True - but what we see as good in a courtroom drama is usually the accused. We root for them because we know/understand/believe there are some circumstances that mitigate their 'crime'. The best of these dramas often leave us unsure whether the person did in fact carry out the crime. Some would regard justice as a simple matter of retribution no matter what the circumstances. Likewise the truth might be that they did indeed kill/rob/assault the victim but we never know for sure. Therein too lies part of the suspense. I guess I'm proposing that justice is an ambivalent or malleable term, not an absolute. And truth can also be tailored to the situation.
Another hugely thought-provoking and insightful article, Aisling - I'm still mulling over your assertion that "truth and justice are rarely the point or moral of the tale" - notwithstanding your evidence to support this, I still believe we love coutroom dramas because we like to see good prevail over evil - and all the suspense in between!
As always, you bring out some of the depth and breadth of thought that have gone into these movies that I seem to miss. It is always great to get such a good perspective improve my own!
True - but what we see as good in a courtroom drama is usually the accused. We root for them because we know/understand/believe there are some circumstances that mitigate their 'crime'. The best of these dramas often leave us unsure whether the person did in fact carry out the crime. Some would regard justice as a simple matter of retribution no matter what the circumstances. Likewise the truth might be that they did indeed kill/rob/assault the victim but we never know for sure. Therein too lies part of the suspense. I guess I'm proposing that justice is an ambivalent or malleable term, not an absolute. And truth can also be tailored to the situation.
Another hugely thought-provoking and insightful article, Aisling - I'm still mulling over your assertion that "truth and justice are rarely the point or moral of the tale" - notwithstanding your evidence to support this, I still believe we love coutroom dramas because we like to see good prevail over evil - and all the suspense in between!
Thanks! It's like doing a puzzle, take the movie/book apart to see how it works then play with the pieces!
As always, you bring out some of the depth and breadth of thought that have gone into these movies that I seem to miss. It is always great to get such a good perspective improve my own!
I won't charge you royalties!!!
Thanks so much Laurence!
I like that phrase “moral forensics” very much—must quote you on that some time!
Shared on Twitter! Thanks!