Navajo Police: Class 57

In short: I watch a lot of documentaries. I enjoy many of them but think few of them are 10/10 great. This is one of those few. You really need to watch all three episodes.

The long version: When I consider a documentary to be art (as opposed purely entertainment), my enjoyment of it has very little to do with the topic and everything to do with the way in which it is presented. Especially when tackling an emotionally and politically-charged topic, a documentary should not set out to support one "side" or another. A good documentary aims to explore a complex topic by helping us understand the commonality of human nature driving seemingly-contradictory facets of an issue. A great documentary is one that goes beyond this individual human level by layering the narrative within a larger historical and societal context that further deepens our understanding. Great art not only makes us think, but also makes us feel. Navajo Police Class 57 is both a great documentary and great art.

To the user who wrote a previous 1/10 review: I completely relate to your emotional reaction and feelings of disgust in watching many of the training scenes. I would guess (and hope) that most viewers shared those visceral reactions. I don't want to give any spoilers but I strongly encourage you to go back and finish watching all three episodes. I fear the following analogy might come across as glib and I hope you will take me at my word when I tell you that is not the spirit in which I intend it. To me, it seems that you wrote a review of the Navajo Police training process depicted in episode 1, rather than a review of the documentary itself. Giving a review of the series that is based on viewing only one of three episodes is akin to ordering an item online and giving the product a bad review because there was a problem with shipping and you never actually received the product you purported to review. Even if you need to look away and plug your ears during some of the disturbing training scenes (as I'll admit I sometimes do when watching something that elicits too strong an emotional reaction), I hope you will go back and watch all three episodes. I think you will come away with a more nuanced overall reaction to this documentary.

Imagine watching a docuseries about police and then getting big mad because it's about police. Lol.

The funny thing is it's only kind of about police. It's primarily about an incredible, beautiful and resilient culture that survives despite the best efforts of the United States to grind it out of existence. Heroes--even flawed, traumatized ones--rise up to serve their community (and I'm talking about the activists, the EMTs, the elected officials, the keepers of the traditions every bit as much as the police) and preserve its legacy. Hard to find fault with this effort, and it's made beautifully to boot..

Navajo Police: Class 57 was so moving, compelling, and important. I want to watch classes 58, 59, 60, 61, 62+ and on and on... and hope that we will see the Navajo Police grow and grow and become stronger and stronger with their homegrown, local heroes.

This is what I believe all filmmakers strive for: an important story that is emotional, dramatic, informative, uplifting, surprising, and actually "world changing" in helping others understand new people, perspectives, and worlds (possibly right next door) in an embraceable way. Watching these episodes unfold, I was rooting for every one of these recruits to succeed and bring honor and much needed money to their families in this "nation within a nation." And yet, not all can make it, and the reasons were many, real, sad, and impactful.

I hope there will be more!

This documentary reveals many shadows ad revelations well beyond the experience of a group of American Indians going tio police school. The devestating rise in crime and violence on drugs. The absolute decline and possible collapse of traditional culture, language, ceremony and familuy support. The Navajo are a people I spent time visiting in the 1980s. I do not even recognize the culture I see in this documenary. The most shocking and painful revelation was that most of the Navajo shown in this video are Christians. The Navajo had one of the most excellent indigenous religious traditions, that all seems gone now replaced with prayers to Jesus. I am an Ojibwe American Indian, like the Navajo, we Ojibwe have our own religious and spiritual traditions that we preserve and cherish. That the Christians have overtaken the traditional relion of Navajo was very hard to watch, to comprehend. This is like watching the victims try to protect themselves, as each cop and candidate is an inheritor of the oppression and denialism of US Federal policy, it is a documentary, well made, about a broken culture using its broken people to inch themselves forward. It is mostly, for me, a very sad and disheartening story.

The foundation was culture and pride. As I watched these men and women endure their journey into what I know to be a desperate situation. I grew up on the reservation and the police response has always been a problem. Crime, violence, drugs, addiction are on the rise and very few police to enforce the law. It's a story that we never got to see and it was eye opening. Not just because very few people want to serve but because of the men and women's stories behind the badge. To see the screening process and the initiation wasn't easy to see but I'm glad the recruits are prepared to meet any obstacle in their service. Also to understand Their personal struggles and their reason to serve the Navajo Nation was the icing on the cake. It was a great watch.