You know how the "bad cop" character is that black dude? Were they trying not to incite that strong of a reaction in black audience members? Like as in it might be a little too provacative if they made a racist white cop guy antagonize the boys?
Do you think the producers made them change the character?
They didn't cast a white guy as the "mean cop", because Spike Lee didn't direct this movie.
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You're a racist *beep*, and the character was bad to begin with, regardless of his color. Anyway, the character served two functions:
- To infer that cops don't give a *beep* about black people.
- To use the self-hating black stereotype, while opposing him with Fishburne's idealistic black character.
racism is defined as the belief that one race is superior or inferior to another
shareJohn singleton wrote the bad cop part for a black guy because of a similar incident he experienced as a kid. He was trying to show how a self hating black guy can be racist towards his own people. I thought it was a bit far fetched that the two cops that responded to Furious &Treys house when he was younger were the same cops who pulled over Trey and Ricky 7 years later. I hated it when the cop put a gun to Trey's face when he did nothing wrong.
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I don't think he was a bad cop. He was a cop sick of seeing his own act like apes in the jungle. When you're hip deep in lowlifes 9 hours a day, and most of those lowlifes are black, you'd probably form an opinion of them too.
sharePointing a gun at an innocent teenager doesn't make you a bad cop? It doesn't matter what the situation is, he had no business pointing a gun at an innocent teenager who did nothing wrong. That cop was a bad cop and in that line of work you can't let your emotions override your logic and that is what he did.
shareHe didn't know Tre was an "innocent teenager" - most of those he comes across are gangbangers. He made an incorrect assumption, but one based on a lot of experience.
shareIn that line of work you can't make incorrect assumptions because incorrect assumptions can get an innocent person killed.
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No idea. But I would speculate that an angry white cop would be construed as racial hatred while having the black cop could better portray a vast range of emotions. I think he did a remarkable job in that role.
As others have stated, he went WAY overboard with how he treated Tre. But when he saw Tre was crying, he knew this was no gangster....and to me it seemed as though he was ashamed of himself and trying to save face. I cannot blame what he and other cops must endure. They see the scum of society while we sleep at night. It has to take its toll and could push some to the edge. Since we know that particular officer had been working the area for a considerable length of time, its not out of the question that he would be at his end seeing the same endless destruction that deep down ate away at him. His reaction was to be expected and understood...but NOT condoned. Even if he/she have the best of intentions; once an officer is emotionally compromised, they need to be removed from field duty immediately.
I took his final scene as a tragedy. A cop who was burned out, a good kid who got mistaken, and the endless cycle that created the whole set of sircumstances. It was beyond their individual control and this was the result.
"Freedom and morality do not go hand in hand. In fact, they are usually devoid of one another."
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