TODD L BAUERLE.com

Ideas of Justice

Glass Shield vs. L.A. Confidential

16 November 2004

Contemporary Film and Pop Culture

Instructor: Aaron Baker

Grade: A

By: Todd Bauerle

One of Hollywood’s favorite genres is the cop film. Hollywood uses the cop film to exploit official and reluctant heroes, but also different ideas about justice. Both Glass Shield and L.A. Confidential promote similar ideas of justice. However, each film resolves the conflicts between the various ideals of justice in very different ways.

Glass Shield based on the true story of corrupt L.A. county sheriffs at Edgemar Station. The officers were recruited by Commander Massey (Richard Anderson) based solely on their indulgence of violence and excessive force, and came to be known as “The Rough Riders.” John Johnson (Michael Boatman), also known as J.J., is a naïve and starry-eyed academy graduate assigned to Edgemar Station as the only African American among all white males and one white woman. When faced with a case that brings his morals into question, J.J. is forced to examine the department closely as he wonders exactly what kind of justice these peace officers uphold.

Justice can be defined as the administration of or enforcement of law in an impartial and fair manner. The Los Angeles county sheriffs in this film embrace a corrupt view of police justice, sometimes acting as punisher, allowing police dogs to maul suspects. Predominately, the county sheriffs seem to define justice as a means to whatever end they see fit, often taking bribes to look the other way while a crime goes unpunished. The “Rough Riders” prejudice their justice by the heavy dependence on racial profiling. By truly believing blacks are always suspect, if not guilty, the sheriffs can feel justified in their use of power

In Glass Shield’s main story arch, Theodore Woods (Ice Cube) is a black man framed for the murder of Mr. Greenspan’s (Elliot Gould) wife by the officers at Edgemar Station. It appears some officers accepted a bribe from Mr. Greenspan to cover up the fact he murdered his wife. The film is somewhat vague on the bribe, requiring the viewer to critically examine character motives. If the audience is alert and questioning, they would see how the officer’s participation in this behavior clearly illustrates a corrupt view of justice.

In addition, Glass Shield defines at least two other concepts of justice. On one hand, the J.J. character views justice through the glorified and naïve lens of comic books, believing police are never wrong. This is evident in his eager willingness to lie in court regarding the reasons Deputy Bono (Don Harvey) had for stopping Teddy Woods. J.J. supports Deputy Bono because he believes Woods is guilty and does not consider the possibility the department would make an error, intentional or otherwise.

However, this naïve view is countered by the way the film favors a more realistic variation of justice based on due process and evidence. This justice is embodied in the courtroom through firm, but fair, Judge Lewis (Natalia Nogulich), and disembodied in vague references the attorney general’s office. The physical use of the judge makes the justice concrete while only mentioning the attorney general and witnessing the faceless office seize records and file charges, gives the feeling that justice and truth are part of an unseen universal moral code. At the very end of Glass Shield, we find out this justice is not entirely fair. Deputy Bono received immunity for giving up J.J., even though it was Bono who convinced J.J. to commit perjury. The grand jury could not find sufficient evidence to indict Commander Massy, the “Rough Riders” were reassigned, and J.J. was convicted, although his sentence was suspended.

L.A. Confidential is a film noir look at corrupt cops in the 1950’s. This dark mystery revolves around three officers, Detective Lieutenant Edmund Exley (Guy Pierce), Sergeant Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacy), and Officer Bud White (Russell Crow), each one holding a puzzle piece to unraveling a conspiracy of organized crime. Ultimately, L.A. Confidential views police misconduct in a similar manner as Glass Shield.

Police Captain Dudley Smith (James Cromwell) encourages violent and immoral acts, such as shooting unarmed suspects and planting evidence. They are recognized as illegal, yet seen as a necessary part of police work in administering justice. This justice is similar to the L.A. Sheriff’s view in Glass Shield in that justice is what police officers define it to be regardless of the actual innocence or guilt of suspects.

L.A. Confidential also shares the naïve view of justice through the eyes of the Ed Exley character. His resistance to the Captain’s abuse of power, unwillingness to accept gratuity from Hush Hush magazine, and blind pursuit of the “Night Owl” suspects reinforces his naïveté. This is very similar to the J.J. character’s initial beliefs about police work.

By the end of the film, it is revealed that Capt. Smith has been using his power to serve his own end in systematically taking over organized crime in the city. This mirrors the cops accepting bribes for covering up crimes and falsifying evidence in Glass Shield, albeit the Capt. Smith example is a more overt misuse of power.

Yet L.A. Confidential does not favor the realistic view of justice based on due process the way Glass Shield does. Ed Exley’s character embraces a vigilante style justice when he shoots Capt. Smith in the back. Since the department cannot public condone Exley’s vigilante justice, they create a cover story instead, sweeping the misconduct under the rug. This promotes the idea that justice is constructed, undermining the idea of true, moral justice further.

Both Glass Shield and L.A. Confidential share extremely similar views of justice. However, each film chooses to resolve those views differently, yet both are plausible. While thematically, they may be similar films, their final messages are completely different leaving viewers to question which justice they prefer.