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.

While the producers of Traffic Stop tried to use this incident to show the police as evil and the arrested black woman as unjustly mistreated, watching the actual dash cam video from the police cruiser, one can clearly see the woman refusing to follow instructions and then resisting arrest for no good reason. She wasn't mistreated. All she had to do was follow the lawful instructions of the police officer and she would have been sited for a traffic violation and then on her way. What happened to her was her own doing and no documentary filler of her teaching school or going to church will change that. However, it is also apparent that the officer quickly lost patience with the woman who was refusing to cooperate.

It was interesting that her probing dialog with the transportation officer taking her to jail seemed designed to gather material for the documentary. Her actions from start to finish weren't normal and after the arrest almost seemed calculated. Was this planned in advance or just a spur of the moment decision to get something on the police. Whatever the reason, the documentary comes off as one-sided and transparent. Not worthy of your time. How did it ever get nominated for an Oscar? Oh, right. It's Hollywood were no anti-social behavior goes unrewarded.

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.