Cop shows, or crime dramas, can be considered a genre in the sense that they are texts with recognisable elements, notably a police force as the central feature, which can be categorised. The genre of crime drama is approximately 60 years old, and is one of the most popular genres in American television history. Over that historical period, the crime drama has formed and developed a number of conventions, practices and discourses, which define the genre and audiences expectations of a crime drama. Genre crime shows are expected, in a sense, to be serial, formulaic, and repetitive in themes. (Sabin, Wilson, Speidel, Faucette, & Bethell, 2014, pg. 6 -8) In Foucauldian terms, this would be considered an episteme; “a body of knowledge and ways …show more content…
Unusually, from the outset, The Wire does not have a clear protagonist or villain. Instead, the series depicts the criminals, the police force, and the politics that impact upon the police investigation. As the series expands over the following four seasons to encompass almost every aspect of American urban reality, including the workforce, the political system, the school system and the newspaper industry, the drugs investigation remains as the one common thread throughout. (Sabin, Wilson, Speidel, Faucette, & Bethell, 2014, pg. 154) Ultimately, The Wire over its 60 episodes is not concerned with a single protagonist nor a single case, but multiple characters and systems building a complete picture of the American city in decline. Through the window of Baltimore and the lens of the drug trade, it views and comments on universal contemporary realities. (Telegraph, 2009)
Thus, academics, critics and fans have argued The Wire cannot be limited to the genre of crime genre with its breadth and depth greatly exceeding that of other shows in the genre. (Sabin, Wilson, Speidel, Faucette, & Bethell, 2014, pg. 154) The Wire can be seen as revolutionary, creating and launching a new genre, the postmodern urban drama aimed at illustrating a realist outlook in society and expressing universal social
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However, the show, as a unique exception to the genre’s conventions, was never intended for the casual viewer, and was not only well received but lauded amongst its multiple audience developing a variety of new discourses. (Kennedy & Shapiro, 2012) Indeed, Simons in his oft repeated statement of, “F*ck the average reader,” has been interpreted as stating the audiences dedication is regularly underestimated. To Simons, each viewer, “…likes being trusted to acquire information on his terms, to make connections, to take the journey with only his intelligence to guide him.” (Alvarez, 2009, pg. 394-396) From this, it can be interpreted that overall The Wire is underpinned by Foucault’s views on discourse as the show attempts to develop knowledge and language within its audiences.
Initially The Wire was shown solely on HBO, a premium subscription cable channel, who did not target its programming at the mass audiences that the network broadcasters relied on. Instead HBO differentiated itself from the outset by targeting quality programming towards wealthy, educated, intelligent and cultured niche audiences who could follow and engage with complex narratives. The Wire fulfilled this, cultivating a loyal and dedicated audience of Americans
...imore, but to hear it as well. In order to really experience something it should be seen and heard. It is important for these aspects of the show and the episode to be acknowledged so the true purpose of The Wire can hopefully be successfully transferred from the creators to the audience.
The Wire moves away from the typical episodic style of television programs and becomes an example of what Jason Mittell refers to as “narrative complexity” (30). Mittell writes about the emerging wave of narrative complexity in television series in the 1990s in his article entitled “Narrative Complexity in Contemporary American Television”. He attributes new technologies and changes in the media industries in part to the rise of narrative complex television (30).
The sentencing of underage criminals has remained a logistical and moral issue in the world for a very long time. The issue is brought to our perspective in the documentary Making a Murderer and the audio podcast Serial. When trying to overcome this issue, we ask ourselves, “When should juveniles receive life sentences?” or “Should young inmates be housed with adults?” or “Was the Supreme Court right to make it illegal to sentence a minor to death?”. There are multiple answers to these questions, and it’s necessary to either take a moral or logical approach to the problem.
Young black men crowd the corners of Baltimore. They are all hard talk, hard jaws, and crisp white t-shirts as big as sails—strapped. One precocious boy witnesses a shootout near a drug lord’s stash house and takes up sticks to play guns ‘n’ robbers. His trajectory is as follows: he graduates from sticks and piss-balloons, to g-packs and real guns, to taunting cops with brown bags of excrement, to housecats and lighter fluid, to bold, cold-blooded murder. In the words of social reformer Charles Loring Brace, this boy is one of the dangerous class—an undisciplined, delinquent youth. A creation of David Simon’s for HBO’s crime drama, The Wire, the character of Kenard may be a fictionalization, but his presence adds to the much-praised realism of the series. There really are young boys like Kenard that exist on the streets of American cities—falling into the easy and familiar trap of the drug industry. The Wire makes a point to follow the tread of Baltimore’s youth throughout all of its five seasons, introducing the topic of juvenile delinquency to the considerable range of social issues the show discusses. The Wire almost flawlessly represents the factors which cause a young person to “defect”— from the failings of the city school district, a difficult home life, or the struggle of homelessness, to the surrounding environmental influences that arise from life in the city of Baltimore. However, while The Wire and its examination of causalities does many things for the discussion of Juvenile Delinquency on the whole—taking the conversation to levels no other scripted telev...
Media portrayal of crime and criminal justice has become incredibly widespread in the last decade, with crime often considered both a source of news and entertainment. As a source of entertainment, crime and criminal justice have emerged as central themes across various sources of media. Most individuals do not have any direct experience with the criminal justice system, so their only source of information on this topic is the media. Particularly in television shows, portrayals of crime and criminal justice can be seen in everything from courtroom dramas to nightly news programs. Indeed, the popularity of crime shows has lead to some of television’s most enduring series, such as Law and Order and CSI. Because of this, fictional
Throughout the physical research of this study I have found out a lot more about this show than could have ever crossed minds before, one example being that this show has be premiered and marketed so well to the point that the viewer have almost no resistance to not believe what the show is trying to instill into our minds. These shows also categorize the characters, some are “good” guys and others are bad guys, but who is actually decided these labels? Are the categories fair? Many would say yes based off the plot line of the show, but some wonder if the bad guys have an equal amount of air time to defend themselves. These factors bring up a conflict of narration weather or not every character is portrayed in a way that they could be like-able which not the case in The Blacklist is. This “good” guy, bad guy routine is commonly used in crime shows and movies, but is not a true example of real life that these shows depict to do. In a sense these real-life shows are the complete opposite not giving the audience a real conclusion o...
Originally published in Cinema Journal 40, No. 3, Spring 2001, Jason Mittell’s “A Cultural Approach to Television Genre Theory” conceives of television genre as a cultural category rather than merely a textual component. In the decade since the original publishing of the article, television has evolved out of the multi-channel era and into the post-network era. In this new television landscape, genres are no longer a fixed entity1, and there is great academic potential in the in the study of television genres. The text, Thinking Outside the Box: A Contemporary Television Genre Reader, aims to explore and analyze genre in the current television landscape, and the Mittell article, republished in the book, serves as an entry point to such scholarship.
Justice and forensic science shows. The CSI Effect followed by whether the criminal investigation were satisfied with their ending results. Additionally, this research sought to determine if there were discrepancies between the story lines and viewer expectations before watching the Forensic Science or criminal justice CSI television shows. However the viewer attitudes while watching the Forensic science or criminal justice investigation movie. Over a five hundred viewers and participants get heavenly involved and become addicted to these crime scene television shows.
The criminal underworld has been an essential aspect of crime fiction since the concept emerged in the mid-eighteenth century. While many authors have constructed their own idealistic conceptualizations of the criminal underworld, they have implemented distinct boundaries between the “good” and “evil” features of society. These opposing “worlds” often intertwine when the protagonist, a crusader for good, is thrust into the hellscape of society’s underworld. The novels A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson feature protagonists from differing backgrounds who embark on treacherous journeys through the criminal underworld.
Over the course of this class, three historical pieces have been examined for their historical accuracies but also their unique creations. Each author tackled a different a period of American history, yet two similarities emerged as a common theme: evidence can either support or disprove a claim, and the narrator of a story dictates what story is told. An author, whether writing a piece of fact or fiction, gathers evidence; however, the interpretation of said evidence creates a framework for the story. Unredeemed Captive, Alias Grace, and The Chinatown Trunk Mystery exhibit this idea through their own interpretations of history. Sometimes, accepted accounts conflict with actual details. This does not diminish the need to analyze all interpretations of history and gain a broader understanding of past events.
Trudi Canavan once said, “Better to know the quick pain of truth than the ongoing pain of a long-held false hope.” Life would be much easier if the truth was told first before a lie is put in its place to cover up when in reality it creates a much bigger problem than saying the truth from the start. Dashiell Hammett’s, The Maltese Falcon, is a classic example of detective fiction and pulp magazine. Hammett demonstrates this example using: society, corruption, and criminality in San Francisco in the 1920s, explaining the role of the femme fatale in detective fiction, explaining the concept of fear and betrayal, explaining American men’s disillusionment after WWl, and explaining his, Dashiell Hammett’s, history of detective fiction and pulp magazines.
Deep down inside everyone has the same desire – to do what one wants whenever he or she chooses to and to not have to worry about anyone or anything else. Along with this desire to be able to do what ever it is that one wishes to at any given time, a person wants to be successful at what they do. The type of success that a person wants may be measured in money, property, fame, or even the entourage that follows him or her. This kind of lifestyle is only truly lived by a certain kind of people – gangsters and mobsters. For the rest it is just a dream to be able to live such a life, but for gangsters and mobsters this lifestyle is reality. But these gangsters can go around doing anything they want without the fear of consequences, which would, for most people, lead to long-term prison sentences. We are commonly shown in many movies and television shows that gangsters can just walk into an alley and beat up whoever they wish and be able to leave as if nothing ever happened. In “The Gangster as Tragic Hero” by Robert Warshow and “Our Mobsters, Ourselves: Why The Sopranos Is Therapeutic TV” written by Ellen Willis the gangster’s middleclass part of his or her lifestyle is brought out along with this “dream” reality at the same time.
Television has seen plenty of producers, writers and viewers attracted to crime and deviance. The crime drama series is not an unchanging structure but develops in an intricate relationship with audiences, media institutions, social contexts and other genres. Crime drama series’ structure often begins with some strains to the social order by criminal forces. Historically police officers or “cops” are good and the criminals are bad. However today we can notice “bent” cops and sometimes sympathetic villains.
Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac Killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Son of Sam, the BTK Killer. The names and assumed names of these cold-blooded serial killers are forever branded into the cognizance of people everywhere. This is mainly due to the mass media coverage, including newspapers, movies, television specials and books. This media coverage brought to light that these killers were, on the surface, normal, successful, attractive, productive members of society – that is, until the time that their heinous crimes came to be discovered.
We are all affected by crime, whether we are a direct victim, a family member or a friend of a victim. It can interfere with your daily life, your personal sense of safety and your ability to trust others.