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Abolition: For Your Consideration
pop justice takes on the 2022 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
pop justice is Scalawag's newsletter exploring the intersection of popular culture and justice—namely through abolition. Sign up here.
Scalawag launched pop justice to reckon with the way copaganda distorts our understanding of our criminal-legal system and ultimately stalls abolition. The slate of television shows up for nomination at the 2022 74th Primetime Emmy Awards are no exception. In this special edition of pop justice, we've invited writers to call out potentially award-winning copaganda of the last year—and to highlight abolitionist storylines lurking in our favorite shows.
Watch this space during and after TV's biggest night of the year for even more reviews and critiques of the nominees.
How to do away with copaganda: Three Emmy-nominated shows to watch with an abolitionist lens
"I hope there's someone in the writers' room with an abolitionist mindset. Because I know how the cop closure ending goes. We all do. We've seen it. What else is possible?"
Only Murders in the Building exemplifies the lies in 'true' crime
The Dropout dramatizes Elizabeth Holmes' fraudulent rise. Endless military funding is also a scam.
Yellowjackets shows a world without police as disorderly. Abolitionists aren't buying it.
RuPaul's Drag Race visibilizes queerness—and the police state
The White Lotus is supposed to be satire. Hawaiians deserve the last laugh.
Abbott Elementary and the promise of schools without cops
pop justice isn't about policing the media you consume (even you, true-crime bingers). Instead, we see pop culture as a relatable and—even enjoyable—entry point to tough and necessary conversations about abolishing the police state. Subscribe today so we can get free (and kiki) together:
more in pop justice:
Abolition on TV: Pop Justice Wrapped
The top shows of 2022 crafted new realms, drew parallels to social issues and, whether intentionally or not, illuminated many elements within broader policing structures.
There are 'Stranger Things' than abolition, but the show won't go there.
The show promotes an implicitly abolitionist message: You shouldn't need police to keep you safe, or to solve problems that you and your community can solve with more nuance on your own.
pop justice: the 'chicken salad' pipeline
Y'all better come up here and get one of these—it's a fat politic.
Netflix's 'Spiderhead' forgets that the truth about prisons is stranger than sci-fi
Netflix's $100 million movie is an expensive and poorly written portrayal of the abusive norm in many prisons throughout the country.