney King. Let's see how critical and hateful they'll be towards the police after that.

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[–] masurra 19 years ago

This coulda been an awesome movie, an Ellroy script with corrupt cops during the LA riots, after five minutes you feel this is my man Ellroy!, when the cops retires to Russels boss´ office and drinking and talking about who they gonna have to kill etc.
Unfortunately Shelton is a mediocre hollywood mainstream director, this should have been given to someone with an artistic vision. Darn shame
The film is ok though

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[–] JRotten9802 19 years ago

Oh, yes and we need to beat all thugs within an inch of their lives, because that's what police officers should do, beating men after they're taken down, like a bunch of gutless cowards. Layton, you are like some kind of broken record. "Oh, those damn crazy liberals, so concerned with civilian rights and human treatment of prisoners in police custody." For your next trick, will you be justifying raping and killing civilians in Iraq? Or how about a sterling defense of the NYPD cops who sodomized Abner Louima with a toilet plunger? I even bet you believe the current administration is responsible enough to tap calls without a warrant. I bet you enjoy cops beating up on people. Does it make you feel like a man?

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[–] Christos_Stamos 19 years ago

"Or how about a sterling defense of the NYPD cops who sodomized Abner Louima with a toilet plunger?"

No offense or anything, but it might be pertinent to this discussion to state that the NYPD cop who perpetrated this despicable crime (Justin Volpe), was rightfully sentenced to *30 years of imprisonment* for it.

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[–] tragicallyL33T90 19 years ago

Using standard police procedure to take down a highly dangerous suspect, and raping someone with a plunger are to different things. You're compairing Oranges and Rape.

"Death is not procedural or casual, not when it’s somebody you know." -Michael Mann

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[–] fullmetaljacket606 19 years ago

that monkey deserved it he was a first class f*uck up

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[–] sparbeque 18 years ago

Just for the record there wasn't any PCP in Rodney King's system. And two of the police officers were brought up on federal charges and convicted. Thought I'd throw that out there.

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[–] desifir667 18 years ago

oh!

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[–] dawnofdave 18 years ago

You know what all this is saying to me? Violence begets more violence, same with hatred and igonorance. I don't understand people sometimes.

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[–] tcherby 18 years ago

White cops beat down a black man, and that is just despicable. However, it's alright for black people to beat down white people in a city riot and destroy homes, shops, cars, etc.

This double standard is really bugging me.

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[–] dutch31709 17 years ago

When those cops were convicted, it was for civil rights violations. I remember seeing an interview with one of the jurors, who said that it got to the point, during the beating, that the cops were beating him just to beat him. He had already been subdued, but they kept at it. I guess the first jury should have reached the same conclusion.

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[–] Bizarro_Saints 17 years ago

Pigs, huh? Good one, real nice. Cops have one of the most demanding stressful jobs in existence. They get hardly any appreciation for it. It's funny how useless people such as yourself get off on calling them pigs, yet usually they're pretty quick to dial 9-11 if, say, their residence gets burglarized or car broken into.

Hardly any appreciation for it? I don't think so. Cops are honored all the time, 10 fold now ever since the boogeyman of terrorism has become more prominent. And the only reason most people call the cops when someone is breaking into their house is because the cops have the guns, nightsticks, and police strength mace with the authority to use it on someone. I am so sick of people going on and on and on about these everyday heroes. A lot of them are @$$holes and a good number of them wouldn't get in the line of fire like it's portrayed on tv. It's a shame really, because there are also a good number of cops out there that are decent people but they get drown out by the @$$holes. Oh and by the way, most of these guys don't become cops because of the moral, upstanding work but because of the power of authority and even more so for the nice pension at the end of the job. Be real, cops are just people, not morally superior supermen.

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[–] Grits-N-Gravy 17 years ago

There was no reason at all for Rodney King to get beaten like that. Who cares if he is a criminal or drug user or not. The point is, he was beaten by people who's job is to protect and serve. It is not in their job description to jump people who are already subdued. The riots weren't justifiable either. But can there be a little justice sometimes? The trial should have lasted 30 minutes. Why is there any debate that these cops were guilty?

And someone said that "Cops have one of the most demanding stressful jobs in existence. They get hardly any appreciation for it." This is funny to me. Everytime a cop is killed, there is a parade and a bunch of people call him a hero. They are appreciated, believe me. Yeah, their job may be stressful but they could make it easier for themselves if they could learn to treat people with dignity. You have to give respect to get respect. If cops would stop beating and arresting people for nothing, then maybe people would be friendly to them.

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[–] goatbut29 11 years ago

Liberals care so much for the Rodney King's of America but where is your concern for the poor truck driver pulled from hs cab and savagely beaten?

And what if whites had taken to the streets after watching that, began pulling blacks from their cars and houses and started beating and killing them?

Liberals would have demanded hate-crime charges for all and we'd still be pouring over the videotape to see if we can identify all the evil whites involved.

And the white trucker? Destroyed, broken, and the city would not even pay his hospital bills (if I remember correctly).

But there will be no movies telling his side, no books about his troubles...no sympathy from the liberals (might be mistaken for racism!).

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[–] nedwiggins 17 years ago

You are a blight on this earth Greg and hope you never have children. If you already have, I pity them.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] 17 years ago

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