Good morning comrades!

CW if anyone decides to watch this: racism, alcoholism & misogyny

Scales of Justice is a fictional miniseries created in 1983 by the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) which looks at the absolute shitshow that is the Australian police and the justice system. The miniseries is in three parts, each about 70-80 minutes long. Each part covers its own story, the first being focused on a recruit trying to be a “good policeman”, the second focusing on a drug task force, and the final episode focusing on politicians in the state government and their attempts to crack down on crime. While you can watch each episode as a standalone story, there are some recurring characters in the background, and it is in chronological order.

Now, the reason I am suggesting this is because it is the absolute perfect depiction of the police and politicians. By perfect, I don’t just mean that it doubles down on ACAB, but that it is impossible to differentiate the fiction here from real life. Every character is racist, misogynist, constantly drinking alcohol and always doing something illegitimate. The only real difference between what this show depicts and police in real life is that now the racism would be mostly aimed at Chinese/Muslims/Africans as much as it is aimed at Greeks/Italians, and there’d be more immigrants working for the police. For everyone who isn’t Australian, watch this and you will know everything you need to know about the justice system here.

The show is currently on youtube which I’ve linked below. They’ve been ripped from video from what I can tell, so there are some issues with image quality and sound. There are also no subtitles, which will make it very difficult for anyone who is not ready for full Anglo-Australian accents, especially when the characters are drunk which is common. I first watched this when I was very young, and it may have been one of the first pieces of media that got me pushing left since it shows that there’s no avenue to be a “good cop”. The people I’ve shown it to have said they enjoyed the second episode the most because it is an entertaining crime drama/thriller, but I think episode one hits hardest.

Let us know if you need any translation for Aussie slang/slurs.

Act One - The Job

Act Two - The Game

Act Three - The Numbers

:acab-2: :acab-2: :acab-2: :aus-delenda-est: :aus-delenda-est: :aus-delenda-est:

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