Beverly Hills Cop

When watching "Beverly Hills Cop", Foley's blackness is dealt with by stereotyping him as an average policeman from Detroit, whose methods are vied as unorthodox by the BHPD. He is, however, not the stereotypical cop. Examples of this are shown when he takes down “Philip” in the strip club, to when he goes to the warehouse and finds the cocaine in the customs office, or when he uses the lawyers computer and falsely blackmails him with unpaid parking tickets. Foley is viewed down by the BHPD, not because he is a policeman from Detroit, but because he stands out in the peaceful Beverly Hills area, where as in Detroit, he is just another black cop.

Foley’s “partners” at the BHPD are supposed to be following Axel, even tailing him to his hotel, to insure that he does nothing and stays out of trouble. He is even threatened several times of being thrown out of the city. Billy eventually begins to see that going “by the book” is not always the best method, and towards the end, uses his intuition when he and Axel break into the mansion to save Jenny Summers. Taggart resists, threatening to arrest both of them, but eventually goes with them to take down Maitland.

It is not so much the color of his skin that makes Foley stand out, but what he does. He laughs at himself, and the scenario that he is put in, while at the same time doing what he should as an officer and following leads. There is not a real clash between black and white, but a joint effort on both Foley and Rosewood/Taggart’s part to work together, meanwhile setting race aside and being professionals.