Bleeding Blue is a documentary that Hollywood, academia, and popular culture would condemn, which is exactly why you need to watch it. In today’s politically polarized, post-truth world, news is politicized to present narratives that serve political agendas. Nowhere is this truer than the vilification of law enforcement.
This documentary is narrated by conservative Hollywood action hero Kevin Sorbo, juxtaposing politicized media coverage with the actual personal accounts of officers themselves. It explains the mentality that there is no such thing as a typical day for law enforcement, a job where every time you show up, you know you may not come home.
In this film we are told of the police officer experience, everything from having to be away from family, to making the ultimate sacrifice. From stopping robberies, to preventing suicide. One of the most powerful stories was of an officer responding to a mass shooting. He had prepared himself for a shootout, but instead found himself cleaning up the bodies. He describes what it was like as a father carrying someone else’s dying child.
The film focuses on how America has fallen far from its Norman Rockwell view of cops as friendly neighborhood protectors. While police have done wrong at times, the narrative put forth by media demonizes them now... as much as ever.
The documentary dives into the events of Ferguson, where the Michael Brown case seemed to split America. If anything that was the beginning, what broke our feeling of unity and political consensus, so that different halves of America believe irreconcilable narratives of what happened and who we are as a country.
Now granted, the documentary notes that there are cops who have done wrong, even showing footage of policemen harming civilians. Police officers condemn this injustice as well as its tarnishing of their reputation.
The film speaks at length about how even sports and music have been politicized as cultural weapons against law enforcement. The result is that policing itself is forced to change from proactive, to reactive.
While this documentary has a pro-police message, it does not hide from America’s difficult past, nor the challenges of the present. But what it offers above all else, is hope for a better future. It illustrates law enforcement’s commitment to serve, to protect, to be the thin blue line that keeps America safe. While this may not be the feelgood family film you’d like to watch, its undoubtedly a film that you NEED to watch. To show Americans the truth in a time where media and academia seem unwilling to present it. Watch it, learn from it, and thank your local officer.
The movie Bleeding Blue is currently in theaters.