tcm | We have the Alhambra, California police department to thank for 1970's
USE YOUR EYES (RESIDENCE INVESTIGATION), an informational short clearly
intended as a teaching tool for law enforcement. This 13-minute colour
film opens with bouncy spy-film music as we are introduced to the scene
of the crime: a normal-looking residence in which, strangely, nothing
unusual seems to have happened, and it is never clear what exactly the
police have been called to investigate. No matter, however; this film is
not a narrative but a deliberate, eerily quiet exploration of the
proper investigation techniques required to determine whether or not
there has been illegal marijuana use in a home.
Obviously, law enforcement officials were concerned that, unless
confronted with a living room carelessly strewn with drug paraphernalia,
officers might miss the otherwise subtle indications of recreational
drug use. As a result, lingering shots of overflowing ashtrays,
close-ups of everyday objects and scenes of someone actually appearing
to smoke marijuana and hashish are combined with the calm voice of an
off-screen narrator who helpfully walks you, the none-so-observant
police officer, through all the steps you should wish to take to
interpret the scene before you. Can you identify a lone "roach" lying in
a cigarette butt-filled ashtray? If you see a hair pin or an alligator
clip with burnt ends, would you know how this could conceivably have
happened? If someone has a gigantic hookah sitting on their living room
table, would you know what this object is generally used for? And, most
importantly, are you aware that only the trained eye can make sense of
these clues to avoid an unlawful search of a residence?
This film also informs us that hashish use causes one to "float out of
the world of reality toward a midnight of eventual regret and despair".
But you, the well-trained police officer, can't put a stop to that
unless you watch this film, put its techniques to work, and USE YOUR
EYES.
0 comments:
Post a Comment