Here are my problems with the story:
Cohen said the videos were created as an artistic spoof about life on the force.I think it's crass and shows bad judgment. I have a problem with the term "art" and "artistic". They are both overuse terms, and I'm a little protective of it. I think it only becomes art after he was busted for it. You can't claim "artistic license" after you've been caught. It's the lowest form of art. Bad judgment + bad humor = bad art.
"We did this absolutely for morale purposes," he told ABC. "We did it for a Christmas party that was coming up, sort of to roast my former captain. We did it because there are some very fun and interesting characters at the station and we thought it would be fun to showcase and laugh at their idiosyncrasies and personalities."
"After the video was seen, now they're pulling race cards," Cohen added. "It was just made for us, so shame on her," referring to Wong.
His attorney, Daniel Horowitz, said Cohen wasn't informed he was suspended, and paperwork showed he had been moved to a file room. He also defended the videos as art, saying they contained self-analytical material that reflected how the community saw police.
"Andrew Cohen is an artist," Horowitz told ABC. "If you look at the videos you realize that there is social commentary mixed in with what he calls humor."
Horowitz's "social commentary” schick makes me laugh. And it comes from a lawyer, no less. You know what's good biting social commentary? Take Animal Farm, for instance. That was great. This is just poor judgment. It shows a lack of imagination. Why does social commentary have to resort to the lowest of lows? Plus, he is a police officer, not apt to biting social commentary to begin with. Leave it to the social commentators to do that. Way to unite people by diving them, badly, I may add. Tearing down stereotypes to build new ones. Well, he fell into a stereotype himself when he made that video with such an obvious satire. Are there no other ways for satire than to resort to humorless jokes to poke fun at the officer’s "idiosyncrasies and personalities?" Does Cohen work with a bunch of humorless and tasteless human beings? The idea is so crass and stupid, and because of this, I can't deem it biting social commentary.
It seems to me more like when guy get together, in my opinion, they either turn into jerks or idiots. Or both. I think that's the case here, and he has to back step and claim artistic license, which is ludicrous. Take responsibility for what you have done, acknowledge that you may have offended some people, and it might be in bad taste, but do not claim that the content on the video amounts to art, in any form what so ever. It's not his intent, but his excuse (or that of his lawyer).
Jeez, why can't Cohen aim for something higher on the intelligence scale? How about a video that depicts him doing community service as part of an outreach program working to unite people in the neighborhood? Show that video at the Christmas party. It's freaken Christmas for crying out loud. Christmas spirit, anyone? What happened to compassion and the spirit of giving?
I hope I get my thoughts across clear enough. All I have to go by on is this article and his words. I have not seen the video, nor do I know any of these people. I just don't agree with his statements, or that of his lawyer. I don't believe these statements to the media really reflect his original intentions. It's all so that he doesn't look like a bigger ass than he already does because he was BUSTED! And it was just plain STUPID.
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