Traffic Stop

I was excited to watch this but within the first 10 minutes could already distinguish this was not a true documentary, rather a political view and biased storytelling. Using the old trick of emotional attachment was way too obvious.. Breaion's own recounts and commentary of her own life became a 30 minute boasting party of "look how great and wonderful I am". All relatablity to her as a person went out the window with her arrogance. I left feeling... not pity towards her, not anger toward Law Enforcement like she wanted but rather a greater disconnect to her life and story than before. It's a documentary and for that I found watching the footage from the incident the most interesting thing about the film. However, I was highly disappointed in the lack of unbiased storytelling and would have appreciated Breaion taking ownership and accountability for at least one of her actions..I wanted to and would have related more to a person who can show me they aren't perfect yet are still good. When someone claims and attempts to show their life as all good and they do no wrong, it's unrelatable. Sad to give this such a low rating!

Any reasonable person knows the topic is a real issue. And there are moments where we get to see the perspective of both a cop and the driver without it being wrapped in all of the emotional overdrive and posturing that oozes out of the rest of the film.

With a different case this same format might have worked really well. This specific traffic stop's footage doesn't tell the story that needs to be told. It might actually serve to convince people in the opposite direction. Instead I have to wonder if the production team watched the dash cam footage. Did they edit it in believing they knew what it portrayed? Or were they so blinded by passion for the topic that they felt Breaion's life story would cause us to excuse her choices?

Either way, it's sloppy. Hopefully future filmmakers take more care to ensure the dashcam footage matches the story they build.

This is a great example of people not taking responsibility for their actions.1. She sped 2. She tried to avoid being pulled over 3. She took an attitude with the cop and didnt listen to his orders. 4. She immediately goes to the police brutal excuse as she cries out for a black cop.

Now, I definitely believe the officer could have handled it better. But to make this specific case the basis for this argument is weak.

So a cop does a traffic stop, lady does not follow directions and fights them the whole time and we have a documentary about her? She was in the wrong and the officer was doing their job. This is trying to get people riled up about something that didn't happen in this case. And she needs to stop referring to herself in the 3rd person.

The topics of systemic racism, police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement are supremely important (especially in today's America), which is why I was so disappointed in this weak and slanted documentary about the "brutal arrest" of Austin school-teacher Breaion King. Police incidents boil down to the human beings involved, their backgrounds, perceptions and subsequent actions/reactions.

This would have been an excellent opportunity to explore those by profiling both King AND Officer Richter, to solid context for understanding the issue and finding a solution to it. Instead director Kate Davis choose to go to great lengths placing King in the warmest light possible for cheap shock value. The result is an emotionally manipulative profile featuring iPhone videos of her daughter's ballet recital, tearful stories of her struggles of being raised by and then being a single-parent, and the most out-of-context news coverage possible.

On top of this, (while unfortunate,) the arrest video clearly shows a suspect trying to get out of a ticket, being uncooperative, and playing up the scene for any cameras present. In response, the Officer is compelled to escalate in order to do his job, and did so in a calm, respectful tone of voice without his gun, tazer, baton or punches. A cop asking you to stay in your car, or put your feet inside (to close the door) is not unreasonable. But trying to frustrate a cop so much that he won't write you a ticket IS unreasonable. As a relatively mild misunderstanding, this was an opportunity for both sides to LEARN, to tamp down fear on both sides, and create a better bridge of understanding.

Instead of elevating the conversation, the director does harm to her own cause and sets us back on this important issue. First: It will be quickly dismissed by Blue Lives Matter supporters for what it is: a propaganda piece with an (unfortunate) but not brutal ordinary traffic stop with a difficult suspect. Second: it lends credence and legitimizes right-wing docs like "Obama's America" (2012) by saying all docs are political.

This is a disturbing trend in "Documentaries" these days: Heavy-handed, thinly-sourced, and purposefully unbalanced clearly intended to sway viewers based on a political agenda. Documentaries have the potential to become the new "investigative journalism," for the short attention span audiences of today, educating the electorate, and pulling people out of their bubbles. If you strongly believe your 'side' is right, showing the entire truth should bear that out. Save the fact-picking for historical dramas.