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Police Brutality and Race Relations Take Center Stage in the First Episode of Irv Gotti and BET’s “Tales” [Recap]

June 28, 20171 Comment
tales

Last night (June 27), Irv Gotti’s highly anticipated new series Tales premiered on BET with an unsuspected twist. The show highlights a different Hip-Hop song each episode and aims to convey the song’s message through film. The premise of the show allows room for some creative storytelling and the first episode did not disappoint.

In “F**k Tha Police”, Tales tackles police brutality and race relations in America through N.W.A’s classic cut of the same name. The 2-hour premiere episode, starring Boris Kodjoe, Clifton Powell, Matthew Noska and others, depicted powerful reflections of what Black America has been subjected to for decades. Stories that have sparked national outrage among the black community like the Rodney King incident in 1992 and the murders of Travyon Martin and Eric Garner, served as the foundation for the series opening episode but there was an unexpected twist to the story.

Tales plot twist turns the tables and depicts white people as the minority race and the subjects of constant police brutality and harassment. The opening scene shows a young white man in a grey hoodie being murdered by two Black cops in his housing project, the Jungle. Brody, another young white male from the same housing project, witnesses his murder and makes a stand to testify in an effort to seek justice for the residents of the Jungle who endure brutality at the hands of the police on a regular basis.

Throughout the episode, many stereotypes of race relations between whites and blacks are also highlighted. There’s a scene that shows white men being racially profiled by black cops, there’s a racist TV host (played by Clifton Powell) that uses his network to further perpetuate the stereotype that white men are “thugs” who’s actions somehow justifies their murder and they even touch on interracial dating.

The Black prosecutor (played by Boris Kodjoe) is portrayed as the “Great Black Hope” who’s efforts in trying to solve the case, is seen as a traitor to his people by sympathizing with the white community. In the end, Brody never makes it to testify. He gets caught with the rich and privileged black women (played by Nafessa Williams) he was having an affair with and she in return, makes a claim to the authorities Brody tried to harm her thus resulting in his choking death at the hands of police.

For Black people in America, all of these scenarios aren’t just creative storytelling expressions. These are stories that we live, breathe and endure every single day. After all, it is our brothers, sisters, boyfriends, girlfriends, cousins, uncles, aunts, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers and loved ones that’s affected by the systemic and inherent racism in this country. Because of this, we knew exactly how this tale was going to play out.

The racial plot twist brings an interesting prospective and conversation to the topic and that’s something that Irv Gotti says he aimed for. He recently told attendees at a screening in Miami, “With the race reversal theme I just wanted to put a mirror up to society and let them see a glimpse of how we feel as black people”.

Will Tales resonate and affect the current social and racial landscape in America? Truth be told, the people who need to see this episode the most, probably weren’t watching. Follow up episodes of Tales includes profiles on songs from Meek Mill, Fetty Wap, and the Notorious B.I.G. Check out some of the reactions from #BlackTwitter on the premiere episode and watch the trailer below.

https://twitter.com/kmjxkay/status/879881937065783297

https://twitter.com/whatkaiwants/status/879880034122694656

https://twitter.com/amonee_shequi/status/879866481626013696

https://twitter.com/BlovelyBeuti/status/879858236656103425

https://twitter.com/nochilInhj/status/879852843120959490

 

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