Not a Cop-Hater as Such

(42:28)

A twee hovering surveillance device confronts Nada in the bank’s alley. Nada destroys it with his shotgun; when it explodes, he covers his head with his arms to shelter himself from flying fragments someone apparently forgot to bring to the set that morning. Fire the continuity girl! Then a single human cop arrives, to be easily disarmed and chased off: the cop is bald and mild (Nada doesn’t even really need Hoffman lenses here, since we know ghouls can afford wigs!) and Nada’s pumped up with rage, his hormones and mane flowing. A brief, forgettable exchange, but we’re learning things: not all cops are ghouls, and Nada is capable, in his fury, of making these important distinctions. I’d venture, though it’s impossible to prove, that given this cop’s bewildered reactions he’s no member of the human power elite, but a dupe, innocent of the conspiracy.

Since rank-and-file policemen and soldiers are usually manipulatable like this fellow—trained into unquestioning obeisance to command—why so many ghoul policemen and bank guards and SWAT teams? The pragmatic answer: Nada needs armed troops to engage with and murder. Too many civilian ghoul kills might look unsporting. But it suggests that ghouls brought with them their own hierarchies, even as they imposed themselves generally as our overlords. Do those who came all this way only to have to drive around in police cars resent those who get to play politicians on television?