“First of all, we occupied Afghanistan and Iraq and I'm not even talking about the past occupation of them, I'm just talking about currently. And we all know that occupations, in military terms, comes down basically to policing, so you have an army basically functioning as a police force in these foreign territories as part of foreign policy. I'm not knocking that down, I'm just observing.” KnowsFirstsPastForceTermTalkingMilitaryPolicyArmyPoliceIraqOccupationTerritoryAfghanistanForeign PolicyObservingKnockingPolice Force Author:Oren Moverman
“And with the Occupy Movement, it's really ironic how the police come as representatives and enforcers of the powers that be, even though the people in the Occupy Movement are really on their side - not in terms of their behavior, but in terms of their economic status, in terms of who the police are in society and how much they're paid, and if you boil it down to the economics of it, the police should be out there marching with the Occupy Movement.” PeopleIfsShouldSidesTermEconomicMovementBehaviorEconomicsPaidPoliceIronicRepresentativesOccupy MovementEconomic Status Author:Oren Moverman
“But the reality is that the police serve a certain function, to maintain a certain status quo, and that's one of the things that the movie is about, because it basically gives you three options for looking at the police, as symbolized by Dave Brown.” GivingRealityCertainThreeFunctionPoliceBrownStatus QuoDave Author:Oren Moverman
“The first view is "bad apple." Bad apple is excusable. It's sort of like, something went bad with this man. But the second option is police corruption, so it's a problem with the department.” MenFirstsProblemViewsPoliceCorruptionApplesDepartmentLike SomethingBad Apple Author:Oren Moverman
“So the only problem that you have is actually switch things in the department, changing things, controlling things, putting it maybe under federal supervision, and if you fix the department, you'll fix the problems - with police corruption, with brutality, with evidence tampering, all those things.” IfsProblemEvidencePoliceCorruptionDepartmentBrutalitySupervisionControlling Things Author:Oren Moverman
“Another option, which I think is the thing that makes more sense, is this fact that the police are a reflection of the occupation of certain neighborhoods and certain parts of cities that are designed, basically, to keep the bottom down and basically maintain the status quo, but out of sight, so that the other side - the people in power, the people with money, the people with comfort, the people that are living in the "safer" areas - are sure that they can sleep safely in their bed while bad thing are happening to people and it's not their problem.” PeopleThinkingFactsProblemCertainSidesSleepCitiesComfortBedHappeningsReflectionAreasSightPoliceDown AndBottomNeighborhoodBad ThingsOccupationStatus Quo Author:Oren Moverman
“I think that's an incredibly overwhelming reality that is really at the basis of how we're going to deal with this. Looking at the film, people will say, "Oh yeah, you're criticizing the police." I say, "No."” PeopleThinkingRealityFilmDealsBasesPoliceYeahCriticizeOverwhelming Author:Oren Moverman
“What is reflected in the way this behavior is happening - in the way that minorities are treated, and the way that the incarceration system works, and the way that even the police are treated, and the way they're paid, and the way they're trained, and the whole educational system.” WayWholeBehaviorHappeningsPaidPoliceEducationalTreatedMinoritiesEducational SystemIncarceration Author:Oren Moverman
“I think you can blame certain police officers for certain behavior, you can blame certain departments for certain behavior, and power and so forth, but, ultimately, I'd say it's about us, and it's about society, and I say - even if its sounds a little controversial - put the police aside for a second. It's really not about them. It's about the game that's been created to keep the status quo going and to let the people who own it all gain from the game.” PeopleIfsThinkingLittlesCertainGamesSoundBehaviorGainsPoliceBlameDepartmentOfficersStatus QuoControversialPolice Officer Author:Oren Moverman