Copaganda

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Related terms: Politics
See also: Race and Fandom, Ableism in Fandom, Leftism in Fandom, Anarchism in Fandom, List of Police Procedural Fandoms, Buddy Cop Fandom
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(Caution: This article addresses the portrayal of the police in fandom and source texts. Links to articles and videos etc may go into real life examples and histories of police misconduct and their consequences.)


Copaganda is a term referring to the different ways in which cops are portrayed in the media and society at large as being a positive force for good, with little in the way of addressing the systemic and institutional negatives that come with them, in order to influence public opinion to side with the police. Sometimes this idea will also incorporate the wider criminal justice system as a whole.

Though the concept of pointing out and criticising the way in which cops are portrayed in the media has been around for a while, the term itself is relatively new, and the rejuvenated Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 appears to have somewhat reignited discussion around the topic, both in fandom and wider society.

Fandoms

Though it is argued that copaganda often makes its way into most media texts in some form or another, certain fandoms have been criticised more than others:

Brooklyn Nine Nine

Brooklyn Nine Nine seems to be one of the most prominant fandoms in discussions regarding copaganda.[1] One argument is that B99's copaganda is more subtle and overlooked due to its diverse cast and occasional attempts at addressing social issues. Hence, the show's portrayal of cops is more palatable to its liberal audience, and more easily forgiven or dismissed than more egregious cops shows, aimed at more conservative audiences.

Videos

Articles

PAW Patrol

Memes and discussions surrounding the kids TV show PAW Patrol in regards to copaganda tend to focus on the character of Chase, a police dog, and the ways in which a pro-police mindset is established at an early age.

Other Examples

Impact on Fanworks & Fanon

Some fans ignore or change the jobs of canon cop characters in fanworks if they wish to diminish the impact of copaganda, or don't feel comfortable writing cop characters, especially in shows where the characters are in otherwise non-cop related shows, such as Yasmin Khan in Doctor Who.

Aurorfic is a specifc trope in the Harry Potter fandom involving characters being aurors, as part of the magical law enforcement.

Criticism

Some fans feel the term is misused, namely by people calling media from other countries or based on non-American cultures "copaganda" without considering that the country the media was made in doesn't have the same police corruption as America. [2] This is common among American anime fans.

Links & Further Reading

Videos

Articles

Other

References

  1. ^ 'More people need to understand what we mean when we say that “Brooklyn 99 is pro-cop propaganda”' - Tumblr (June 2020)
  2. ^ https://damnfandomproblems.tumblr.com/post/723573693936189440/fandom-problem-4148-there-is-a-huge-problem-with#notes
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