[yasr_overall_rating]
Eight years in the making, The Joe Show is a shocking and wildly entertaining documentary on America’s most controversial Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, and his ring-master’s approach to modern media, politics and law enforcement.
Before I sat down to review “The Joe Show,” I was not familiar with the name Joe Arpaio but as the film unfolded, who he was started to come back to me as I watched inmates being transferred from one jail to another in nothing but sandals and pink boxer shorts and then the sheriff’s crackdown on illegal immigrants in the city of Maricopa, Arizona. I remembered hearing about it in the news years ago but still, his name wasn’t familiar. I went into this documentary knowing absolutely nothing about this individual, a man who styles himself as “America’s Toughest Sheriff” and while legally, he may very well be a lawman with a responsibility to look after the citizens of his elected city, when it boils right down to it, he is nothing more than a showman, an actor that constantly requires an audience and will do whatever it takes to get one.
As the show begins, he comes across as tough but likable, the kind of man you would want as your sheriff, an officer of the law who is not afraid to be tough on those who deserve it but as the layers are peeled back, and we begin to see and hear some very disturbing testimonies against him and his department, I slowly began disliking him. Why? Because any person, in a role of authority, especially a man in his position and the power he yields, can become very dangerous, as can his deputies and employees. Throughout the film, we meet his media director Lisa Allen, yes, he hired himself a media director, no narcissism here folks, and she is constantly backing him up, no matter what he is incriminated for.
Granted, it’s her job to make him look and sound good, especially in front of the press and all of their cameras but even when he and his deputies are accused of abuse of power (which led to the unnecessary deaths of many inmates), misuse of funds, failure to investigate sex crimes and improper clearance of cases, to name but a few, she is surprisingly upbeat and overly optimistic. She herself, appears to be putting on her best game face and she has obviously made a career working for Mr. Arpaio so naturally, she is not going to say anything unfavorable that could hurt her or her career but I just found it too unbelievable that with all of the accusations against him and his police department over the years, which resulted in them being found guilty of racial profiling, unlawful enforcement of immigration laws and election law violations, that she would have nothing to say about them at all. I guess that’s the advantage of being a media director, you know when to speak and when to keep your mouth shut.
He garnered national news coverage when he made the inmates in his county jail wear pink underwear while they were being transferred from one jail to a newer one because he knew they hated the color and he also set up a “Tent City” as an extension of the Maricopa County Jail for convicted and sentenced prisoners, something he described as a “concentration camp.” The film also talks to victims of alleged sex-crimes who reported these atrocities to Apraio’s police department between 2005 and 2008, only for nothing to come of them. It was later revealed, that more than 400 sex-crimes reported to Arpaio’s office during this time, were inadequately investigated, or not investigated at all. Arpaio himself even makes a half-hearted attempt at an apology which comes across as more embarrassing than anything else because you can tell that he is not sincere about it.
The last act of the film shows Arpaio running for re-election against his opponent, Paul Penzone in 2012 and because I had no idea what the outcome was going to be, I kept hoping that Mr. Penzone would win and put an end to this egotistical, self-centered man who likes to think that he is the right man for the job when in reality, he is delusional in even thinking so. Director Randy Murray has created an absorbing and thought-provoking film that shows both sides of Mr. Arpaio’s story but anybody with even a modicum of common sense, will be able to see that Mr. Arpaio is a person who cares about himself and nobody else. Highly recommended.
