„I Thought It Was Necessary”. Brooklyn 9-9, in an Episode That Terry Crews is Proud of, for a While Forgot It Was a Comedy
Terry Crews proudly talked about the Brooklyn 9-9 episode, which dealt with an important and difficult topic that he felt needed attention.
Terry Crews is one of the stars of the hilarious Brooklyn Nine-Nine, depicting the adventures of police officers from a New York police station. Although it was a comedy series, it was not afraid to touch on more serious topics, as was the case in the episode of which Crews is most proud. As he recounted during a special on Brooklyn 9-9 (via Digital Spy), it dealt with a topic that he is familiar with, so it is particularly important to him and he is glad that it addressed the issue.
And what specifically is it about? About racial profiling by police officers, which Crews confessed he had experienced himself. And Sergeant Terry Jefford, played by him, was racially profiled by another police officer when he was looking for his daughter's blanket in a suburban neighborhood. This took place in the 16th episode of season 4 titled Moo Moo.
One thing that we really had to address was the racial profiling that the police have always been guilty of, especially in America. I have been a victim of racial profiling, there were incidents where I was mistaken for someone else and had guns drawn, and it was a very, very serious event.
Particularly important was the fact that the episode did not seek a solution, but highlighted the problem to generate discussion about it. The series' task was not to fix the issue, but to show that such a problem exists, which Crews appreciated.
We didn’t attempt to solve the problem. It was a unique perspective to have two African American officers debating how to get to the same place. The tone did get a little more serious, and I thought it was necessary. It was a highlight of my time on Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine managed to address such an important topic in the right way, something the actor is proud of. It's certainly important that such a popular TV series has presented an issue that is a big problem and often ignored.
