So over the weekend I had an opportunity to watch an episode of Dateline. For those who don’t know, I love those types of shows. I have no idea why. This episode was one of their interactive crime episodes (however, being a repeat the ‘interactive’ part was over). The basic idea of these shows is if you’re watching it as it airs, you can weigh in while the story unfolds. Typically it centers around a trial, and the viewers indicate via vote whether they believe the prosecution side or the defense side. What was amazing to me was to watch the story unfold and also watch the way the percentages swing between believing the prosecution and the defense. While the prosecution told its side it was a landslide, something like 80% believed the person on trial was guilty, and so did I. But I would make a horrible juror. I know it’s supposed to be innocent until proven guilty but when you see them being brought into the courtroom in handcuffs and escorted by police officers, it’s hard not to see them as a criminal. You see the handcuffs and police escort and your mind automatically identifies those symbols as being used for someone who has broken the law. And whether or not it’s true, the image is there as is the attached significance of the items.
When it was time for the defense to make its case the pendulum swung the other way and soon some seventy-eight percent believed that the person on trial was innocent. By the time closing statements were made it was a sixty – forty split in favor of innocent, or maybe not innocent but at least not guilty. But what got me thinking about was the way our culture uses trials and specifically murder trials as entertainment. The entertainment news shows are all over the Casey Anthony murder trial at the moment and treating it like a spectacle waited with baited breath until either she takes the stand or her family does, as if it’s some kind ploy where the court is waiting for sweeps week to pull in the big numbers. I wonder if cameras should in fact be allowed in the court room. I do believe in the transparency of government wherever possible, and this seems like one of those possible places where the public should be able to see what is happening. But I wonder if that dilutes the severity of the trial, watching it play out like reality television where we sometimes forget that to get this piece of ‘entertainment’ a little girl died, and another young woman’s life hangs in the balance. Without the clips from the trial broadcasts the news shows wouldn’t be covering it as much, as descriptive oral recounts of what happened just aren’t as enticing to viewers as first hand video. What do you think? Do cameras in courtrooms make trials more like entertainment?
I like how you mention the symbology of the handcuffs and police escort. That image is incredibly striking in that it sends a very specific message with very strong connotations. I laughed a little bit when you mention court cases as entertainment. If you've ever turned on the television in the middle of the day, it seems like every channel is a court show with some quick witted judge. What does this say about us as a country and as a democracy? These shows make a joke out of the court system. Dateline, however, is more of an example of how a jury can swing during a case. (See Twelve Angry Men)
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