Fictional Representations of Crime In TV Programs And Movies Greatly Influence What People Know About Crime

Introduction

People watch many television shows and movies, a lot of which is dedicated to the genre of crime fiction. Hence fictional representations of crime in television programmes and films have a lingering real-life effect on people according to Greer & Reiner (2015). The effects range from pure entertainment to gaining useful information concerning police procedurals, laws, prison conditions and so on. People have been swept by the wave of popular culture, which includes a massive appetite for crime fiction in electronic media. The priority for the fans of crime fiction is entertainment. Gaining knowledge and understanding the message of films and television shows in the crime fiction genre is not given much import compared to getting entertained but people get informed nonetheless.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

For Western society, crime fiction is a favorite go-to genre for many enthusiasts both involved in film-making and appreciation of the art of crime. Crime and justice in real life is a long and tedious process which involves the law, law enforcement officers, the judicial system and the penal system (Dowler et al. 2006). Most people are not familiarized one on one with all the bureaucratic systems involved and so most of the information about crime we get from the media. There are print media like books and journals which are cumbersome to compared to electronic media where movies and television shows thrive. People believe what they see and watching crime fiction gives people certain attitudes concerning the nature of crime in the real world.

Before delving into fictional representations of crime in television and movies, one has first to understand what constitutes "True crime." True crime is a sub-genre of Crime, and it involves movies and television programs which are factual, but it is so hard to find any Crime movie or shows not "inspired by true events" (Burger, 2016). Documentaries are the truest version of the true crime, but many fictional movies and television shows nowadays carry the famous label "based on actual events." On the other hand, crime fiction is an imagined account of happenings. Admittedly much of what is imagined in crime fiction is borrowed from real-life occurrences. Crime fiction is popular for television shows and films because it is sensational and dramatic (Wesson, 2016).

Film-makers, producers and directors and other professionals involved usually admit that although the happenings may be based on actual events, re-imagination and reconstruction of events involve filling in the holes with unconfirmed accounts. The case study is a report done by James Oleson in 2014, and it concerns crime, justice, and punishment. The relevance of the case study is because it encourages the theme of "crime does not pay" which is important for people in society. This paper will look into the genre of crime fiction, specifically the fictional representation of crime in television programs and movies, and the extent to which they influence people regarding crime.

Punishment in Television and Movies Crime Fiction Case Study

James Oleson conducted this analysis on punishment in the big and small screens after a careful analysis of popular movies and television shows in the world but especially in the United Kingdom and the United States. According to Oleson (2014), punishment for a crime committed is one part of the movies which come out more vividly on the big screen than in television series. Hence, the focus on crime in the movies and the subject for the case study is the representation of prisons on the big screen. Psychological studies establish that human beings like the good versus evil dichotomy. In Hollywood there is a popular catchphrase, "bad guys make for good entertainment." Traditional films are based on conflict. There are two sides of any conflict, movies usually have the sides in black white- good versus evil, and it is expected that in the end the criminals and wrongdoers pay for their actions. However, that is not always the case in crime movies.

Oleson (2014) admits that sometimes in the movies, the bad guy goes away scot-free. Such occurrences reiterate the nature of the film entertainment industry, which is first to entertain, being a vehicle for conveying messages, and the information is not the biggest priority. According to Oleson's study, the 2007 movie adaptation of the book by Cormac McCarthy, "No Country for Old Men" is one of the best examples of the villain winning and avoiding punishment. In the movie, Anton Chigurh is the remorseless and meticulous assassin contracted to recover the drug money of a cartel in El Paso, Texas near the Mexican border.

Chigurh is involved in a cat and mouse game with the Llewelyn Moss who steals the drug money. In the end, Chigurh leaves behind a long trail of dead bodies including Llewelyn and his girlfriend, and he walks away scot-free albeit with a little injury. There is no moral lesson to be learned from this instance in the movie, which enjoyed both commercial and critical success and has since been elevated to classic cult status. The audience gets to see for themselves the senselessness of some crimes such as murder. In movies and television programmes like "No Country for Old Men," people learn that there are some crimes (symbolized by Chigurh) which go unpunished. People learn that evil does exist out there; that some people enjoy making others suffer and committing murder for no logical reason (Cooper, 2016). "No Country For Old Men" is an important example because it is an exception to the rule that crime does not pay.

The influence of the media on crime fiction is almost always evident in movies and television programs (Burger, 2016). According to Burger (2016) media is a powerful tool in real life as it is the platform where it engages people with what is happening in the world and what it means to the people. In fictional movies and television series, the media is usually used to good effect. For example, in movies where the police are pursuing some wanted convicts, the media is used to put notices and engage the public to help by reporting if they have seen any likenesses. According to Dowler (2006), the media is neutral regarding reporting. In crime fiction movies and television shows, the media is used by both the good guys and the bad guys. In this respect, people learn that the media can be used to fight crime and catch suspects and also criminals may use the same media to avoid capture and plan for the crime. Cavender & Jurik. (2016) Note that crime is usually punished in real life situation and punishment for the offender in crime fiction makes people believe in the form of justice being delivered. It does not matter the manner of punishment, lawful and unlawful, people who watch crime fiction witness for themselves that actions have consequences and those who break the law pay for trying to destabilize the social order.

Police Stereotypes in Television and Film Crime Fiction

According to Weissman (2012), there is a way in which police are portrayed in television programmes and movies across the western world, majorly in the United Kingdom and the United States, which have become traditional and cliched over the years. For example, "the antihero police" is a mainstay of cinema and television. Others include the eternal struggle between good and evil where the police represent good, and crime is evil, police putting everything on the line including their lives to protect the civilians from harm and criminals in moral dilemmas between doing good and committing crimes (Wesson, 2016). When people watch movies, they realize that there is more to a law enforcement officer's daily routine than just the uniform.

Oleson agrees with this line of thought when he writes "people get to see for themselves the hard decisions that police have to make in the line of duty" (Oleson, 2014). It is only through film and television that people have come to learn that police may carry complex burdens such as addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder. The depictions in cinema and television may not be completely accurate, at least people get to know that the police are human and they have lives, families and more importantly they are dedicated to their jobs.

While, for the most part, the police are shown as the good people fighting evil, there are some instances when the police and the criminals collide. According to a report by Robertson (2005) films showing the working of organized crime involving police, corruption was something which enjoyed success in the 1920s and 1930s in British television and enjoyed a resurgence in television in the early 1970s. Although the British Board of Film Classification conducted strict censorship mainly on foreign films like "The Godfather" in 1972 because of "their disregard of the law" (Robertson, 2005). A 2014 report by the British Film Institute showed that in 2014 British viewers had not much taste for watching corrupt police officers in their living rooms in a strange example of "watching too much television makes a person watch less of it (Turnbull, 2014). It seems people have learned that corrupt police officers are not good for the wellbeing of the society and are ignoring shows which revolve around this habit.

Cultivation Theory of Watching Crime Fiction

A nationwide 2014 study done by the British Film Institute on determined a shocking trend relating to violence shown on television and people's fear of crime; that over the last twenty years crime rate reduced but people's fear of crime increased (Turnbull, 2014). Now, the expectation was that a decrease in crime would result in a decreased fear of crime, but that was not the case. The study also found out the people have a big appetite for watching shows with violence, fighting and reckless behavior which may otherwise be perceived as having criminal elements (Potter, 2014). The result of watching fictional television shows has led to people fearful of whatever crime is out there, even though the fear is mostly imagined.

The public's feelings concerning their safety have now taken a psychological turn in that p...