“Problem Areas” used on-the-ground interviews, heavily sourced segments, and host Wyatt Cenac’s skills as a communicator to examine deep-seated issues in a number of areas of American life.Renewed attention to the show and its availability on a new platform largely comes from the overarching subject of the show’s first season: policing. Wyatt Cenac Is Making a Public Service Announcement
And if you’re taking it away from education, what does that mean for those communities when you’re taking it out of schools? The police union has been able to put a lot of pressure on these politicians, to give them the freedom to do what they want,” Cenac said. Cenac says that even though the mayor’s relative inaction is disappointing, it’s not particularly surprising.“I kind of always felt like this is how he was going to respond. Tracking the incremental advancements in relationships between the police and the communities they both belong to and serve does offer a glimmer of hope. Why am I not going and using my voice? And how do I define it? One of the series being turned to is Wyatt Cenac's HBO show Problem Areas-- which lasted for two seasons in 2018 and 2019 -- because of the first season's attention to policing in America. Through the lens of gun violence, sexual violence, homelessness, use of force, and officer training, “Problem Areas” was able to show how police-related issues directly intersect with so many others. There’s something in the structure of politics that will make a person lose their convictions real quick. It’s a disconnect that came into focus when, the Saturday after Floyd and Taylor’s killings, a rocket as part of a joint venture between NASA and the Elon Musk-founded SpaceX launched on the same day that protestors marched to demand justice. Do I define it as a huge presence of police? The idea of restorative justice presents a path to reconciliation that doesn’t use prescriptive sentencing practices as a primary foundation. '”One of Season 1’s most powerful episodes tells the story of Elgin, Illinois, one of the cities that laid the groundwork for a community policing program. Comedian and writer Wyatt Cenac explores America’s most pressing issues as he travels to different parts of the country, bringing unique perspectives to systemic issues while also tackling more benign everyday inconveniences with comedic solutions. Wyatt Cenac's 'Problem Areas' Will Challenge Your Thoughts on Police in America. Maybe I even know the mayor. Wyatt Cenac's police-focused 'Problem Areas' is now streaming for free on YouTube Wyatt Cenac listens to all kinds of voices from various communities to examine and critique police … It’s one that requires active, ongoing participation. “It’s asking questions like, ‘At a time when everyone else is having to scale back because of a pandemic, and you have businesses that are shuttering, you have people losing houses in a city that already has a housing crisis, why is it that just this month the mayor has agreed to give raises to the LAPD?’ And if I voted for that mayor, why am I not more outraged about that? Equality is just saying, ‘This one neighborhood has a school? Copyright © 2020 Penske Business Media, LLC.
Those things then become connected in ways that can have detrimental effects on communities.”With so many roots of ineffective policing that extend through different areas of American life, “Problem Areas” emphasizes the fact that there isn’t one simple, easy solution.
Or do I define it as quality education and a farmers market and businesses that are thriving on every corner? With calls for reallocating police budgets toward other public programs, “Problem Areas” offers a window into one possible future avenue. The episode below offers one such case.As Cenac points out in that episode, it’s far from an automatic alternative. And I feel like the more that we worked on the show, the more evident that became to all of us, if it hadn’t been prior to that,” Cenac told IndieWire.
Accountability is the strongest throughline of “Problem Areas.” It’s accountability for those in uniform tasked with serving the public, for elected officials who make verbal commitments to reform but don’t follow through, and for individual citizens to understand how publicly-funded institutions are spending in their name.“I think people just stop at, ‘Well, I voted for the mayor who was aligned with my party.’ But it goes beyond that.