The Industrial Media Complex in Our Commoditized Society and it's Influence on the Sport Spectacle

The current state of technology available at high stake venues like the BCS National Championship or the Olympics games can enhance and empower sports producers in their ability to create a believable and dynamic narrative. Television sports journalists using today’s contemporary audiovisual technology can produce multiple streams of information, enabling each producer to construct, distribute, and exhibit a cohesive and stimulating product for the sports audience. However, the cost of this technologically advanced infrastructure is exorbitant and solely dependent on symbiotic economic relationships with advertisers, corporate sponsors, network executives, and governmental regulators. This synergistic relationship can be viewed as tenuous since television might be able to survive without sports, but professional and collegiate sports could not exist in their present form without the revenues from televisual distribution (Bellamy, 120). But, in fact, I’m not completely sure if network TV could survive without sports. Football, for example, is the highest rated programming on TV.  Additionally, without intense capital funding of this creative environment, the sports spectacle, which is ever more dependent on current technological advancements, would collapse in a tepid pool of visual boredom in our commoditized society. It also may be assumed that both entities, with their co-dependent relationship, may suffer an economic downturn in revenue and popularity without constant textual reinforcement of the current digital commoditized sports industrial complex.

There is nothing accidental about this process.  Sports are about big money, and thus produce the mediated spectacle that is dependent on technology, production, sponsors, government agencies, and distribution outlets. Sut Jhally, professor of communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has represented it this way: “the mediated sport is the outcome of a complex blend of technical, organizational, economic, cultural, political, and social factors” (Jhally, 84).

A number of factors came into play to accelerate the introduction of the sports/media complex in the late 1950s and early 1960s. First, it was necessary for television to be fully entrenched in American homes. By 1955, half of the U.S. homes had at least one television set. After that tipping point, the technology began to improve quickly for sports television and the first use of color television in a national game was deployed by NBC for the 1955 “Subway Series” between the Dodgers and the Yankees. The now-familiar sports replay was introduced in 1956 by the Ampex Corporation with the first videotape recorder that would allow 30 seconds of sports replays and the ability to do slow motion and video freeze frames.  In 1961, the Sports Broadcasting Act was passed permitting professional sports teams in one league to negotiate contracts with broadcasters. Finally, the networks and local television stations began to purchase broadcast rights directly from the teams, and, in turn, sold time to commercial advertisers (McChensney, 61). All of these factors created a perfect storm of revenue streams for broadcasters and league owners. This scenario created a textbook marketplace to attract the coveted 18-49-year-old male audience so companies like Gillette could sell razors to them. Gillette signed a contract in 1960 worth $8.5 million for ABC Sports (Sullivan, 132). Benjamin G. Radar, in his authoritative work, American Sports, also sees two fundamental external forces that shaped the organized sports growth in the post-1950s era: the rapid growth of new metropolises and populations, especially in the Sunbelt, coupled with the new technological marvels of television (Radar, 231).

Aggregating these dynamics produced a capitalist environment that nourished the growth of the sports/media complex. To attract new television spectators and meet the ever-increasing requests from commercial sponsors, the television production teams employed authoritative color and commentary announcers, upbeat music, multiple cameras angles, slow motion playback, and electronic graphics to create a television-mediated spectacle for the new and expanding sports audience. In response to the new television coverage, the nouveau sports entrepreneurs, like Branch Rickey and Walter O’Malley, altered the rules of the games by introducing timeouts for television commercials and creating prolonged national championship playoff games.

It appears that sports coverage has been mediated from the very beginning of sports broadcasting. Even as early as 1936, at the Berlin Olympics, Adolph Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda, used the CCTV medium to enhance the image of Aryan athletic superiority and Germany's sophisticated television technology.  The German Telephone Organization placed 21 cameras at different Olympic venues and broadcasted their signals to public television offices in Berlin. Twenty-eight viewing rooms were set up, and 150,000 people are estimated to have seen the Olympics in this manner. Under the direction of Germany’s television and telephones companies, the ministries promised a cultural event of “unsuspected importance to the progress of mankind” (Berlin, Olympics). Initially reluctant to host the Games, the Nazi regime eventually saw television as a propaganda opportunity to spread their political message to a wider audience (Short).

In the United States, the modern-day Olympic telecasts were cast in the shadows of commodification from its humble television genesis. For illustration, the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, were essentially purchased by land developer, Alexander Cushing, who outbid Innsbruck, Austria, St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Chamonix, France with the help of California’s Governor Goodwin Knight and then-president Dwight Eisenhower to win over the International Olympic Committee. The entertainment and televisual spectacle of Squaw Valley contributed to the mediazation by CBS, who paid $50,000 for the live broadcast rights. The opening ceremonies broadcast live was orchestrated and produced by Walt Disney, which featured the release of two thousand pigeons as a symbol of peace, as the Olympic cauldron was set aflame.

CBS also benefited by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) officials, who were unsure as to whether a skier had missed a gate in the men's slalom, and asked CBS if they could review a videotape of the race. This gave CBS the idea to invent the now ubiquitous "instant replay” (Squaw Valley). CBS’s coverage set the tone of future Olympics broadcasts by incorporating textual spectacle by Disney and featuring commentary by esteemed news correspondences, Walter Cronkite and Bud Palmer. Commercial sponsors included Renault Dauphine automobiles, which boasted of getting 40 miles per gallon, which made driving fun again (Renault).

 If we look at prior and current Olympic coverage by NBC we can see how they have adapted the CBS model. NBC has incorporated the ever-popular Today Show in their morning lineup, which has featured Matt Lauer and Katie Couric. Tom Brokaw, NBC’s semi-retired news anchor, regularly posts segments for the prime time show with Bob Costas; and General Motors and Chevrolet have sponsored  “Chevy Moments” which highlight the greatest 30 NBC Olympic moments.

Initially, sports television was constrained by its technology and limited to indoor events such as wrestling, professional boxing, and roller derby. The multi-turreted lenses of the broadcast black and white television cameras manufactured by RCA and GE were not as nimble as today’s multi-focal length zoom lenses. These early orthicon camera pick-up tubes required an astonishing amount of foot-candles for the images to be visible on a small cathode ray television tube. The early pioneers of television sports production also needed additional high wattage lighting fixtures, and required an enormous amount of power to supply the cameras and the large amounts of ancillary broadcast equipment. These technical and aesthetic barriers also prevented the early pioneers of sports production from branching out to outdoor events such as baseball or football. The camera lenses were not able to pick up the movement of the fastball or scrimmages due to awkward camera positions and the lack of the required light levels.

Despite these limitations, broadcasters in sports television have always searched for new technology to advance its spectacle. Slow motion video playback, innovative audio reproduction, and sophisticated 3D graphics have provided cutting-edge sports presentations since the first airing of ABC’s Wide World of Sports in 1961. The success of the Wide World of Sports was partially due to its innovation in technology. Live satellite feeds from exotic locales; the introduction of videotape playback, and multiple camera angles enhanced its image as a technology leader in sports television.

Advanced technology has helped illuminate and clarify the sports viewing experience by precision processing of visual information. Multicore workstation technology enhances the sports spectators’ experience by presenting the athletic dynamism of sports competition, which is displayed on video monitor systems at 4,000 lines of resolution per second.  This type of visual experience is uniquely adapted to exploit sports acquisitions with new technology and special effects that have been invented solely for the broadcast sports industry.

There is no other type of media that uses all the creative tools that television technology has to offer on a daily basis, and to their fullest effect and benefit. Not only are the images magnificent in high definition, but the overall benefit to the production process of retrieving these high definition images can also be outstanding, with the correct technology and established procedures for defined and proven workflows. Imagery can be retrieved rapidly at its full resolution, and presented and displayed in a number of creative and innovative ways.

Indeed, the technical advancements in the televisual environment have been swift and purposeful. Over a ten-year period, remarkable milestones have been achieved in television production. During the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, NBC instituted the first all-digital editing and production environment, which enhanced the visual and auditory quality of the sports images. However, this digitized footage was not stored in a fashion that allowed content to be searched and retrieved. This technical shortcoming became a significant hurdle when late breaking events occurred in the fast paced environment of the Olympics. Illustrating this, the closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Sydney Australia featured a RAAF F-111 military jet flyover that would extinguish the Olympic flame and send the representation of the Olympic flame to the next summer Olympics in Athens, Greece (F-111).

Unfortunately, the live telecast director missed the dramatic flyover that needed to be included in the final presentation.  However, the eight-hour time difference between the United States and Australia allowed significant time for the dramatic sequence to be re-edited for final distribution. Subsequently, the footage of the flyover was recorded on digital videotape, but unfortunately misplaced. Without any metadata attached to the physical tape, a manual and frantic search began for the physical tape and its sequence. Tapes had to be searched manually, with precious minutes ticking away, by fast forwarding and rewinding each tape for the specific camera angle which captured the flyover; a time consuming process. Eventually, the tape was found, and the dramatic sequence was inserted minutes before the United States broadcast. Sadly, hours were wasted fast-forwarding and rewinding videotapes in real time. As each moment passed, the producer and executive producer for the closing ceremonies could have concentrated on other tasks. They strategized how to textualize this important event without the flyover footage, instead of concentrating on other creative avenues for the closing ceremonies.

From this example, it's evident how workflow and database management can radically change the outcome of a live event. When the Olympic luge trials begin in the upcoming winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, NBC producers will keep in mind the tragic event, which occurred in Vancouver in 2010 when the Georgian luger, Nodar David Kumaritashvili, was killed in a training run. If a tragedy does occur, production personnel can retrieve, edit, and display footage from the tragic event in Vancouver in a matter of moments by entering a few keywords, i.e., Georgian luger, or the name Nodar David Kumaritashvili. In some respects, with this ability for speed and accuracy, the televisual spectacle does not need a detailed script. Indeed, the sports television presentations can be shaped and re-reshaped in a short time using end-to-end file-based workflows systems, thus creating a new textual reality with new emerging technical synergy.

Electronic tools of the trade have reinforced and stirred the visual spectacle of sports production. Intertwined in this high definition mesh are multi-branded commercial sponsors playing a major economic role in sports presentation. Fall weekends are saturated with college football games; some 78 games are broadcast, cablecast, and streamed on 21 distribution outlets. Branded segments and highlight packages are embedded in each game with the latest television production techniques, which can camouflage commercial sponsorships as well-crafted sports trailers. An example of this is a recent ABC/ESPN college football telecast which attracted up to eight million viewers (Nielsen). Commercial sponsors were introduced with flair, creativity, and authority, adding to the collegiate visual spectacle. The Capital One Half Time Report was introduced in bold 3D alphanumeric fashion with additional sound effects, which emphasized the authority, grandeur, and financial stability that sustains the sporting institution. “Windows presents ESPN's Saturday Night Football," closely knits the synergy of technology and institutions of higher learning with the mobile communication devices manufactured by Microsoft Corporation. The Pacific Life Game Summary adds further ammunition with the patriarchal order of college investment and financial freedom for baby boomers. Each presentation is crafted to blend perfectly with the sports aura, shaped with fanfare music and glistening panoramas of college stadiums filled with energetic fans who serve as the dramatic background for these commercial entities.

Everything is branded: the playing field and the 1920 x 1080 televisual screen crammed with logos of ABC/ ESPN, USC, Fighting Trojans, and PAC 12. Superimposed images keep track of the number of downs and yardage made, with a coliseum filled with fans, dressed in a sea of red, cheering with painted faces and bodies, intertwined with pop-culture musical rhythms as part of the largest money-making machine for colleges and universities. The monetization continues throughout the allotted two-and-a-half hours of the sports spectacle continuously so as not to miss any opportunities to bring audiences closer and invoke more personal feeling for these events.

As the robotic aerial camera sweeps across the stadium high above the crowd, Sportsvision graphics display the 1st and goal markers, the commentator draws circles around the offending player on the Telestrator, five synchronized video playback devices displaying the angles chosen to be aired, and color and commentary announcers add to the drama with enthusiasm while using descriptive military euphemisms which add spectacle and significance to the replayed event. The spectacle created by today’s television technology in college football can be repeated for the television audience with the replay. For example, after an exciting interception, Hail Mary pass, or offensive return kickoff, the commentators and production crew delve into their discursive mode and visually retell the story of celebration or defeat. The replay articulates the past event. This original occurrence, which was not scripted, represents a reality program. In fact, broadcast sports are the original reality television program. Few others broadcast genres amplify real-world events while bringing audiences so intimately close to live action, and none does so with the regularity of televised sports (Sullivan, 131). The replay is the cornerstone of the sports-mediated spectacle. Editorial decisions can be made at a more selective pace, which enables the production staff to tell a story rather than just show one. This is the moment when the spectacle shines with technology and personnel. Vision mixers, slow-motion devices, and multiple camera angles re-tell the play, one frame at a time. Each replay can describe a different narrative, with emphasis on offense or defense. The mediated replayed event can also cause controversy, disagreeing with official rulings or play-calling decisions.

 Fox Sports, for instance, uses technology in a somewhat subversive manner to supplement, enhance, and editorialize the sports spectacle. Watching Fox Sports, a viewer is not able to tell when a “replay” occurs. Usually, when a replay occurs in a sports presentation, the television audience is aware that the action has taken place and that they are watching an event which is being repeated, branded by a lower third or upper left corner of the screen that identifies it as a replay. At Fox Sports, the production staff purposely interjects the event that has just occurred and displays it as if it was in “real time” so the viewer cannot distinguish real-time or live events from events that are being replayed.

This could be understood as controlling and manipulative to the television audience, without regard to the viewer’s sense of reality in the context of the sports presentation. This would not be possible without the advancement and participation of four interested factions: broadcasters, league owners, commercial sponsors, and equipment manufacturers. These symbiotic relationships have increased the value of sports presentations since the first sports broadcast in 1939 (First).

Synergy has brought the spectacle to the sports industrial complex, as it is currently represented in much-mediated events such as the Super Bowl. This premier event, with its extravagant camera angles, dissolving pictures of players, flags, fireworks, and the music of the “Star Spangled Banner”, symbolizes extreme commodification. The spectacle has also influenced what Olympics events are to be represented. In 2013, the Olympic Committee reinstated wrestling after the rules of wrestling were amended to make matches more dynamic, rewarding wrestlers who are more aggressive and punishing those who remain passive (Longman). The spectacle is so sought-after that broadcasters seem willing to pay any price to be part of the sports exhibition. NBC has won the rights to four Olympic games through 2020, in a deal valued at nearly $4.4 billion (Vascellaro).

The sports spectacle can be planned and implemented, but its message may not be predictable or easily controlled. Commodification of the sports message is changing through audience power. Traditional avenues of measurement such as ratings and polls are trustworthy mechanisms for commercial sponsors and advertisers; but networks need greater media attention and exposure for their financial supporters, future opportunities, and brand presence. Through interactive media, chat boards and social networks, individuals guide and create their own agendas and scenarios, which influence the sports-industrial complex. This new force took some by surprise. For instance, Dick Ebersol, chairman of the NBC Olympics, banned any social networking at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Individuals who worked at the games as contractors or employees were not allowed to create their own blogs or websites; pictures and blogs were all strictly forbidden. All information out of Athens was to come from one source, NBC Olympics.

A change occurred by the winter of 2006. US athletes were given flip cameras by NBC and encouraged to record everything they could, and post their material as soon as possible for NBC in Torino, Italy. Ebersol knew NBC was maxing out interest with their television audience and needed to expand their wireless and Internet components; and Ebersol also believed he needed to be live for more than half of the future Olympics, which was counter to his previous position in re-creating the Roone Arledge’s approach of tape-delay by showing major Olympic sports to get the highest ratings in primetime, which was the subject of some of the most vocal criticism of Dick Edersol’s career as president of NBC Olympics.

Large spectacles in sports are also dependent on the synergy of technology, cultural aspirations, sponsors and broadcasters as well. Opening ceremonies for the Olympics are strategically and creatively planned for years in advance and are one of the most lavish sports events in the world. Performers, athletes, dignitaries, politicians, musicians, actors, and royalty all have been on display during this grand exercise of television excessiveness.

The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles is no exception. Bill Suitor, by means of a Bell Aero rocket pack system, circled the middle of the Los Angeles Coliseum during the opening ceremonies. John Williams, the celebrated composer of cinema, was commissioned to write a new Olympic theme based on Leo Arnaud’s “Bugler's Dream", which was introduced in the 1968 Olympic Games in Grenoble, and Gina Hemphill of Chicago, granddaughter of Jesse Owens, and William Thorpe Jr. of Texas, grandson of Jim Thorpe, carried the Olympic flag into the Los Angeles Coliseum (Los Angeles). The representations of these three events exemplify the City of Los Angeles in elation and celebration. The rocket pack system demonstrates the maturing aerospace industry in Southern California, John Williams’ “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” celebrate the genius of Hollywood’s film industry, and relatives of Jesse Owens and Jim Thorpe commemorate the injustice of American athletes. Los Angeles tried to shed its often-perceived identification as a culturally-isolating city, with cloverleaf freeways and concrete riverbeds, which separate the elite west-side population with its inner city populace. This futuristic spectacle, which characterizes a utopian Disneyland society of advanced technology, racial harmony, and cultural openness seemingly summarizes the hopes of the Olympic planners in Los Angeles.

The television spectator, alongside today’s current technology, is engulfed with a visual manifestation, which can create an illusion of reality. Television’s 1125-lines of resolutions and 5.1 audio can create a third dimension, placing the viewer somewhere between the foreground and the background, sandwiched in the diegetic digital domain of visual space. The Summer Olympics in Beijing may have accomplished this goal. The human technology on display in 2008 reached a new high-water mark in visual spectacle. Literally, with thousands of performers and millions of dollars committed to this international event, an estimated 842 million viewers in China were able to view this auspicious night on 8-8-2008. Beijing was the first all-digital Olympics, enabling the viewer to experience the spectacle free on the Internet, either live or on-demand. Also, Beijing was the first fully high-definition Olympics, competing technically as the most advanced media spectacle of the 21st Century. The technical spectacle only enhanced the pageantry, drama, and industrialism of this monumental exhibition.

With potential four billion viewers worldwide, Beijing built an impressive Olympic park, which included the Bird’s Nest (Beijing’s National Stadium) where Usain Bolt masterfully set the world records for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m track and field races and earned three gold medals doing so. Moreover, the Water Cube (Beijing National Aquatics Center), with its honeycomb blue design, accentuated the grandeur and tremendous scale of the Olympic park with its translucent blue glow. There, Michael Phelps collected eight gold medals and surpassed Mark Spitz's 36-year old aquatic record. It does appear, for all the success of the event, the Chinese Olympic Committee may have crossed the ethical line in search of the perfect media spectacle. Accusations of computer-generated fireworks superimposed over Tiananmen Square resulted in a squabble over Chinese artistic choices as “Cinematic Devices” intended to present a perfect spectacle. Also, during a rehearsal of the opening ceremonies, a member of China’s Politburo asked for a change to the seven-year-old singer Yang Peiyi, who sang 'Ode to the Motherland'; the official felt Peiyi was not cute enough and ordered another girl to lip-sync 'Ode to the Motherland’. At the end of the day, the Politburo picked the best voice and the best performer, without any apology (Chinese).

Indeed, the Chinese Olympic Committee successfully presented a perfectly controlled and well-orchestrated Olympics. The spectacle, pomp, and pageantry were all tightly-controlled by the Chinese government; you could see it on the faces of the guards who stood rigid for eight hours protecting the entrances to the Birds Nest, and the construction workers who lived in shanties that surrounded the Olympic Park during this celebrated media event. The media and sponsors celebrated the number of commercials sold during the summer Olympics, and the Beijing Olympic Committee demonstrated how China could show the world how much it had emerged as an economic power (Riley), but the media could not hide the orchestrated and forced responses of the muted Chinese people who have been burdened by this repressive regime. The spontaneity surrounding this event was all but extinguished.

 Each Olympic event is unique for its impression and representativeness. The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City was under the shadow of the 9/11 attacks in New York City, which resulted in increased security and military presences, essentially changing the tenor of all Olympic events that follow. In 2004, the government of Greece, at the Summer Olympics in Athens, was under enormous pressure to succeed financially with raising costs, which included major infrastructure and security projects that essentially crippled the country economically for a number of years after this prestigious event (Rose). In the 2000 reconciliation, race relations and nationalism summarized the goals of the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The atmosphere of the Olympic spirit in Sydney was jubilant for journalists and athletes the pre-9/11 days. Security was present but somewhat lax for SOCOG (Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympics). Athletes’ portraits were draped on sides of multistory buildings, and Sydney Harbor celebrated with magnificent fireworks displays every evening from Sydney’s Harbor Bridge, as it was adorned with the symbol of the Olympic, the multi-colored five Olympic rings. Foreign journalists could not ignore the sensationalism and excitement that wrapped Sydney in this new millennium. In this new century, Australia was concluding work on a 10-year reconciliation plan between indigenous and non-indigenous people, which concluded during the Summer Olympics.

Australia’s premier track-and-field athlete, Cathy Freeman, from Aboriginal and Chinese ancestry, represented the indigenous athletes and served as a reconciliation symbol and bridge to healing for race relations in Australia. Although some academics and journalist believed Freeman was a pawn of the sports industrial complex and was complicit with Nike as in their advertising campaign, “Change the world 400 meters at a time” (McGuire 20), the semiotics of Freeman at Sydney’s Opening Ceremonies were unique and original. The pageantry of Freeman’s body surrounded by water and fire as she lit the Olympic cauldron was mystical as well as dramatic. The television cameras with contrasting images of fire and water emphasized Freeman’s solitary accentuated figure. Freeman, alone in her representation of her indigenous ancestors, was hard to miss, with the solo act of water extinguishing the fire of racial hatred in the territories of Oceana. Although Freemans’s opening ceremony and solo performance was predictable and orchestrated, Freeman’s own reality program in the 400-meter race was about to begin. When Freeman entered the stadium in Sydney’s Olympic Park to compete in the 400-meter race, an electrical charge raced through the 100,000 spectators. When the 400-meter race began, thousands of camera flashes illuminated the stadium as the eight runners began to circle the Olympic Stadium. A visceral reaction rippled through the crowd when Freeman began to falter in her quest for the gold medal. Visually, it was a dramatic moment when Freeman began to fade in the pack. As the crowd began to feel the Olympic spectacle drain out of the race for Freeman, the unexpected happened; Freeman rebounded and kicked and sprinted to win the gold medal. Afterward, in dramatic fashion, Freeman collapsed in a pool of celebration and anguish. It was a momentous occasion, which symbolized the individual spirit of a dominant society, trying to shape a newfound social-political system.

The sports spectacle can be planned but may not be predictable. The dominant culture can chart and exercise boundaries to shape the exhibition to its desired political agenda. In addition, current technology can aid in the production and distribution of commoditized sports products. Individuals, as well as corporations, can now influence the spectacle by digital confluence. By all assessments, the conversation concerning sports is gossip, but chat boards, twitter, and social events are sustained by ever expanding branding by commercial sponsors who capitalize on the growing market for sports products in college, amateur, and professional televisual venues. The relationships of each member in the sports industrial complex are solely dependent on one another. Broadcasters, sponsors, government agencies, and the academic sports community are based on the principles of dependent variables of associations that have been beneficial in a number of ways. Currently, for example, the NFL generates nine billion dollars a year according to Forbes magazine; the NFL remains the most lucrative league in the world (Burke). Without the glitz and glamour of television or the web of commercialism, football would probably return to its humble beginnings as a sport which people enjoy playing rather than watching.

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L.A. Confidential: Good Cop-Bad Cop

The Los Angeles Police Department has representations of both good cops and bad cops in L.A. Confidential. This thesis will focus on Detective Ed Exley (Guy Pearce); the dubious good cop and why he follows the rules and regulations in the line of duty. In addition L.A. Confidential will represent Exley as a police officer who understands the hierarchal authoritative system and tries to benefit from it. He will be depicted later as a public-image conscious figure in this film. There may be more concern on his part about his image and the perception of police legitimacy than whether the political system is genuinely legitimate (Sankowski 2002).

The Los Angeles police department’s representation in cinema and television has been viewed for almost 70 years. From the early days of Dragnet to End of Watch, the L.A.P.D. has been critically analyzed for its use of violence, scandals, corruption and sometimes honesty since the days of the William H. Parker. The toxic mixture of reality and fiction has created a genre that has attracted television and film audiences for decades. The film representation of these men and women in blue has boiled down to a number of characterizations, including murderers, thieves, blackmailers and drug dealers. Amongst the more popular scenarios which may be less glamorous, and emerges in the police genre films are, the good cop goes bad or the good cop faces a moral test and fails the ethical dilemma he is tested with.

 L.A. Confidential is the 1997 film noir classic based on a novel by James Ellroy, with the screenplay written by Brian Helgeland. James Ellroy has also penned several other police dramas including The Black Dahlia, Dark Blue and Rampart. L.A. Confidential explores the darker side of the Los Angeles police force in Southern California in the 1950’s. There are four police officers who closely interact and they have distinctive views and personalities on how police work should be accomplished and administered. On the surface, these officers are very dedicated to the Los Angles police force. Captain Dudley Smith, portrayed by James Cromwell, Officer Wendell “Bud” White played by Russell Crowe, Detective Ed Exley, portrayed by Guy Pearce and Detective Jack Vincennes played by Kevin Spacey. The characters try “to protect and to serve,” the general public, but through the authorship of James Ellroy, the only citizens which are being served are the powerful criminals and political elite, who are intertwined with the dark underbelly of the Los Angeles police force.

 The surface characterizations of good cops/bad cops are hard to define at first, as a layer of mystery and deceit descends upon the first act. Captain Dudley seems like a lifer, a good honest cop, who bends the rules with brutality to get the hard police work done. Bud White is the muscle behind the badge, with an agenda to right the wrongs of abusive wife- beating men. Detective Exley is the outsider, the good cop, and college graduate with glasses, who is more politician than cop, in the eyes of his colleagues. Vincennes is the glamor cop, who has been accepted in the fraternity. He takes bribes or hush money from the editor of Hush Hush magazine for news tips. He is dirty as the rest, but has a sleazy appeal.

According to Cecil Greek, in The Big City Cop as Monster, Greek believes Hollywood depicts law enforcement officers in movies and television as monsters (Greek 1994). The police emerge as rouge monsters, which are sent out like Golem in Jewish folklore to save the population from the scourge of evil (Greek 1994). It was said in the 1600s Hasidic Rabbi’s in Prague created golem out of clay to protect the Jews from Blood Libel and a Jew-hating priest who was trying to incite Christians against Jews (Oreck 2013). At first Golem is an obedient protector, defending the poor, the abused and the weak. But during his fight for justice and protecting the innocent his programing becomes confused. The Golem has a difficult time to determine right from wrong.  He is charged to solve problems of criminal activity, but takes the law into his own hands and solves the problem at any cost. At this point the Golem is no longer a friend of the community, but becomes a feared ruthless authoritative figure in the community.  Unfortunately, once this happens, the Golem becomes uncontrollable and must be restrained or destroyed. What is thought-provoking is the Golem myth was “to protect and to serve” which are the same words displayed on the side of the Los Angeles Police Department’s squad cars.

In many cases, the rouge Golem is similar to the rouge cop, or cops who have been portrayed in L.A. Confidential.  Unfortunately for Exley, he tries to be the humble good cop, and attempts to stop rouge cops. But the actions of the rouge cops are repeatedly overlooked and ignored.  Frequently, they are encouraged with this behavior by the hierarchal order, who wishes to reinforce the rouge cop brand of hooligan-golem justice.

In the first scene Bud White is portrayed in pure noir style. The opening scene dissolves from black to a monstrous close up of Bud, as he stares from his police unmarked squad car into the house of a suspected wife beater.  Bud in dramatic style, rips down the Christmas lights of his L.A.-style bungalow home to attract the attention of the perpetrator inside. The wife beater opens the door to see what the commotion is about. Bud and the suspected assailant get into a fight, Bud administers some homegrown justice, beats the man to a pulp, handcuffs him to a rail and radios the police dispatcher to investigate a disturbance at the L.A. home. This type of enthusiasm for justice goes unpunished at the Hollywood police station.

On the opposite end of the justice scale, Exley is first introduced in L.A. Confidential as a noble police officer. With a Speed Graphic camera snapping photographs, and light bulbs flashing in his face, Exley is asked by a crime reporter why he wanted to be a cop. With the shadow of his fathers excellent career as a police officer cast over him, Exley answers quietly with his glasses smartly placed,” I wanted to help people”. He says with a grand religious zeal, with confidence and without any emotion or cynicism, like a priest at confession. This scene and the following scenes foreshadow the rise of Exley in the department. The photographer and reporter hover over Exley like paparazzi at a Hollywood opening.  The reporter seemingly knows Exley’s fate and how he will be severely tested, morally ethically and emotionally in future events.

Exley, the only bespectacled policemen on the force is also portrayed as shorter and more formal then the rest of the police officers. In the film, the camera, in its establishing shot of Exley, is emphasizing Exley height, by shooting him at upward or downward angles.  This is another device, which allows Exley to stand out in the crowd. Also, Exley is portrayed as smiling and happy, rather than the glum look of the other run-of-the-mill police officers on duty.  This simple device of facial expression helps Exley to be unusual and go against the tide of cronyism and corruption, which exudes in the L.A.P.D.

 In reality, Exley would have been an impeccable cop under Chief Parker’s administration in the 1950’s -- A by the book, police bureaucrat whose mission it was to defend the law. Parker tried to implement an attitude of incorruptibly and unapproachable brashness, of a few good men, similar to the superiority of the Marine Corp. In Parker’s view the Dragnet Detective Joe Friday was the perfect representation Parker wanted. He dreamed of a force that would do battle with the immoralities of Los Angeles (Davis 1990).

Indeed, Exley goes against the grain of the new noir style of the 1990’s, which Sharon Y. Cobb identifies, in her work, Writing the New Noir Film. Exley is not an antihero or is he portrayed necessarily as a desperate character. As the films protagonist, Exley’s initial motives are not dishonorable, and like many noir characters, Exley is not a liar who is not constantly deceiving himself or others. But as the protagonist, Exley is a likeable character, but on an emotive level, like most noir characters the audiences may not connect emotionally to his good guy presentation at first. As the audiences began to understand why Exley is the way he is, and how he will eventually get to a wretched place, the audiences will become interested in his outcome as he becomes an intriguing character in the traditional noir style.

In L.A. Confidential, they’re many opportunities for the good cop Exley to be the bad cop. Police brutality and violent incidents seem to occur at regular intervals, which can be largely due to the geographical location of Los Angeles as a metropolitan area with a dense minority population (Oreck 2013). Particularly in this situation, violence, drugs and crime are acerbated in Los Angeles with its large Mexican and African-American minority communities, which is fertile ground for police brutality and foul play. This scenario of minorities being abused by law inforcement is a crucial backdrop to the bad-cop/good-cop themes that runs through a number of scenes in LA. Confidential.

If we look at the Christmas scene at the city jail we can view the racism in real time. And view Exley, in his calculating role as the protector of justice.

 EXLEY: What’s going on?

COP: They got the spics who japped Helenowski and Brown. Helenowski lost an eye and Brown’s got brain damage.

EXLEY: I have the report right here. They’re home with bruises and muscle pulls--Oh Shit…(Helgeland 1995).

In the Bloody Christmas scene Detective Ed Exley, plays the good cop by following the rules and regulations of standard police protocol, and tries to use common sense to cool down his fellow police officers. Unfortunately the “spics” are taken down stairs and a fight ensues when Bud White’s partner Stenslend (Graham Beckel) who is half tanked from drinking rum and coke on duty, attacks one of the “tacos” for hurting one of his fellow officers. A melee brakes out, with Bud White and Jack Vincennes joining in as they attack the Mexican prisoners. During the confrontation Ed Exley, the good cop, tries to stop the brutal and senseless beating by ordering the officers to stop and threatens the police officers, they’re actions are going in his report.  These idle threats mean nothing to the seething police officers. They knock Exley down on the ground and lock him in a cell, and ignore his pleases to let him out at once. The camera pans to Exley, screaming at the top of his lungs, but can’t be heard in the locked cell. This scene demonstrates that  Exley is out of his league with the rest of the squad, with his fellow police officers and his temporary assignment as the evening watch commander. Captain Dudley Smith plays this situation smartly as the commander of the bad cops. He stays indifferent to the riot down stairs in his police jail, and to the excess of drinking alcohol, with on duty Police officers. At the Christmas party, Smith some how allows the press to photograph the transgressions of his fellow officers.

Unfortunately, the Bloody Christmas scene was a bit of reality, which was ripped from the pages of history. On December 25th 1951, 50 drunken Los Angeles police officers severely beat seven men in custody, including five Mexican-Americans. At the time L.A.P.D.’s new police chief, William Parker launched an internal investigation to examine the misconduct. But in this real version by all accounts, there was no good cop like Exley.

Also as a direct result of this period of blatant racism, the L.A.P.D. closed ranks. They implemented a strict code of silence and conduct in all internal disciplinary matters.  In essence, it was a publicity campaign to assure the public that everything was above board at police headquarters. Unfortunately, these tragic episodes have lead to a strained relationship with the Los Angeles Mexican American community and other minority groups that resided in Los Angeles in the 1950’s (Escobar 2003). Mexicans and other racial and cultural minorities are the most vulnerable faction in the communities of Los Angeles. Many of whom do not speak the language and may be culturally unaware of certain protocols in the U.S. These individuals are the most susceptible to law inforcement criminal activity on and off the screen.   

The result of the Bloody Christmas episode had been a political nightmare for the Police Chief (John Mahon), D.A. (Ron Rifkin) and Dudley Smith. The newspapers have the riot as front-page news, in bold letters “BLOODY CHRISTMAS” is displayed prominently in the Los Angeles Times. The corrupt authoritative hierarchy needs answers and a quick resolution to satisfy the public and other high-ranking city officials. As each officer who was a participant of the riot is brought in and questioned. Not one police officer will testify against a fellow officer. Each police officer is protecting the other police officer, which protects the system of corruption.

 Bud White is brought in and asked to testify to the Grand Jury concerning the incident. Bud states that  he will not testify against his fellow police officers. Bud’s refusal to testify has resulted in the Police Chief asking for his badge and gun and suspends him from duty. In an additional blow, the Police Chief adds that  Bud White is a disgrace to the police force. In the next scene, Exley is shown walking down the hall as he approaches the Police Chiefs office to be questioned.  White, as he leaves the Police Chiefs office, the film is intercut to show both men approaching each other, both have primarily the same type of lighting, with the approximately same camera angle, demonstrating they are both equals at the time of the interview. White had his opportunity; he dismissed it, hiding behind his badge of honor which is shrouded in secrecy.

When the triumvirate interviews Exley, he immediately jumps in and takes the high road and the offensive, “Justice has to be served, of course I will testify”, “ The public will expect the department to sweep this investigation under the carpet. We should shift the guilt to men who pensions are secure, but somebody has to swing, your new department will not tolerate officers who think they are above the law”.  The Police chief accepts Exley proposals, for ending this political nightmare.  Bud White’s partner Stensland will be let go from the department, and Vincennes will take the fall and testify against several of his police officers at the Grand Journey investigation.

During the interview with Vincennes, Exley is behind a one-way glass, watching the cross examination of Vincennes. Exley, the new puppet master is watching his well-played plan come to a conclusion. His image is reflected on the one-way glass observing the impromptu interrogation, demonstrating his ability to take command. It’s a powerful scene, but the power with the placement of images is very subtle. Dudley Smith is somewhat surprised by the acuteness of Exley’s display of cunning. “You may reap the benefit Edmund, but are you truly prepared to be despised within the department, yes sir I am, so be it.”

 Exley is the plotting politician as Dudley Smith pointed out in an earlier scene, “Edmund you’re a political animal, you have an eye for political weakness but not the stomach.” Apparently, Exley has proven Smith wrong by having the stomach and the will to carry his case forward for justice, as he sees it, within the department.

As the plot for L.A. Confidential moves forward another racial incident raises its ugly head, displaying the full force of the good cop/bad cop scenario. A mass murder has been committed at the Nite Owl coffee shop, a late night joint that serves steak and eggs till the midnight hour. Six people have been killed including White’s ex- partner Stenslend. At the scene of the crime, 45 spent 12-guage Remington shotgun shells have been found, it is speculated that three men with five-shot-capacity are responsible.  Earlier that evening, three “negro youths were spotted firing shotguns in Griffith Park from a late model Mercury Coupe” (Helgeland 1995). Captain Dudley Smith holds an impromptu meeting to discuss the investigation strategy of the Nite Owl shooting. He orders his team to search for the coupe and the three Negro assailants.  “Gentlemen go out and get them, use all the necessary force” Exley, then quips, “Why not put a bounty on them”.  Indeed some may say the L.A.P.D. has been permanently haunted by racial politics. Peter Boyer in his article for the New Yorker points out in the nineteen-twenties, the chief of police in Los Angeles, Louis Oaks was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Also, the L.A.P.D. had a long history of institutional racial profiling before that term had currency (Boyer 2001). Regrettably, the L.A.P.D. did not integrate its police force until 1961, even though the Los Angeles black population quadrupled between 1940 and 1960 (Boyer 2001).

They’re few remaining scenes where Exley retains his good cop image. His protagonist image is quickly going to fade, due to the confrontations he is going to face. In Exley’s case, eventually there will be a set of norms and values that will govern his behavior. He morphs quickly, not by a hostile criminal, but by a stressful situation working with his corrupt fellow police officers. This situation will be enlarged and amplified when Exley discovers his superiors in the police administration and local politicians are orchestrating the police corruption schemes, which are motivated by big money and drug dealing. Fortuitously for Exley, his lonely battle against city hall will be joined by White who will eventually join him, in this up hill battle against the corrupt elite. This union will indeed result to be an intriguing moral struggle for both parties.

As seen in L.A. Confidential, the plot is deeply cynical about the authoritative governmental systems, which appears to be entangled with the mob scene and other unscrupulously activities. The police are barely distinguishable from the criminals they are supposed to keep in check. This cover-up of an illegitimate authority is an essential fragment that engages and entices Exley for his search for truth and justice. But as Exley ultimately becomes the corrupt hero, he must render to a number of moral struggles within himself, with his police enemies and his loved ones (Gustafson 2007).

Exley and Detective Carlisle arrive and 1^st and Olive at a seedy apartment with a tip that three Negroes who escaped from the city jail after being incarcerated and questioned for the murders at the Nite Owl cafe are in hiding. The detectives burst into the apartment and find the three Negroes with two other men. A gun melee ensues and everyone is shot and killed except Exley and the unarmed suspect, Coates. Coates escapes and runs down the hallway to an elevator. Coates enters the elevator, unarmed and the elevator door slowly closes. Exley quickly approaches the elevator door and pumps a round of shotgun shells into the elevator and mortally wounds Coates. Exley pokes his head in and stares at the bloodied body of Coates. Exley crosses the line, from good cop to bad cop by killing an innocent and unarmed man in cold blood. Who would have thought Exley would become “Shot Gun Ed”, as he’s been dubbed by his exuberant fellow officers, welcoming him into their private club. Exley has turned the corner of acceptance with his fellow police officers. He has been ordained into the fraternity of crooked cops, the band of brothers who will do anything to protect each other.  

Exley has slid down the slippery slope of moral uncertainty, and now faces one of his first of many moral dilemmas. He experiences the unannounced test of personal strength and moral judgments, which in this case he failed. If we look back at the Christmas party scene, Captain Dudley Smith tries to convince Exley not to pursue a new position in the Detective division because of his by the book attitude, and proceeds to ask Exley a few pointed questions.

DUDLEY: Would you be willing to beat confessions out of suspects you knew to be guilty?

EXLEY: No.

DUDLEY: Would be willing to shoot hardened criminals in the back to offset the chance--

EXELY: No. I know you mean well, Dudley, but I don’t need to do it the way you did. Or my father.

Who would have thought “Shot Gun Ed”, now the bad cop Ed Exley, turns the corner of acceptance with his fellow police officers and gains the loyalty from the fraternity brothers in blue. When Exley returns to the squad room after his bloody battle, he is welcomed as a hero, as a long lost brother, with blood dripping from his clothes, “You did good kid”. For Exley his work as a murderer will be rewarded with fame and publicity. His compensation for his dirty work for the police department is their highest honor, The Medal of Valor.  Subsequently for Exley the time came for choosing the code, the code of honor, with respect to his fellow officers and to the crossroad of loyalty, brotherhood and silence.

At the hospital, Exley interviews the rape victim who places the three Negros at the Nite Owl café at the correct time. While Exley helps Inez Soto (Marisol Padilla Sánchez) out of the hospital, he discovers Inez does not remember any thing about the night she was raped. You remember what time the Negros left you? Right? In your statement, you said they left you at midnight.  Ms. Soto answers, “I don’t know what time they left me, I wanted them dead, would anyone care they raped a Mexican girl from Boyle Heights?... If they hadn’t killed those white people at the Nite Owl, nobody would care”.  “I did what I had to do for justice”. Exley is shaken by this turn of events; there are doubts in his heroic actions. At least a half dozen people are dead, and the facts are not adding up to the justice Exley desires.

At this point in the plot and story, the hero Exley is feeling uncomfortable with the facts of the Nite Owl case. He begins to question the medial examiner, concerning the truths of the murders. By his surprise, Exley discovers Bud White has also been asking questions concerning the murders with the medical examiner. This interaction with Exley and White is an example of how this contact is an essential element in the narrative structure of the cop-genre film (Brown 1993). In act one, the hero is quickly introduced, along with his superiors and adversaries when Exley does not have a police partner, and he is isolated from the police pack, due to his by the book nature.  In act two, when the plot advances, the conflicts between good and evil become more defined and clearer. Also during this act, the hero will adapt to a new partner. White and Exley, are the polar opposites in police procedures, rules and regulations. Both of these men need to go forward in their personal conflicts to increase the dramatic skirmishes and tensions in this film. Indeed these opposites began to attract each. Their intentions are the same, and as one would expect, but each of their methods are vary different.  But as White and Exley work towards the same common goals, their methods become increasingly identical.

A theme in Exley’s world is the reasons why the characters in L.A. Confidential wanted to become cops. In Exley’s case it’s Rolo Tomassi. Rolo Tomassi is a metaphor for the person he thinks has killed his father. Exley’s father was also a respectable policeman in the L.A.P.D. With Vincennes, who is jaded and corrupt, can’t remember why he wanted to be a cop. Vincennes, also has been taking payoffs from Sid Hudgens (Danny Devito), who has been involved in a blackmail scheme with Hush Hush magazine. Its also worth mentioning for the author of L.A. Confidential James Ellroy's, was motivated by an unsolved mystery "I was ten years old in June of 1958, living in Los Angeles, when my mother was murdered, her death engendered in me a tremendous curiosity for all things criminal-police work”. In L.A. Confidential, shows these characters, which have lost parents as the result of violent acts that went unsolved (Tibbetts 1997).

The dreams however of becoming a policeman are very real for some. If we briefly look at recent history of the L.A.P.D., we can identify Rafael Perez’s, the corrupt cop in the Rampart scandal and member of the elite CRASH unit. Perez as a boy living near Philadelphia with his mother would watch cop shows on TV and imagine one day of having a badge and a gun (Boyer 2001). Granted Perez’s motivations are rather benign. Exley’s on the other had, wants to correct the wrongs of the world. He wants to catch the criminals who thought they could get away with murder. Exley has imagined a scenario to keep his father alive. Since the only facts in his father’s death, were the six bullet holes, which riddled his body. But Exley has also thought about justice, and somewhere along the way he has lost sight of Lady Justice.

The powers of justice seem to sway in Exley’s favor; at least with two of his corrupt associates, as they begin to believe that all is not what it seems to be in the Nite Owl murders. For White it’s his motivation to seek and destroy individuals who mistreat women who may also be involved in the Nite Owl murders. For Vincennes, it’s the thought that he was involved in a photo-op black mailing the District Attorney, which has resulted in a murder. Both of these factors indicate that a corrupt cop with his own rational can justify good and bad in a single instant. But the overall aura of Exley’s good cop intentions has influenced Vincennes and White. Exley’s constant and vigilant search for justice has placed doubts in the minds of his associates.

 Unfortunately for Vincennes, with his trusting nature and need for a clear conscious, he searches out Dudley Smith concerning some facts in the recent murders. Sadly for Vincennes, Dudley is the perpetrator and mastermind of the recent murderous misdeeds. And without hesitation upon answering a few questions from Vincennes shoots him thru the heart a point blank range.

DUDLEY: Have you a valediction, lad?

Dudley leans low, to listen to Jack’s response.

JACK: Rollo Tomasi... Dudley frowns in ignorance at the name.

After the press conference the next day, Dudley stands in front of the waiting police detectives and orders them to administer justice to the killer of Vincennes, “it must be swift and merciless”. Dudley pulls Exley aside and asks him, “Did Vincennes ever mention the name Rollo Tomasi? Exley is frozen in time, and knows Dudley has killed Vincennes.”

With Vincennes dead, Exley needs a partner to eradicate the corrupt Dudley. Bud White is a reluctant partner since he has been shown photographs of Exley making love to Lynn (Kim Basinger). But after a brief fight over Lynn, White accepts Exley’s account of Dudley murderous escapades.

EXLEY: Stay smart, Bud. We build a case. We play by the rules.

BUD: There are no rules!  Why the fuck are you doing this?  The Nite Owl                   made you.  You want to tear all that down.                                 

EXLEY: With a wrecking ball.  You want to help me swing it?

Again we see the bipolar Exley, at one point he wants to obey the law to the letter, then the next moment, he wants to give it all up, and play the corrupt cop. Exley, for example can have many reasons to break the code of conduct by hanging the corrupt District Attorney out the window for a confession. Especially since the District Attorney knew what corrupt and criminal deeds Dudley and Patchett (David Strathairm) were up to. With Exley, there are hints of spiritual growth to be reborn with the personal vendetta to find and kill, Rolo Tomassi. Exley at this point in the film cares little about fame in the department; he wants something new, the blood of Rolo Tomassi.

Exley and White drive to the Victory Motel with its landscape noir style, where Dudley Smith is waiting with his gang of police thugs. There is a tremendous hail of bullets. Bud White and Exley are shot but not killed by Dudley Smith. Exley looks down the barrel of Smith’s revolver and quietly says, Rolo Tomassi, you’re the guy that gets away with it. There is a slight skirmish, and Exley grabs a shotgun, and points it at Dudley.

Dudley: “Are you going to shoot me or arrest me, good lad, always the politician, hold up your badge so they will know you are a policemen”. At this point in the film, Dudley is quite sure of himself. He has killed so many policemen that one less will not make any difference. Dudley than offers Exley a bribe, I will make you Chief of Detective, just let me do all the taking.

Exley, the politician, the man holding the gun pointed at Dudley, is alone with his emotions and jumble of thoughts. The supreme moment has arrived at this critical instant of morality vs. justice. Somewhere one of the two men must remember the earlier conversation at the Christmas party, at the Hollywood percent.

DUDLEY: Would you be willing to shoot hardened criminals in the back to offset the chance --                                 

EXLEY: No.

When Dudley exits the bullet-ridden motel, the police sirens are heard in the background, with Dudley’s arms raised walking toward the oncoming police cars, Exley, shoots Dudley in the back.

In the press, both Exley and Dudley are acclaimed as heroes, an arrangement that Exley has plotted and managed, while he was interrogated for the murders of the police officers at the Victory Motel. Exley seems to have adopted moral blinders in the course of this film. With justice and Rolo Tomassi being the guiding force of his own moral compass, Exley seems to have drifted off course. In Exley’s philosophical view, which has been a driving force throughout this film, Exley has had some significant gaps with his ability to judge what is truthful and what is moral. These decisions, which Exley has made, seem to occur when his own actions are a stake, demonstrating a type of schizophrenia when it pertains to a decision concerning his own activities. This overall behavior of Exley, demonstrates an absolute certainty of his character and to some extent a self-righteousness which may be blinded by his own interpretation of the truth. Or is this simply a way for Exley to grab power for the good of himself and the department?

The picture of Exley, in the integration room, after the shoot out at the Victory Motel is quite interesting. He is at one moment greening from ear to ear, with his uncanny ability to predict what the District Attorney and Chief of Police are discussing  and planning after his wretched account of Dudley Smith’s activities as a murderer, con-artist and drug king pin. Later in the scene, Exley has the crazed look of a mad man, a man who has just escaped death, but sees that life is out of balance situations more clearly.

Exley’s actions seem to make him above the law, due to his father’s murder by Dudley. There is retribution in his blood, for justice and for himself. Obviously, he feels somewhat vindictive in his approach to the police department, by not being recognized as a superior candidate within the department. Exley also scored high in the Lieutenant’s test for the police force, and his ability to ferret out corruption at it highest level. Exley was and is a superior policeman, by some standards, if we consider the situation which was handed to him. But do the ends justify the means for Exley actions?

If we reconsider Exley for a moment, we may find that he maybe fanatical about ferreting out bad cops and he has the responsibility to execute justice, now on his own terms (Grant 2003). In the end Exley uses his information for his own promotion rather then to stop the system of depravity. In fact Exley, the good cop, has keep silent at two award ceremonies, rather than admit his complicit actions. By the final scene Exley consents to the organization and his elevation in the face of all he knows to be true about the police force. This knowledge places him in a category of honorable uncertainty and possibly collusion.

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