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April 1993

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Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
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Sun, 25 Apr 1993 23:20:20 CDT
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>
> I too am fascinated by the show COPS, but am disturbed by the fact it
> sensationalizes a job which is a lot more boring than the show makes it out to
> be.  I heard that the shooting ration for COPS is approximately 100:1.
>      About a month ago I saw an episode in which 5 cops tackled an
> Afro-American woman accused of burgulary.  It took all five police officers
> to take this woman, who was trying to cooperate, to the ground.  It was
> an amazing sight, and I could not help but be reminded of the Rodney King
> incident.  However, what made this scene different was that the officers
> were empowered by the presence of the camera.  They almost seemed to be
> overreacting to the entire incident only because the camera was there. I
> think that, especially in the wake if Rodney King,  a show like COPS can
> be dangerous in that it reaffirms the authorative position of police
> and disempowers the criminals, who should be innocent until proven guilty.
> JL
 
It is amazing that the policing role of the camera (a la Foucault) can
actually be balanced by the exhibitionist impulse.
 
But if COPS has gotten YOU to be suspicious of the combination of the camera
and the cop, doesn't that mean you're jumping the gun (so to speak) to argue
that COPS is going to get everyone on the side of the cops. Let's leave a
little room for resistant readings here.
 
 
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                       |        Paul Kosidowski       |
                       |  [log in to unmask]   |
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                       |        Modern  Studies       |
                       |   U of Wisconsin-Milwaukee   |
                       |      Milwaukee, Wisconsin    |
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                       |                              |
                       | Life always has the last word|
                       |            --Le Corbusier    |
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