CMNS220 - Ideology of Law and Order

Transcript

1. understanding television 220
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 01 220
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 01 220
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 01 220
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 01 220
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 01 220
7. Two important institutions – policing and science – stand somewhat discredited today THE DECLINE OF SCIENCE AND POLICING 01 220
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 01 220
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 01 220
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 01 220
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 01 220
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 01 220
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 01 220
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