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"The plot of an Alafair Burke thriller doesn't just rip from the headlines. She's one step ahead of them. 212 scares you and keeps you turning the pages into the wee hours."
— Harlan Coben
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TV Depictions of Police and Prosecutors
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
I'm currently working on an essay about television's changing depiction of police and prosecutors. One point I'd like to make is that the moral lines between the good guys and the bad guys have blurred. Sure, Dragnet had the occasional nnocent suspect or rotten cop, but for the most part, cops were hardworking, played by the rules, and put the public ahead of self. And bad guys were not only guilty, but really bad. Fast-forward 58 years, and you've got The Shield's Vic Mackey killing another cop and The Wire's D'Angelo Barksdale being a pretty darn likeable gangbanger.
This point alone's not enough to justify the essay. I'll have plenty of highbrow commentary about how this change might affect the public's perception of law enforcement. But, first, I want to make sure I'm being fair about the description of this evolution. What do you think? Are today's television shows less black and white than they once were (and not just because of the color plasma screens)?
Note: By commenting in response, you grant me permission to borrow your point.
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Labels: dragnet, television, the shield, the wire, vic mackey, writing
posted by Alafair Burke at 2:22 PM
 
2 Comments:
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I am always looking for new authors to read their books. I'm glad I recently came across yours. They are wonderful! Of course I liked the plot, characters etc., but I also really liked the realism of the law enforcement/legal part of them. My husband was a cop for 27 years and I worked for children services. It really gets me how TV portrays law enforcement and the judicial system. Every time I see a witness sitting in the courtroom hearing all the other testimony I just have to shake my head and say they don't get it. It’s obvious they don’t get the whole picture, let alone the little things. I’d love to read your essay. Thanks for writing fiction. Not only do I hope you continue writing, but write faster!
TV is simply following the course of society. Sadly, the line is blurred in real life, as well. When we see video of cops beating and shooting (presumed innocent) people on train platforms or on the street after a traffic stop, the ideology many of us (old schoolers) grew up with that police were the good guys you could always count on takes a severe nosedive. Respect for basic law and order is fast becoming as extinct as the Dodo because standards have changed dramatically in law enforcement recruiting, and not for the better. Oh, for the old Dragnet days, but back then, people expected all cops to act as Friday did, dedicated and respectful. What the real life cops did behind closed doors is another story; but they made sure--for the most part--that the public did not see a department's dirty laundry; that is, until Serpico. Nowadays, the implausible tv vigilante cop with his own set of morals and ethics is more appealing to the present- day attitude: we don't care what the cops do, as long as they get the bad guys and whatever they do doesn't affect us... unless it's something that can be turned into a lawsuit.
Law & Order has kept up a fairly respectable image of police, and I believe that's because the show focused on professionalism. Hill Street Blues and early NYPD also fit that bill. Sure, characters had their weak moments, but it was more a 'only human' moment, not an 'authority and/or ethics be damned' moment, such as The Shield's Mackey had time and again. The new series Dark Blue is another of that 'do what needs to be done' ilk.
So, yes and no. Some shows have truly blurred the lines, while others strive to maintain a sense of balance regarding the human interaction with the written letter of the law.