Cavender and Deutsch - CSI

This article brings to our attention how CSI brings forensic science into the world of media through crime. What CSI does is use the forensics at a crime scene to solve their crimes, mostly murder. The show allows the audience to feel as if they can understand what exactly is going in the scientists heads as they look over the evidence and determine what it all means in the scheme of things. The show also portrays the fact that the perp is always going to be caught and put away without question because science has proven the victor over and over again.

I don't really watch CSI, but I do watch Bones which is another crime show that involves the use of science to get the bad guy, that and the gut of Booth. And much like the article describes, they always catch their guy by the use of science. So I'd have to say that what is being presented to us in this article is simply telling everyone what they know point blank about the show without saying it out loud.

Walking Tall

A soldier returns home to find that the town's biggest source of income has been closed down and in place a casino has been built. When his friends take him to the casino for a night out on the town, he confronts a dealer about loaded dice and ends up in a huge fight with the security, after being knocked out, he is taken to a back room and has his stomach cut up. The law does nothing but allow an in house investigation. The line is finally crossed when drugs that the casino has been dealing out to kids ends up in the hands of the Chris's nephew and  places him in the hospital. When the law again does nothing, he goes into the casino, beats up half the security staff with a plank of wood and ends up in court. After winning the case, he runs for Sheriff and is elected. He then proceeds to fire each and every one of the officers there and brings in his best friend to help him clean up the town in which he succeeds and gets the girl in the end as well.

I love this movie, I've seen it countless times and I think it displays the feelings of society very well when it comes to what they want to happen when a town is full of corruption. Everyone wants a real life hero to come and  save the people when no one else can stand up to the villains.

Dirty Harry

Dirty Harry is a movie designed to show us the good cop who likes to go outside his boundaries in order to get stuff done. Instead of waiting for the laws of the land to work their magic, he performs his own tricks. Going after Scorpio to seek the answer of where the teenage girl lies, however, these tricks do not always work out in the best way because due to Harry's actions, the DA decides they cannot charge Scorpio with the murder and therefore he is let go and is able to kidnap a whole bus full of children which leads Harry to again disobey the orders he has been given to stay away from the case and Scorpio in specific. In the end Harry kills the man and walks away from the Justice department.

I think this movie is trying to show just how slow the justice department is at working everything so that things are going according to the laws we have set up in our country and that sometimes it's necessary to take a step out of the lines in order to get things done.

Kasinsky - Cops and Media

Kasinsky offers us somewhat of an insders view about what actually occurs between the cops and the media people as opposed to what the films and tv shows us. In real life, the police work continuously with the press to come together on some of the stories about crimes that are being released to the public. They also know that if the press displays them in a bad light, everyone is going to think of them in a bad light because people get all of their information today from what the media decides to show us. Whereas in films, either the police use the media to help them solve a crime by "leaking" information or they find them completely annoying, useless, and hindering to any police work. Cops are placed into a few categories for the use of media. Good cops that use ulterior methods of getting things done. Good cops that follow all the rules. Corrupt cops that abuse their position in the system in order to get ahead, also related to criminals. Or the cops who just cannot get anything done.

Kansinky seems to nail it right on the head about everything involving cops and the media. Almost every film involving cops makes it almost too easy to place what category the cops belong in. For example, we can look at Detective Stabler from Law and Order: SVU, clearly he is one of the good cops that relies on using motives just barely inside his limits. He has no issues with using physical force to get a confession out someone he believes is a perp. Especially if the suspect could be a child molester. Whereas his partner Detective Benson belongs in the good cop category, while she'll go along with lying to the perps, rarely is ever do you see her use physical force unless a life is in immediate danger and even then she's hesitant.

Rafter- Chapter 2

Here Rafter is telling us about how films are giving us stories which allows us to think about everything surrounding a crime. The nature, causes, and consequences of it. Usually there is a theory of crime involved but it is only done so to avoid promoting a specific interpretation. Instead of looking at how movies could possibly cause crime, Rafter wants us to look at how they help us prevent crimes in the real world. She actually says the movies provided a bridge to connect the real world and our imaginations.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this article as I'm not entirely sure if movies can really prevent crimes in society. Yeah, a movie can evoke certain feelings but those feelings don't generally last longer than a few minutes. If the movie is good enough, I can see someone taking the time to at least think about how the world is working but it is a rare person indeed that seems to be moved enough to actually change their lifestyles after watching one movie.

Menace II Society

A film about growing up in a life full of crime, it tells us the story of several young man and their struggles in the streets, although there is some hope given that maybe just maybe Caine can get out of his life in the urban area, all these hopes are dashed in the end of the film where Caine is shot and the screen blacks out.

I wasn't really a big fan of this film, I felt it was too dark, while I understand that the point of the film was to try and get something done about everything that was currently going in the world at that time,  I didn't really see this film taking things anywhere but making people afraid of the urban life style or even encouraging some to continue their lives in the same manner.

Surette - Predator Criminals

What Surette is telling us that media likes to use the predator criminal to create fear, weaken social networks, increase dependence on the media while encouraging social isolation and polarization. In times of uncertainty we turn towards the media to give us the answers that we're seeking. When a criminal doesn't fit into the normal stereotypes, we turn to the media to tell us what is so special about this one guy.

I have to agree here with Surette simply because of what happened at the beginning of the semester with the Assistant Professor, one of the things that kept me interested in the case was the fact that there was something unique about him and why he acted the way he did. Media taps into the natural human curiosity and uses it to their advantage.