Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn's movie about police brutality is a uniquely awful idea

Amid the news of Beyoncé pregnancies and presidents flying away without advance notice, one might have missed the news that Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn will co-star in a movie about police brutality.

Titled Dragged Across Concrete, the film (directed by Bone Tomahawk helmer S. Craig Zahler) will see the two stars playing "cops who are suspended when a video of their strong-arm tactics gets wide attention," according to Variety. Then they decide to take revenge among criminals.

The two noted Hollywood conservatives — so right-wing, they greeted Meryl Streep's anti-Donald Trump speech at the Golden Globes with stony faces — feel like odd choices for a nuanced take on police brutality, to say the least. During this heated political moment, where more and more investigations reveal systemic abuse within police departments,  do we really need these men to offer their takes? 

In other words, to paraphrase Slate's Jamelle Bouie: Is this movie going to be pro- or anti-police brutality?

Others on Twitter seemed to have the same thoughts.

Gibson isn't directing, at least, so he won't be the sole author of the piece. But even still, is a man who called an officer "sugartits" and railed against Jewish people just a decade ago — and is still mad that an officer caught him on tape saying it — the right man to take on this role?

Stories on police brutality is a topic that requires as little bias in the creation process as possible. It's a heated, complicated issue, one that is still actively affecting the state of American racial relations. Perhaps we'll be pleasantly surprised by the final product, but we doubt it; the very idea is awful enough to put us off.