Fictional Representations of Crime in TV Programs and Movies Paper Example

Abstract

This paper will look into the genre of crime fiction and the fictional representation of crime in television programs and movies. People watch many television shows and movies and a big part of these hours are committed to crime fiction. The paper will look at why people prefer watching fictional representations of crime in movies and television programs instead of watching an actual crime in the news. It seems people have been swept by the wave of popular culture, which includes a massive appetite for crime fiction in electronic media (Greer & Reiner, 2015). The priority for the fans and audience of crime fiction is entertainment.

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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. However, that does not mean that people are not influenced in one way or another by the movies. Crime fiction is a very persuasive genre. It makes people think they know even more than they do. For example, somebody might say how he or she knows how organized crime works after watching a classic such as "The Godfather." Police procedurals and trial sessions such as "Law and Order" franchise will be used as examples in this paper. Additionally, a case study concerning punishment for a crime will be used to show how crime fiction influences people's knowledge and understanding of crime in movies and films.

Introduction

For Western society, Crime 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). Many of us 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, and then there are electronic media where movies and television shows thrive. According to statistics got from the Nielsen numbers, as of May 2018 the average American household watched an outstanding 7 hours and 50 minutes of television every day.

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. 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 (Wesson, 2016). In short, Crime is a very grey area and most of the movies, and television shows are fictional.

Case Study

Oleson, J. C. (2014). Rituals upon celluloid: The need for crime and punishment in contemporary film. Clev. St. L. Rev., 63, 599.

Punishment in Television and Movies Crime Fiction

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 and many movies 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.

Studies have shown that audiences are more empathetic to the innocent person being mistakenly incarcerated or pursued an offense he or she did not commit (Kappeler & Potter, 2017). According to Adam Smith in "The Theory of Moral Sentiments," people prefer peace and only resort to meting out punishment when fair means are impossible. What the movies have taught audiences is that sometimes the law enforcement agencies, the prosecution, the judicial service and the penitentiary system may get their facts and evidence wrong and mistakenly convict an innocent. In the 1993 movie "The Fugitive" where Harrison Ford played Richard Kimble, a man wrongfully accused of murdering his wife, the majority of the people watching it was rooting for him to clear his name and find the real culprits. Hence, Oleson concludes that"innocent till proven guilty" while being a guarantee in the constitution might not be a guarantee at all in real life situations. No conclusive evidence watching movies where innocent people are wrongfully punished might make people more suspicious of the credibility of the system though. The most important finding from studies in such scenario is that people know and understand that the system is less than perfect and which makes it possible for mistakes to be made.

The author 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 information is not the biggest priority. 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. Perhaps the lesson in "No Country for Old Men" is that there are some evils (symbolized by Chigurh) which cannot be fought, where one can only hope and pray that they do not encounter such (Cooper, 2016).

Prison life in the movies may be completely different from life in real life prisons. Oleson venerates the prison as a very important social institution in today's society meant to punish convicted criminals, rehabilitate them if possible and deter people from breaking the law. Since recorded history, wrongdoers have always been punished, and society has witnessed the spectacle. In the twenty-first century, the same thing is happening with movies. Audiences are divided concerning the punishment meted out, who is the real culprit and so on. Television and the movies serve to emphasize commonly believed notions among the people. Such notions include conspiracy theories such as in the television series "Prison Break" and the involvement of the police in organized crime such as the movie "Training Day" (Bennett, 2018).

The influence of the media on crime fiction is almost always evident in movies and television programs. The 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. 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 some cases the media is used to cover up a conspiracy, in other cases, it is used to spy on the people and feed the public lies. All these instances are fictional, but they are rooted in truth. For example, it has long been an open secret that the government spies on the American people and people like Edward Snowden have provided first-hand accounts of such. Hence, in a way crime fiction uses the media to reaffirm current practices of the government and major multinational companies as relates to the people on issues such as privacy, human rights, and terrorism.

The Mean World Syndrome

A study done on Americans in 2014 by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy determined a shocking trend relating to violence shown on television and people's fear of crime. The study used the Gallup Poll to conduct a demographic sampling of popular broadcast television shows from the early 1970s up to 2010. The most important finding was that in that timeframe actual crime rate reduced but people's fear of crime increased. 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. 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 (Potter, 2014).

The public's feelings concerning their safety have now taken a psychological turn in that people are more concerned about how safe they feel rather than how safe they are. Crime ratings were noted for popular television shows such as Hawaii Five-O, Cannon, and Kojak (the 1970s), Magnum PI, Hill Street Blues (1980s) and the more recent CSIs, Law and Order Franchise, NCIS, Criminal Minds and so on. According to the study, watching television makes people wary of the environment they are living by imagining elements of what they watch in real life, making them regard the world as a dangerous place. The whole phenomenon is popularly known as "cultivation theory," and George Gerbner proposed it at the Annenberg Center who called it the "mean world syndrome" (Shrum, 2017).

The Law and Order Franchise

When Dick Wolf came up with the concept of "Law and Order" and successfully pitched it to NBC for broadcast in 1990, he could hardly have imagined that it would yield six spinoffs so far. Law and order (1990-2010) is currently the second-longest running television program/series tying with Gunsmoke for being on air 20 seasons. The popularity of Law and Order came from the fact that it gave a complete account in that half of the episodes focused on police investigations and the other half on the prosecution. It took people through a more or less accurate depiction of the laws and procedures taken in the police investigation, prosecution and incarceration or release of suspects.

What made people watch and love Law and Order so much that NBC still airs reruns is owed to some factors. First, the storylines were ripped from the biggest headlines in the news and secondly it had loads of drama both in police investigations and court prosecutions. Besides the massive public following for the original, Law and Order's spinoff series "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU)" made its debut in 1999 a...