K, noted.
Cite please? Unless you can back this up with real numbers, you’re blowing smoke out of your own preconceptions. While I don’t watch this show on a regular basis, I see it often enough that I know damned well that the idea that it is racially charged and stilted toward showing black people is patently false.
You may have incorrectly read that into what I said, but it’s not what I said. I lived in the city for 17.5 years. I know better. I got fired from my last job by a team of four retired cops who were the most corrupt, cronyist jackasses without a spot of integrity or professional management competence between them. Police Officers aren’t D&D Paladins. They’re people like you and I. Unfortunately, they’re often people who decided to go into the field because they want to have power and authority over other people, which is not entirely desirable for the position.
Which, and I’m not addressing this to you, Chimera, is not actually germane to the OP. *COPS *the show doesn’t get in to that kind of cop, and I wouldn’t expect them to. Which has little to do with demonizing black men.
Does anyone know where to find real stats on what proportion of officers and what proportion of the apprehended are black/white/other on COPS?
If we could truly consider the cast of criminals on COPS to be “racially diverse,” then I don’t think people who wish to cast the show as “racist” would have a leg to stand on to begin with.
Of course not ALL the crooks on COPS are going to be black, but I’d venture to say that the greater majority of them are “non-white,” the majority of whom, in turn, happen to indeed be black. That’s not to say that criminals of any color should be coddled in any way, but I doubt that being mindful of how some within the public will take such viewing, and apply what’s contained therein to how they perceive people in everyday life, is something high atop the list of priorities held by the shows producers.
Again, I personally dont consider the show to be “racist,” as I don’t think that’s being very fair. I wouldn’t, however, think it outlandish to consider the show to be a bit “irresponsible” regarding the issue at hand - mainly, how viewers will process what they see in terms of preceiving certain groups of people.
In post #14, I attempted to come up with a theory that might explain that phenomenon that does not include any “intentional/by design” arguments.
Does my theory hold any water?
Well, what’cha gonna do?
Have everyone wear white sheets?
That people are for the most part easily manipulated by what they see on TV and how it is presented to them, especially on issues relating to race, is an unfortunate fact of our society. That in and of itself isn’t something that needs to be “cited,” with specifics - the point is that these manafactured perceptions exist, and that the debate over whether or not COPS first aired with the sole intent of demonizing black people isn’t as significant as the simple fact that, whether we like it or not, there are people who feel that the show has been irresponsible in this respect, and that there are simple minded xenophobes in this country who can use the show as an aid to convince their equally simple minded friends/minions that their sentiments aren’t at all far-fetched, and actually hold value. Is this the sole intent of the show? I don’t believe it is, at least I hope not, but these kinds of programs don’t serve any real benefit, and don’t help to erode the exlusionary mindset that still plagues the minds of so many people.
If politicians can use racial polarization to win elections, why would you think it far-fetched to imagine that a team of producers might employ (or simply ignore the effect of) racial polarization in order to craft a “successful” show? This doesn’t make the show “racist,” but simply an aggravated misguidance, IMO.
Fair enough, and I’d say I’d wholeheartedly agree with you.
Absolutely. This is, afterall, entertainment, rather than politics, so I’d say your theory definitely holds water. The action associated with fighting crime in the “urban jungle” would certainly be the primary theme of a show titled “COPS.”
The issue of “race” and how it pokes its ugly head into the situation is a nasty after-effect, but one that doesn’t happen to hurt the success of the show, rather, it silently contributes to that success, as sinister as that sounds. I don’t think the shows producers were/are unaware of this. It’s also why I wouldn’t call the show “racist” as much as I would irresponsible, and/or unnecessary.
Unfortunately, you’ve created a theory that could be called “unfalsifiable”. You’ve added so many qualifiers to the idea that you’re left with nothing that can ever be proven or disproven. “Silently contributes” ? If there any possible way to measure if racism makes COPS more popular, or if the popularity of COPS increases racism?
I get that you believe the show (and/or its audience) is sort-of racist in some way. Beyond that, I’m not sure what you’re driving at.
Well yeah, because I don’t believe that it can definitively be labeled a “racist” show, as the woman in the OP described it, but at the same time, I don’t believe that it can be categorized as innocent entertainment in this respect, either. To call shows like this racist, or even “sort-of-racist” is a rather simple way of approaching the issue.
We SHOULDN’T watch cops and automatically associate black people/minorites with criminal behavior, and any intelligent, reasonable person wouldn’t even think of doing so. Duh. Lots of people, however, aren’t that intelligent, and the show seems to be structured in a way where while it doesn’t overtly incite race-based perceptions, it plays to pre-conceived notions of minorities and their relation to crime in the United States. I wouldn’t say that the popularity of the show over the years increases racism as a social phenomenon, rather, I’d say that it can reasonably be considered to be one of many obstacles in absolving those racial barriers that continue to keep people separated.
Do you have a solution?
Do you recommend that the show be canceled?
Should it be forced to edit the aired footage, based on some set of racially diverse guidelines, in order to NOT perpetuate a stereotype?
Hot damn, you’re clutching at straws so fast, if you were Rumpelstiltskin, we’d all have enough gold to live like kings forever.
Nothing in that paragraph you have written really makes any sense at all. It’s all basically a giant blur of academic-speak.
Oh, I think it makes sense*, it’s just not particularly applicable to COPS. Because, as actual people who watch the show have repeatedly stated in the thread, COPS features far more WHITE DRUNK DUDES than any other ethnic group.
**blinkthrice **seems like an intelligent person and I hope s/he sticks around and becomes a member. But for all that, s/he seems to be stepping into the trap of letting his/her preconceived ideas about a group of people (in this case, people profiled on COPS) fix his/her attitudes negatively and firmly, despite the words of people with actual experience to the contrary. Say, don’t we have a word for that?
*Decoded: “Dumb racists are dumb, and COPS gives them evidence to support their dumbitude, even if the makers of the show aren’t dumb racists themselves.”
Disappointing to me. “Stupid people use something as an excuse to perpetuate their stupidity, therefore it’s a bad thing”. Nope. I refuse to participate in the dumbing down of the world in a vain attempt to stop stupid people from their own persistent stupidity.
Kind of the exact opposite of the purpose of this board, isn’t it?
Jesus said that there would always be poor people. Well guess what? There will always be stupid people too! The rest of us can’t be expected to stop acting intelligently for fear of upsetting or confusing the stupid people. That’s Stupid People Logic.
My answer to the posit that “Well there are some people, not me, but some people who think it’s racist, and therefore it’s not a good show”
is…
wait for it…
FUCK 'EM.
I quit watching cops, because it shows the same toothless, wife-beater clad, drunks every night. Also, most of the cops are obese as well.
Why don’t they show the cops busting rich people? 
Something about poodles and crack; I forget.
As a minor note, if a cop looks fat, it might be (in fact probably is) partly due to Kevlar and similar vests they wear under their shirts.
Eh…sometimes that’s the case, but I’d say it’s the exception and not the rule. Usually when cops look fat, it’s because they are fat. And they are fat because their department is not enforcing its fitness standards properly.
There was a big problem with this in my town back when I was in high school. The local Sheriff’s office had gotten to the point where hardly any of its deputies could actually pass the physical fitness test. The election came up, and the guy running for Sheriff against the incumbent made it a big issue of his campaign that he would make all the deputies exercise and get into shape.
This is what the incumbent Sheriff looked like. (And still looks like, because he’s still the Sheriff. The guy who ran against him - J.D. Maxwell was his name - lost the election, and then died of a brain tumor. Before he died he was in excellent shape though.)
Well, how else would you want me to put it? You want me to take the position of either/or, but I’d rather take the middle path and acknowledge that COPS might have had a hand in perpetuating certain racial stereotypes, though not necessarily through malevolence on the part of producers with a racial agenda. The nature of the program, coupled with the audience it targets makes this almost inevitable, which is why I personally question the worth of such shows.
I dont think you’re less of a person for liking COPS, if thats what you think I’m implying.
I have to reiterate my earlier comment. Beyond the fact that you personally don’t like the show, there’s nothing in this paragraph that says anything clear about COPS or its audience or American society in general. It “might have a hand”, “though not necessarily”, “makes this almost inevitable” ?
What exactly do you think COPS has done? It’s been on for nearly 20 years. If it has a measurable negative effect of any kind, there must be evidence or at least fairly strong hints.