Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com
I was recently asked what my favorite movies are. The answer (we'll discuss below) led into another conversation about whether or not the primary characters in the movies I like set good examples or not. That led into an entire conversation about the differences that can exist between right and legal, and wrong and illegal.
So, one of my all time favorite movies is "Running Scared" - the original one with Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal. They play two detectives who are fairly well known for their, ah, eccentricities. Let's just say that they're not so good at following the rules - although they don't break the law. They just weren't so good at always paying attention to policy and protocol; but they got the job done. Is that good or bad? The person I was in conversation with felt that if I liked the movie and found the characters entertaining, I might also use their FICTIONAL behavior as an example for my own in the real world. Hmmm... Maybe. You still can't beat the scene where they're walking through an alley with a bad guy in 'cuffs and a briefcase with $50K in cash in it when too idiots try to rob them with zip-guns. Seemingly without fear Crystal agrees to give up his cash and credit cards if the bad guys will let them keep "our wallets and our
badges." I laughed SO hard when Hines looks at Crystal and asks, "Point guns at police officers; can we shoot them for that?"
Another one of my favorite movies is "Die Hard". An off-duty cop WAY out of his jurisdiction gets caught in the middle of a huge kidnapping / robbery event and he ends up fighting the 12 bad guys all by his lonesome. He gets dirty, bruised, abraded, lacerated, shot and in general tore up. But he never quits and, in the end, he wins. What appeals to me about it? The way he seems to almost be having FUN as he turns the tables on the bad guys and gradually hunts them until only the boss bad guy remains - and he ends up going out a 30-story window. Oh, darn. The person I was in conversation with felt that my appreciation for this type of outlook and behavior on the part of a FICTIONAL police officer might make me want to imitate his behavior. Just for the record, I've never tossed anyone out a 30-story window. There was this THREE-story apartment window once... but that's a different story.
The last favorite movie I'll cite is "Wyatt Earp" starring Kevin Costner. Far from being a pure and innocent individual Wyatt Earp is probably the best known historic lawman in United States' history. The movie portrays him as fearless and dedicated to the law. Although he had his obvious flaws he also did his best to serve the law and justice and didn't over-step any boundaries until his family became targeted by The Cowboys. Even then, what he did was within the law. Few people realize that Wyatt Earp didn't die until 1929. What do I admire about him? How well he did his job under horrendous conditions. The person I was in discussion with couldn't find a way to readily criticize that, but managed - after considerable thought - to criticize how the movie portrayed Wyatt Earp as almost eager to commit acts of violence. I debate the difference between "eager" and "willing as necessary", but I'll leave that alone. At that point I realized that there was no way I was ever going to convince the person I was in discussion with that
some fictional cop characters are worthy examples of proper police behavior. So we agreed to disagree.
And then I went home and watched
Running Scared followed by
Die Hard. I felt all better... but I know for a fact that other individual is still stewing because he didn't manage to convince me that there was something wrong with the
fictional heroes I enjoy watching in movies. I wonder how he feels about
Walker, Texas Ranger?
