Powerful men with powerful secrets

I just finished watching Street Kings for what must be the fifth time this year. I’m impressed with the themes expressed in this film and how relevant they are, in a larger sense, to the current state of the world we live in - the myth of the rule of law, crowd manipulation using the media, revising recorded history at will, the manipulative use of “useful idiots” to do the dirty work of the rulers, the pervasive and all consuming nature of evil, the folly of having people with powerful secrets in prominent positions of power.

It’s useful to investigate these issues in a work of fiction, as it’s “just a movie”, it makes it easy to sell the story that this is not happening in your community right now, and that it’s just about cops. But that’s another story. It’s a shame that this movie is not getting more credit. It’s the smartest cop story in a while.

It’s not my place to do a review, but what I will do is extract some of the themes I found intriguing and relevant in a geopolitical sense.

The film itself is about an LA cop on the vice squad, Tom Ludlow, played by Keanu Reeves who favors expediency over proper procedure in getting the bad guys and takes the law into his own hands at every chance. He thinks he’s being dimed out to internal affairs by an ex-partner he did some dirt with in the past. His captain, Jack Wander (played by the excellent Forest Whitaker) uses this situation for his own ends. Hugh Laurie plays captain Biggs, the Internal Affairs agent on Ludlow’s tail. Clady is one of the men in the vice squad with Ludlow and Grace Garcia is Ludlow’s girlfriend. Common has a small part as corrupt undercover cop Coates.

Here’s some of what I heard and how I read it. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, go see it:

(1) Using the media to rewrite history:

Ludlow: No that’s a straight 2-11 that went sideways
Clady: It’s not what it was Lud’, it’s what it looks like
Wander: That’s all there is Tom, what it looks like. What everybody sees.

Grace: How can they just wave a wand and change what happened?
Ludlow: We’re the cops, we can do whatever we want. It doesn’t matter what happened - it’s how we write it up.

Evil is self-propagating once the rule of law is gone

Grace: Don’t turn your back on him. You have to honor your friend. Good can come from bad.
Ludlow: In my world, the real world - bad breeds more bad Grace.

Coates: Are there any more square cops out there, or is everybody out for theirs?
Ludlow: Everybody’s out for theirs - way of the world

Ludlow: What happened to just locking up bad people?
Wander: (Pause) We’re all bad Tom.

(2) Our complicity in the things that destroy us

Ludlow: I know you want my scalp nailed to your wall, but who’s going to go where the law won’t? You? You’re going to clean up the needles and the baby parts? You may hate me, and my company of men, but you need me.

Wander: But that’s our money Tom, the unit’s. I’m just correcting a flaw in the system. This is about cops helping cops and if a teacher or fireman could do it, they would do it too.

(3) The danger of having people with powerful secrets in powerful positions

Wander: This is the source of my power. I’m the king of secrets Tom. How do you think I’ve been able to protect you all these years? I know who’s doing lines, I know who likes boys, I know who’s selling contracts, who’s beating his wife. I own them. Even the chief is in my pocket.

Biggs: Decisions were made Tom, by powerful men with powerful secrets. They were afraid of Wander, no one could touch him. Once your eyes were opened, there was no other outcome. One day you’ll pass the Chief in the hall and he’ll give you a nod and you’ll know why. Because you were right Tom, we do need you.

(via www.banturepublic.com)