Liza
>> Paul Rosenberg wrote:
>> >the top of my list is cop shows: "Homicide,
>> >Life on the Street" and "Law & Order". Both shows DO consistently
>> >question the nature of law, justice, morality, power, and their own
>> >roles, as well as that of the system they serve. (William Kunstler even
>> >appeared as himself on "Law & Order" about a year before he died.)
>>
>> Cop shows interpellate us not by making cops lovable but by askig us to
>> frame our questions in terms of 'innocence' and 'guilt.' This is so even
>> when these terms are 'deconstructed' by plots, characters, acting, dialog,
>> etc.
>
>Since I'm not familiar with "interpellate" in Althusser's usage, I asked
>Yoshie for clarification offlist, and received the following
>clarification:
>
>> I was using the term 'interpellate' in the way Althusser uses it in his
>> essay on Ideological State Apparati. It's about recognizing ourselves
>> (without our awareness of this recognition as such) as Ideology defines us,
>> and our recognition manifests itself not in our consciousness but in the
>> way we act.
>
>Well, this is clearly NOT the case with "Homicide" or "Law & Order".
>They very much DO intend us to be aware of this recognition. They want
>to start us thinking from the very innards outward. That's why I like
>them so much.
>
>> In the case of cop shows, I think that shows ask us to become
>> jurors of sorts, to _judge_ as seemingly disinterested (but in fact very
>> voyeuristic) observers of 'facts,' thinking about questions of 'innocence'
>> and 'guilt,' 'crime' and 'punishment.'
>
>But "Homicide" and "Law & Order" don't work like this.
>
>(Have you ever seen them, BTW?)
>
>They work AGAINST this. Not all the time, of course, not mechanically,
>but that's part of what's at the very heart of those shows. They
>undermine these very categories over and over and over again. They try
>to draw us in, not set us up as disinterested. They set up our
>expectations, and then veer off in a totally different direction,
>leaving us to deal with our own FALSE certainty, and reflect on that
>false certainty something fierce.
>
>The amazing thing about "Law & Order" is that this is almost the show's
>formula, yet after something like 5 or 6 seasons it still manages to be
>fresh. "Homicide" is much more free-form, so this process gets woven in
>and out much more freely, but false certainty (both factual and moral)
>are major themes in both shows -- and not in the facile, smug,
>self-congradulatory manner of the X-Files. "Homicide" and "Law & Order"
>both operate around getting *YOU* to commit (by identification with the
>characters, who also commit) and then undermining the certainty you've
>committed to.
>
>This is hardly anything new, of course. Dashielle Hamet was doing this
>routinely with the Continental Op back in the 30s. Undermining
>expectations lies at the very heart of the investigative drama, of
>course. But giving it a subversive thrust is what I'm talking about
>here, and there's a long history of leftish writers doing that.
>
>
>> You may or may not agree with my take on this, but I think
>> that thinking in those terms tends to make us moralistic,
>> self-righteous, individualistic, etc. (esp. in the post-Reagan
>> America obsessed with crime and security)--tendencies that
>> I associate with anti-historical materialist modes of looking
>> at our world.
>
>But, as I say, "Homicide" and "Law & Order" DON'T promote thinking in
>those terms. Moralism and self-righteousness get put through some very
>interesting changes. The biggest moralist on "Law & Order" is the DA,
>McCoy, a 1960s anti-war activist. The second biggest moralist is the
>detective, Curtis, a moderately conservative, religiously serious
>Latino. Both get their rigidity tested and exposed -- without
>necessarily saying they are wrong. This kind of complextity is what's
>so refreshing in the show.
>You could get that same kind of complexity in another setting, but
>choosing this particular setting simply raises the stakes to a very high
>level. Another kind of reason that more liberal, even critical TV
>producers choose the form.
>
>> not saying that watching lots of cop shows _necessarily_
>> makes _all_ of us think and act in the manner I just
>> described. Nonetheless, popularity of cop shows, 'true crime'
>> shows, footage of raids and arrests during TV news,
>> etc. is a disturbing phenomenon, I think.
>
>But "Law & Order" and "Homicide" are as far from 'true crime' shows as
>"Crime and Punishment" is from Dick Tracy.
>
>In fact, farther.
>
>--
>Paul Rosenberg
>Reason and Democracy
>rad at gte.net
>
>"Let's put the information BACK into the information age!"