Review: Netflix’s “Cops And Robbers”

https://youtu.be/MKQbQd_cbmI

If it wasn’t for COVID-19, the biggest story of the year would be the Black Lives Matter movement. Some call it a disruption of social norms meant to bring light to inadequacies in the justice system towards those of color. Others call Black Lives Matter a terrorist organization, masquerading as an attempt to continue looting stores and causing tens of thousands of dollars to business, including businesses owned by minority business owners.

Regardless of which way you feel, Timothy Ware-Hill’s breakthrough animated short for Netflix highlights a lot of what you would expect from a liberal’s take on the #BLM movement. Inspired by a poem from his in production musical Taste of Chocolate, Ware-Hill was inspired by Ahmaud Arbery’s untimely demise. Like Ahmaud, Timothy is seen running jogging through the neighborhood hoping for a brighter future for black people. Likewise, Ahmaud Arbery was jogging through a neighborhood in Satilla Shores, Georgia when he was accused of breaking into an unfinished home before taking off and being apprehended by three armed men who shot and killed Ahmaud. A couple of months later, the perpetrators for the murder were all arrested, convicted, and tried for the charges and questions arose about the handling of the case by the GCPD and what right local citizens have in taking the law into their own hands, regardless of Ahmaud Arbery’s intentions.

Cops and Robbers takes the vantage point of race being the underlying factor as to Ahmaud Arbery’s murder and while the sentiment is important, the four-minute short plays less like a production that may get lost in the shuffle on Netflix anyway, and more like a Nike ad that would be played out during the Super Bowl. Different animation techniques produce the various wishes that Ware-Hill hopes to see come to fruition, produced by the very talented Arnon Manor and animated by over a dozen different animators that span across the globe and  animation spectrum including stop-motion, 3D freeze-frame, claymation, and others.

With all of the positive aspects of the short, there are some negatives. For starters, Cops and Robbers largely blames white people as being the sole owners of the racist cards against black people when, in fact, most instances of police over-stepping their bounds features officers that are of numerous races, creeds, and backgrounds. Moreover, the likes of Candace Owens and such would probably disagree with the notion altogether of police violence against people of color and instead point to stats of black on black violence being a far more compelling worry from a body count point of view. The irony is the short is animated by not just black animators, but other animators of color including white, proving that any injustices that are being made in the public sector need to see change derived from everyone working together for a common goal, not just taking advantage of jargon by way of social networking tribes. The short is entitled Cops and Robbers, additional reflection noting that those terms are not exclusive to anyone’s race or ethnic background is a better path for true harmony.