“The Perfect Neighbor” and imperfect exploitation.

I already knew about the murder of Ajike Owens and I stumbled onto it by mistake. One of my weird YouTube viewing habits is watching police bodycam footage of Karens arguing with the police, the bulk of whom claim “sovereign citizen” bullshit. All Cops Are Bad, and I’m all for defunding police, but I just can’t let go of the joy I feel watching a privileged, loudmouthed, President of Caucasia decide the law doesn’t apply to them and end up handcuffed, face down on the ground.

At the end of one of those videos, the next video was a collection of bodycam footage about the Ajike Owens case, much of which ended up in this documentary, and by the time I finished the dishes to turn it off, I was invested in what was going on. If you’re interested it’s called “Karen” Realizes She Can’t Just Kill Her Neighbor but the Netflix documentary covers all of it and then some.

I have a problem with the Then Some.

One of the ways to make a good documentary is to grab the viewer and paint the characters in such a way that you become emotionally invested in the outcome. This is the angle Geeta Gandbhir takes in this one. There are adults around, but there is a lot of focus on the children, and you become invested in the neighborhood through watching these children try to explain the nuances of bigotry and prejudice heaped upon them by an overbearing neighbor. By the end of the movie though, we have to watch them process grief and the murder of their mother in real time. They are told what happened and it’s meant to convey the weight of the situation to the viewer. A grave injustice has not only been committed against an innocent woman whose life is cut short, but also against her children, some of whom blame themselves for the incident.

I don’t need to see that.

But before that even happens, I definitely do not need to see the dead body of Ajike surrounded by neighbors, friends, and loved ones, through the lens of a police bodycam. I had my fill long ago. I no longer need anymore Shared Video of Dead Black People for Awareness. I am aware. I know she’s dead just as I know scores of other Black people have died by the actions of white people acting (or attempting to act) with impunity. I never need to see another lifeless Black person immortalized on video for the benefit of white people to be aware or feel the weight of the injustice.

Because The Perfect Neighbor has no interviews with the residents, murderer, victim’s family, or police, all we have is a collection of police bodycam footage and some 911 calls. I could have gotten all of that on YouTube. As a matter of fact, I did get all of that on YouTube, and because they have tighter guidelines around what video they allow, I didn’t have to assault myself with more Black trauma to get the story either.