Drop Squad (sometimes spelled as DROP Squad or D.R.O.P. Squad) is a 1994 American drama film directed by David C. Johnson and executive produced by Spike Lee via his production company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks.[1] The plot depicts a team of African Americans who kidnap fellow black people who they feel have betrayed their community and seek to "deprogram" them so that they will change their ways.[2] The acronym DROP stands for "Deprogramming and Restoration of Pride".[3] The film has been described as "[p]art thriller, part social satire".[4]
The film was based in part on The Session, a 45-minute film Johnson produced in 1988 on a $20,000 budget,[5] and ultimately derived from a short story by David C. Taylor titled "The Deprogrammer".[6] Johnson described the differences between the two films as follows: "The short film was basically satire, an absurdist piece .... D.R.O.P. Squad, on the other hand, is realism. The characters have more at stake."[5]
Plot
The film portrays an advertising executive, Bruford Jamison Jr. who is in charge of the "minority development division" for an advertising agency.[2][6] Among the ad campaigns he is involved with is one for a malt liquor called "Mumblin' Jack", whose billboard depicts a woman in a skimpy bikini straddling a bottle, with the slogan "It Gits Ya Crazy!"[2][6] Another ad campaign depicted in the film is a commercial filled with racial stereotypes (in which Spike Lee has a cameo) for a fried chicken restaurant's Gospel-Pak, which offers a Bible verse printed on every napkin.[1][7] Bruford's sister Lenora (Nicole Powell) calls in the Drop Squad to deprogram him.[6] Bruford winds up being subjected to three weeks of psychological and physical brutality.[1] Among the other persons who are shown being subjected to the deprogramming are a corrupt politician and a drug dealer.[6]
The film also depicts a conflict among the members of the Drop Squad as to the tactics they should use. Rocky, the squad's leader, believes in using only nonviolent tactics,[2] such as "subjecting them to a barrage of slides, posters, slogans and family photographs in hopes of restoring their sense of community",[7] while Garvey believes that harsher methods have become necessary.[3]
The total North American box office gross for the film was $734,693. The movie was dropped from the theaters it played when the movie Drop Zone was released weeks later.[8]
Drop Squad has been suggested as a possible influence on Spike Lee's 2000 film Bamboozled.[9][10]
