CMNS220 - Ideology of Law and Order

Transcript

1. understanding
   television
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2. No Hypodermic Needle. No silver bullet.
   The scripts gravitate toward the big headline cases that are also the generators of political controversy.
   When not ripping plots directly from the headlines, the episodes very often take on highly politicized and
   nationally divisive issues: abortion, date rape, black communities, etc.
   THE WAYS WE GET POLITICS FROM LAW AND ORDER
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3. The show presents both sides equally strongly and when the show goes off the air, people start arguing with
   each other. It‖s good for the civic dialogue the country must have to remain free. No one should corner the
   market on righteousness, for dramatic reasons and for the health of the republic.
   L&O AND NATIONAL POLITICAL DISCOURSE
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4. The testosterone-generated tensions of the earliest casting permutations—which some viewers continue to
   evince nostalgia for—has given way to the contact zone grapplings of a late twentieth century diversified
   workplace
   L&O: THE CAST
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5. Repetition. Formulaic structure.
   That underlying assumption is that the U.S. criminal justice system works. The ponderous opening statement
   about ――the criminal justice system‖‖ is a claim for its efficacy
   This belief in the efficacy of the system is a cornerstone of classical rights-based liberalism; the conviction that
   structures of checks and balances can be relied upon to sustain a rights-based democracy and to restore the
   equilibrium of that order when it is threatened by players who break the rules and violate its integrity.
   LAW AND ORDER AND THE ORDER OF THE LAW
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6. Moreover, and this is obvious, the idea of fixing the system so as to eliminate racism in the application of the
   death penalty still leaves us with the death penalty—leaves us, in fact, with a less constitutionally and morally
   vulnerable death penalty.
   SELF CORRECTING SYSTEM
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7. Two important institutions – policing and science – stand somewhat discredited today
   THE DECLINE OF SCIENCE AND POLICING
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8. The frameworks of understanding about crime are unnoticed then, because they refl ect dominant, taken-for-
   granted assumptions, but they, in turn, perpetuate those assumptions and, in so doing, perpetuate cultural
   views about crime and criminals
   THE USUAL SUSPECTS
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9. Good Vs Evil. Justice Vs Crime.
   Their presentations are couched in notions of good and evil, and these binary opposites act as emotional,
   moralistic hooks that draw an audience for news or drama
   COMPLEX PLOTS, SIMPLE REPRESENTATIONS
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10. Teamwork
    CSI circulates a set of cultural meanings about the police: they are competent, they are a team, and they are a
    moral authority that stands against social disorder.
    Sympathy
    The cultural meanings are clear. CSI, like the crime genre generally, reinforces stereotypes about who is and
    who is not deserving of our moral sympathy
    CULTURAL MEANINGS IN CSI
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11. Infallible Technology
    CSI and its spin-offs thereby circulate cultural meanings about the infallibility of science
    Criminality
    Criminals typically are selfish, venal, remorseless people, so no causal explanation of criminality is needed.
    The idea that there is a social context in which crime occurs is not an issue or is depicted as a farcical one.
    CULTURAL MEANINGS IN CSI
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12. What is interesting is not so much the accuracy of the scientific procedures as the fact that CSI presents them
    in such a realistic fashion that fans (and experts) try to find fault with them
    REAL, UNREAL, REALISM
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13. If you want to discuss your ideas or review your Short/Term paper with me , send an email asking to schedule
    an appointment during office hours.
    You can find me in Room K-8661 on Monday, from 13,30 to 14.20
    OFFICE HOURS
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14. K-8661 on Monday, from 13,30 to 14.20
    alusoli@sfu.ca
    Alberto Lusoli
    twitter.com/albertolusoli
    #CMNS220
    You can also find me at:
    * See you next week
    

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