Gangs and Police in Colors
From the beginning of Colors the police in the story act like they hate the young men in the neighborhood-categorically. They don't have even the tiniest bit of respect for them as human beings with strengths and weaknesses, virtues and faults. It's an "us and them" mentality as though only two categories of people existed, decent law-abiding folks and "stone-f---ing killers" (gang members). The neighborhood is the "jungle" and the residents are "gang bang assholes." When Hodges (Robert Duvall) speaks to young men in the neighborhood, he often calls them names and suspects every person in the neighborhood of criminal activity. Duvall is jaded and cynical. He's not a bad person, but he's been on the job too long, and is no longer capable of impartiality or fairness. He is training the rooky cop McGavin (Sean Penn) who seems very young and cocky. McGavin is concerned about his appearance, with looking cool, and finding sex. On the other hand, he wants to do the job. He wants to fight crime and drugs, but he lacks judgment. He's a "hot shot" and too quick to draw his gun. For example, he brings out a shotgun when
He tells Hodges that's just the way he is, and he'll just have to deal with it. As time goes on, McGavin gets more and more brutal in his treatment of the people with whom he comes in contact. Toward the end of the film, he does appear to be learning, but I don't know if he will ever make a good cop. McGavin is arrogant and thinks he knows it all. For this reason, it would make sense to put more women on police forces. " Hodges lectures McGavin to be more careful, not to take so many risks, but his warnings fall on deaf ears. Moreover, Bell & Forde (1999) report on a research study that shows gender differences in the way people handle disputes. Hodges recognizes that McGavin is out of control. Hodges has to stop him all the time from going too far. They need to learn how to diffuse troublesome situations before violence occurs. Physical force is not all there is to being "tough. a kid throws a rock at the police car. He knows how to be tough and break in a door making a drug bust, but he doesn't know how to interact with people.
Common topics in this essay:
Sean Penn,
Bell Forde,
,
Robert Duvall,
police officers,
physical force,
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