Color of Justice

In the movie "Color of Justice" that we watched today in class, there were some parts of the movie that could happen in real life and some parts that are more likely only to be seen in movies. We use the term "reel vs. real" to describe the difference between these parts of the movie.

"Color of Justice" did display some parts that we would classify as reel. In the beginning of the movie, when the first car is stolen, one of the four boys is carrying around a jimmy inside his jacket to break into cars. Not too many teenagers walk around with a jimmy on them not expecting to break into or steal a car. Although police brutality is very real, I don't think the way the boys were treated upon arrest was. The officer had one suspect cuffed and pushed up against the car and proceeded to draw his weapon and stick the gun into the mouth of the suspect. The massive interaction between New York, New Jersey and Federal officials, I feel, was also over dramatized. I have never seen or heard of such a battle over jurisdictions in a case as clear cut as this one.

Some real parts of the movie also stood out too. The media played a large role in manipulating this case, which it often times does in real life. Everyone working on the case also had their own agenda. The Democrats in New Jersey wanted the case to show they were hard on crime. The D.A. in New York felt since the four suspects were from New York and the NYPD made the arrest that they should handle it. Gregory Hines' character put a racial spin on the case when there was no issue of race to begin with.