MovieChat Forums > Street Kings (2008) Discussion > This movie is the reason nobody trust la...

This movie is the reason nobody trust law enforcement!

posted 16 years ago by cpman1987
10 replies | jump to latest

I saw this movie for the 1st time tonight, I understand that the director (The same guy who wrote "Training Day") is trying to create an action packed police morality tale, for sake of (generating ticket sales,& making this "Fox Searchlight" production recouplable. I get it! But why did he have so many stereo-typed ethnic characters in his movie?! This is why society at large is afraid of certain ethic groups, because we (minorities) are perpetuated in Hollywood this way! Don't get me wrong, I love action packed "white knuckle" adrenaline movies! But not if it fails to entertain you! This movie instead, showed the old tired familiar formula, of underpaid,greedy, envious Police who will stop at nothing to get rich by any and all means necessary! Along the way violating people's civil and constitutional rights, insulting their ethnicity and cultures, manufacturing and "planting" evidence, illegally obtaining information,endangering Innocent bystanders to get whatever they want! Using and sacrificing hostile informants & basically being Ah*oles!! This is one of the reasons I hate crap like "The Shield" , "Training Day", "Serpico", "The Wire" & the two most disturbing stories of the 20th century, "The Infamous Rodney King Beating footage" and the sodomizing & barbaric beating of Abner Louima! The arresting officers beat Louima with their fists, nightsticks, and hand-held police radios on the ride to the station.[2] On arriving at the station house, he was strip-searched and put in a holding cell. The beating continued later, culminating with Louima being raped in a bathroom at the 70th Precinct station house in Brooklyn. Officer Justin Volpe kicked Louima in the testicles, then, while Louima's hands were cuffed behind his back, he first grabbed onto and squeezed his testicles and then sodomized him with a plunger, causing severe internal damage to his colon and bladder that required several operations to repair. Volpe then walked through the precinct holding the bloody, excrement-stained instrument in his hand, indicating that he had "broke a man down.". I do believe there are good honest law enforcement people out there, But those are usually the ones they assign to a desk, because they may not condone the abuse of another human being, convicted felons or not! This movie and media like it,is crude ultra- violent & very distatefull!! I realize this its only a movie! But what is happening to us (society) if we waste money to see garbage like this?! we are slowly turning back into a "Gladiator" culture, where the lines between entertainment and violence are becoming increasingly hazey!!!?? Enough already!!!!

[–] glocktwentyseven 16 years ago

I definitely mirror your frustration at the use of stereotypes, cpman1987.

However, I believe there is a very valuable service that these films & shows provide to everyone, not just us in the Black community.

A film like Training Day or Street Kings seems to deal more heavily with endemic police corruption . . . a problem that has plagued minority neighborhoods LONG before the first Black, Latino & Asian street gangs were formed.

It is that exposure, about the very ills we both lament, that are slowly seeping into the consciousness of mainstream America, and awakening them all, finally, to the fact that, perhaps having a "poor quality of life" is not merely the fault of those forced to live it.

Also, these movies serve an important motivational function for our communities. We as Black people, need to do something about the sad fact, that in some places in America, these stereotypes ring true.

While we are working hard to combat being stereotyped by people outside of our community" we have to work equally as hard to reign in those who are promoting those stereotypes within it.

I realize that there a lot of movies out there that exploit, promote & even glamorize these stereotypes about people. But we can't just declare a moratorium on the matter. We can just not show what is going on in some places, and how some people are behaving, and hope that it will clear itself up.

It has to be thrust into the spotlight.

Only then, can it evoke a reaction from those of us who want to see change, and begin a dialogue on how to bring about that change . . . just like you and I are doing here.

[–] ruffian82 16 years ago

You all make poignant and excellent points. How I wish we would pay as much attention to poverty and corruption as we do to incredibly stupid stories like the Miss California Perez Hilton confection.

That we allow those two idiots as much air time and focus as we do, when there are real emergencies and sorrows that could be helped just miles away, heck, blocks away, staggers me.

[–] ipd02 16 years ago

"But why did he have so many stereo-typed ethnic characters in his movie?!"
I can understand why certain movies do show the ethnic stereotypes a little strongly, but when you're dealing with street level and some higher level drug dealers and users, what do you expect? Harvard educated scholars?
"This is one of the reasons I hate crap like 'The Shield', 'Training Day', 'Serpico', 'The Wire'"...
Okay, apart from Training Day, The Shield and Serpico were both based off real events. The Shield didn't come out and say it was based off the gang task force of LA, but it was. And Serpico was also based on real events, and for all I know, was true to the actual story. And I'm sorry, but The Wire? Other than a couple corrupt politicians, where does The Wire fit into any of your complaints? It was one of the most realistic cop shows ever to show on television.
And while I do agree that there is brutality like you mentioned, please don't imply that the only cops that wouldn't beat, torture and sodomize a man are immediately assigned to a desk. It's views like that as well that don't help cops' cause.
"we are slowly turning back into a "Gladiator" culture, where the lines between entertainment and violence are becoming increasingly hazey!!!??"
Here's where I think we most disagree. People have always been entertained by ultraviolence. The difference between ours and a "gladiator culture" is that when it happens in real life, you get public outrage. People will always go see movies with violence, because they do know that it's just fantasy, and yes, in some cases rooted in reality, but until people start witnessing police brutality and cheering it on, I think we're pretty safe.

Spoilers!

[–] do-bye 16 years ago

This just shows the dark side of some parts of the law. Not all.

"Peace and love"

[–] bluealleycat88-1 16 years ago

No. Law enforcement is the reason we don't trust law enforcement. I am not saying all cops are bad, but you would have to be extremely naive to believe that there are no crooked cops. It's movies like this that show people both sides. And I hate to say it as a member of a minority, but the reason they stereotype is because a majority of criminals dealing with situations like those in the movie are minorities, especially in cities like L.A. and Houston and New york, where minorities are the majority. I thought the movie was good and I agree it was violent but where would the honesty be if they showed no violence? The news tells us everyday about new gangs and drug bust that mostly end in tragedy. Sure the violence isn't necessary in the movie but at least its honest.

"Yes."
"Yes, sir"
"There's no need to call me sir, Professor."

[–] ar_scurr 15 years ago

Why criminals don't trust law enforcement perhaps.

[–] MeridianWest 15 years ago

i agree with this completely. i think nobody has the right to kill anybody, no matter the circumstances or how convinced he is that they are in the 'wrong'. and this film reinforces that idea -- that it's OK to kill the 'bad' guys, it's OK to kill people who kill other people, it's OK to kill if you think somebody deserves it. it's complete BS! get real people! nobody has the right to take another person's life or beat him to brain damage. and reeves's character is exactly that. and he is made to be the "good" guy in this film. seriously?
reeves's character is some lunatic far removed from any logical basis to his violence. he's just off shooting people left and right when he's not trying to scare them off the crosswalk or downing alcohol behind the wheel. and this gets 7 out of 10? it's utterly insane.

i'm glad i downloaded this film from the internet, and didn't buy the DVD or pay a ticket at the cinemas. i don't wanna contribute one cent to this pretentious self-righteous killing spree that went on in this film. complete crap.

[–] joolztoolz 15 years ago

get real people! nobody has the right to take another person's life or beat him to brain damage. and reeves's character is exactly that.

***Spoiler Alert!--I'll be talking about the very end of the movie*****

It sort of looks that way, but if you think about it, Reeve's character was being used throughout the movie. And the lines for good and bad were a little blurry.

In the beginning, the 'bad cop' was Washington. He was viewed as a ratfink for talking to IAD about the crimes his unit was committing. It was because of him that two violent gang rapers were set free on a technicality.

The 'good cop' seemed to be Reeves. But he was just being used as an enforcer by his captain. Forest Whittaker makes a couple of statements about it in the beginning. How he could just send Tom Ludlow in and he'd get the job done--whatever that job was. Tom Ludlow thought he was doing great police work. Cleaning up the streets. Remember Whittaker saying, "Your the tip of the spear. Who's going to keep back the animals?"--they were just using him.

Even in the end, the IAD guy says that they wanted to get rid of the Captain because higher-ups were starting to get worried about him and they felt Ludlow was the only answer. They knew that Ludlow just needed his eyes opened--and he'd get the job done, i.e. that is, get rid of the Captain for them.

Everybody was sort of bad in their own way in this movie. The men anyway. The black cop in the Complaints department says that no complaints ever amount to anything--and did you notice the nationalities of all of the complainants?

Disko knows that there's something wrong with Ludlow's story about what happened in the Convenience Store yet is willing to give him a pass.

Its a tricky subject and its not cut and dried as it seems. On the face of it--its a good shoot em up movie--but there's alot to think about underneath it all.

The guy with the drugs in the mustard container would have had 3 strikes and gone to jail for possibly life imprisonment. Yet, the cops at the end have War on Terror Afghanistan heroin they're dealing. My point below was that no drug lord in Afghanistan is going to be able to manufacture heroin from his fields unless the government of the United States gives him a pass. That's the CIA people. Hello! Wake up and smell the poppies! Its not fiction. It real.

Its the CIA who's dealing the drugs. That's real--that's no fiction. Now tell me who the bad guys are?

If the kidnappers in the beginning of the movie were arrested, maybe they'd spend a few years in jail. The black dude with the mustard container faces life. The real drug dealers were the cops dealing the CIA's heroin for them. Cedric's character was a junkie--he was another guy facing arrest. The vice squad Ludlow worked for framed Washington by stealing heroin from the evidence locker.

The whole system is bullsh!t. The message is the higher up you are--the more untouchable you are and the lower you are, the least amount of freedom and rights you have. The highest levels don't face any repercussions for their crimes.

Its a long topic. I agree I don't believe that killing is right--no matter who is doing the killing. But the cop portrayed by Keanu was faced with the scum of the earth everyday and his character felt he was doing the world a favour by getting rid of the bad guys.

[–] ManBehindTheMask63 15 years ago

Fu@$ the police!!!!

Don't hunt what you can't kill!

[–] joolztoolz 15 years ago

Very thought provoking and one of the best threads I've seen on IMDB.

I just wanted to add this one thing...did anyone notice where the heroin came from? Anyone? -- the answer-- Afghanistan. Now, who would be in Afghanistan right now? 1. Afghanis; 2. Military; 3. Taliban; 4. ???

There's a huge war in Afghanistan right now--yet there's still a large flow of heroin coming out of that country. I wonder who could be facilitating that sort of thing? I mean, if you think about it--they'd have to fight the war around the poppy fields without damaging the flowers. And how would it be possible for anybody in Afghanistan to harvest and process heroin in a warzone? Its being done. Does anybody know the answer? I mean it would have to take a very smart organized group right in the middle of things to pull that off wouldn't it?