Think of the videos as street porn. The “Stop Snitching” series is an in-your-face paean, like “Girls Gone Wild,” to base instincts.
Instead of too much skin, the “documentaries” examine, some would say celebrate, those who let crime fester and communities rot. One of the scenes in the latest film shows a young boy waving a gun and possibly smoking pot. Baltimore producer Rodney Bethea says he made the two videos because “I wanted to raise awareness.”
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If that is the case, why is he apologizing to Baltimore City?s top prosecutor, Patricia Jessamy, and U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-7), for profane language about them in his most recent DVD? Bethea told The Examiner, “My mother always taught me that no matter what, you respect your elders. I feel it wasn?t right, the type of language that was used against them.”
Apologizing infers guilt. If Bethea was only exposing street life he should feel no compunction to apologize to those maligned by segments of the film in the same way painters had no reason to apologize to the wealthy for depicting the harshness of peasant life or that of the urban poor when they revolutionized art in the mid 19th century.
Besides, if he really meant it, he would not release the DVD because the whole thing disrespects elders and authorities.
The more likely scenario is that he wants media coverage. The last time around he sent a profane tirade to local media threatening bodily harm for bad press ? which gave him a lot of press. No doubt the trailer for the film that includes the profanity against public officials was specifically designed to “raise awareness” ? of him. (You can visit baltimorecrime.blogspot.com for more information about Bethea)
His motives don?t matter, however. In the same way that films of war torn countries and starving people horrify, his depiction of the pathetic thugs who doom themselves and neighbors to a life of fear and early death motivates viewers to stop injustice. If his films can make witness intimidation national news, all the better. Baltimore will be a safer community when protecting those who risk their lives for justice becomes a top priority. The visual assault caused by his films is much easier to bear than another Dawson family torched to death in their home for informing on drug dealers.
