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Blue Bloods Episode That Deals With Libel or Slander

Written By Friday, July 8, 2022 Add Comment Edit

A recent episode of the CBS hit series "Blue Bloods" offered a refreshing counter to the anti-police rhetoric that has injected much of pop culture, Hollywood and network tv productions.

And frankly, the show's episode didn't even do anything that radical to accomplish it – the episode's theme merely portrayed one of the series' protagonists as not subscribing to the notion that systemic racism is rife within policing.

It's a rather peculiar spectacle to be astonished that a character story arc in a tv drama is doing something bold or refreshing by both presenting an allegory of a current, real-world social topic and showcasing the juxtaposed perspectives related to said social topic.

But as other police dramas on tv have done as of late, the narrative related to racism in policing is getting a prominent spotlight by crafting storylines to imply it's existence in police forces as being endemic.

Recent examples include episodes from "Chicago PD" and "Law and Order: SVU".

But with the December 4th season premiere of "Blue Bloods", we see Tom Selleck's character – Commissioner Frank Reagan – getting confronted by Whoopi Goldberg's character – City Council Speaker Regina Thomas – over allegations of "system racism" in the police force.

Whoopi Goldberg's character alleges that the NYPD has a serious problem with systemic racism and racial profiling, which her character rhetorically asks if Selleck's character:

"Do you really not see what's going on here?"

Selleck's character quickly responds to that question with his take on what he's observing in the presented narrative:

"I do. Every single cop is being painted with the same brush. And when anyone in my rank and file conducts themselves in a way that is not worthy of the uniform, they get dealt with."

The exchange continues, mirroring real-world talking points that have been hurled back and forth in the recent months. Goldberg's character snaps back with:

"Every cop is wearing the same uniform, so if you get stopped walking while black, how do you know which one is walking up on you?"

Once again, Selleck's character responds noting that the same sentiment can be experienced on both sides of the hypothetical scenario:

"Okay, how's a cop to know what he's walking up on? See, that fuse gets lit both ways. At least we can agree on that."

As the show's episode progresses, viewers are treated to perhaps one of the most respectable adaptations of the ongoing discourse between the anti-police crowd and those who are backing up police.

Not because it portrays some sort of vehement tribalism – but because it creates a platform in which the nuance of the matter can be explored.

Throughout the episode, Selleck's character acknowledges that when police officers step over the proverbial line, then they're dealt with accordingly.

But from what Selleck's character also acknowledges during the episode when conferring with Goldberg's character, is that even if he conveyed to critics of the NYPD and police that he does handle bad cops efficiently those critics would likely never believe him.

After coming to that realization, Selleck's character in the show came close to even resigning as the police commissioner. That is, until one of his colleagues on the show explains that "a willingness to speak the unpopular or inconvenient truth," is needed in police leadership.

Luckily, that perspective within the episode afforded Selleck's character a change of heart when it came to resigning from the force.

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This year, there have been some from the anti-police crowd so angry at the positive depiction of police on television that one NYT writer suggested that Paw Patrol get taken off television.

Here's that previous editorial on the matter from June of this year.

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Apparently attacking real police officers via slander and libel isn't enough for the "progressive" left – they need to remove positive depictions of police officers from television as well.

In a recent New York Times article, columnist Amanda Hess posed arguments to scrap the likes of Paw Patrol from television.

While Paw Patrol's Twitter account made moves to show they are respective toward the protests ongoing, users online were upset about the show featuring a police dog as a positive symbol.

I'll be honest and admit that when a columnist held this opinion about "defunding" Paw Patrol and all other positive depictions of fictional police characters, this author had a particular image in his head about what this NYT author looked like.

Alas, their author's bio photo matched up pretty well to the preconceived image in my head.

Editorial: New York Times writer upset that cartoon "Paw Patrol" shows police in positive light
Amanda Hess – New York Times

Needless to say, Hess' article was filled with enough social-justice gold to make a 16th century Spanish conquistador's mouth salivate. Hess pointed out just why Paw Patrol is so problematic:

"The effort to publicize police brutality also means banishing the good-cop archetype, which reigns on both television and in viral videos of the protests themselves.

"Paw Patrol" seems harmless enough, and that's the point: The movement rests on understanding that cops do plenty of harm."

Except, this notion that police do "plenty of harm" is drivel.

Sure, there are instances where an officer breaches the line of law enforcement and enters into the realm of criminal activity – much like how many people go from law abiding citizen to miscreant.

Furthermore, there's a myriad of movies and television series that showcase a narrative about police corruption and criminal activity in police ranks.

There were several great movies like Training Day, Cop Land, Brooklyn's Finest, Dark Blue, The Departed – all about or prominently featuring the exploits of corrupt police units. So, it's not like there's no pop culture media that hasn't portrayed bad police behavior.

In all honesty, there a good balance between positive and negative portrayals, but Hess feels like any positive portrayal of police is just terrible.

Hess even went so far as to criticize videos of police officers uniting with demonstrators in a show of unity:

"In recent days, supposedly uplifting images of the police have spread wildly across the internet, competing for views with evidence of cops beating, gassing and arresting protesters."

Hess goes on to cite some of the positive, real-life depictions of police among protesters and then writes:

"These images show cops engaging in a kind of pantomime of protest, mimicking the gestures of the demonstrators until their messages are diluted beyond recognition. They reframe protests against racist police violence into a bland, nonspecific goal of solidarity."

The NYT columnist cites that there are simply too many instances where police are "humanized" and that black America is not. In Hess' opinion, the notion of a "good cop" is overshadowed by a violent "system":

"Cops can dance, they can hug, they can kneel on the ground, but their individual acts of kindness can no longer obscure the violence of a system. The good-cop act is wearing thin."

Essentially, Hess is upset that there aren't more depictions of bad police officers within the media. However, there's likely already an overabundance of them. Whenever watching suspense thrillers centered around police, you're likely to find a "dirty cop" amidst the plot line.

TV shows like Blue Bloods, Law & Order: SVU, and countless others, have delved into plot lines at some point or another about either police corruption or brutality cases. And those are shows that typically showcase police in a positive light.

Also, Heather MacDonald, who is the Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, noted that empirical data shows police interactions are overwhelmingly standard and unbiased toward race:

"However sickening the video of Floyd's arrest, it isn't representative of the 375 million annual contacts that police officers have with civilians…A solid body of evidence finds no structural bias in the criminal-justice system with regard to arrests, prosecution or sentencing. Crime and suspect behavior, not race, determine most police actions."

While most of the leftist outrage over police being shown in a positive light in either fictional or reality-based settings may be upsetting to them, the narrative used to slander policing as a whole is based upon the anecdotal versus the reality of the overall picture.

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Source: https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/blue-bloods-episode-destroys-black-lives-matter-anti-police-rhetoric-shoots-down-idea-of-systemic-racism/

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