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A CSI Universe Posting Date: Mar 9 2009 4:35PM I remember watching CNN during the O.J. Simpson trial (the first one, for the murders, not this most recent one for the armed robbery) and seeing a legal expert say at one point that the forensic evidence presented was sufficient all on its own to secure a conviction.
Of course, The Juice went free. Turns out that other than Mr. CNN, people didn’t have much confidence in forensic science way back in the Dark Ages of 1995.
Now, the tide has turned. Forensic evidence is, in the minds of most, gospel truth.
The reason for this change is the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation effect. On October 6, 2000, CSI hit the airwaves and became a massive hit. Just in case your television was struck by a meteor that day and you haven’t had a chance to replace it, the success of the original CSI series spawned a bunch of imitators. There is, of course, CSI: Miami starring David Caruso, also known as the worst working actor in the history of the thespian arts, and CSI: NY which stars Captain Dan from Forrest Gump and Melina Kanikareediasesopolitropilous. There’s Bones and Numb3rs and NCIS and Criminal Minds and now The Mentalist. A quick look at the Nielsen ratings shows that the only thing more people watch than shows about how to extract the truth out of little bits of fibre trapped under fingernails is American Idol.
The crime investigation mania on television has apparently had a significant impact on the general public’s confidence in forensic medicine. That means that television is influencing the outcome of court cases … O.J. goes free, but the next guy to be placed at the scene of the crime by a two-micron dirt sample with rare sturgeon dung in it will be sent up the river faster than a jet-propelled salmon at spawning time.
It’s interesting to think that we, as a society, have so quickly developed trust in a science because it is portrayed so frequently on television as working miracles. Every little scrap or shred of evidence on TV is remarkably distinctive and meaningful. I watched a show last night where they caught a murderer because they found fish eggs on a runnner’s singlet. First off, I could eat fish eggs for about six days straight and not get enough of them on me that I would transfer a few to my victim when I murdered with a carbon monoxide canister in the middle of a marathon.
Doesn’t anyone wash their hands anymore? The perps on CSI would never get caught if they just started washing their hands, stopped wearing one-of-a-kind sweaters and visiting rare frog farms before killing people.
More disturbing, however, is the idea that television can influence things that really matter. What if CSI isn’t the only show to exercise that kind of sway over the attitudes and behaviours of its viewers? Imagine a world …
Where people launch law suits all higgledy-piggledy because they believe after watching James Spader on Boston Legal or Andy Griffiths on Matlock that the good guy always wins and wins quickly.
Where people seek medical treatment believing that every possible ailment or discomfort has a particular, identifiable cause that can be cured by good looking doctors just because that’s the way it always works out on House and Grey’s Anatomy unless your doctor happens to fall in love with you, in which case you’re doomed as doomed can be.
Where people document their every move, publish their every thought and photograph and broadcast every action in the massively mistaken belief that the rest of the world actually gives a crap because reality television series like Big Brother and Jon & Kate Plus 8 have elevated broadcasting the mundane to an art form.
Actually, this is our world. Our personalities, belief systems, values, habits and culture have all evolved to the point of achieving a common standing – all of these things are derivatives of televised reality.
You know what? I’d care a lot more about the tele-derivative nature of my attitudes and context, but Judge Judy is almost on, so I need to update my Twitter account and Facebook page so my friends know what I’m watching. |
