Week Six

In the article "CSI and moral authority" the authors state that CSI and it's spin offs employ specific plot devices. The first is gender,CSI's main characters or ideal cops are shown less as being macho tough guys and more intelligent and tech savvy, the authors call this techno-masculinity. I agree with this. Though some shows like Law and Order SVU  still have the macho bone breaking guys many others now don't. Look at Jane in the Mentalist or Reid in Criminal minds. These shows portray them as ideal characters that the rest of the cast depends on for their superior knowledge. Women in CSI are shown as being just as competent as men but when they find a key piece of evidence its because of thing like maternal instincts. The article also says that men are always in charge like a father figure but in the newest season of CSI Catherine is in charge and in orginal Law and Order the Captain was a woman too. CSI also uses emotional hooks by developing characters home life and the is exceptionally clear with Catherine. Almost every episode mentions Catherine's daughter Lindsay (you can tell just how often she's mentioned by the fact I knew her name off the top of my head) and every time the crime involves a stripper it comes out that Catherine used to be one. CSI also makes themselves racially neutral by having a black cast number but not making race a main theme of the episodes. CSI also focuses on the fact that the evidence can't lie and that science is the final word on guilt. This has led to the idea of the "CSI Effect".This is an effect when audience of programs like CSI begin to think they completely understand forensics. It gives the unrealistic expectations about scientific technology and if less than is expected is presented it gives jurors reasonable doubt. I agree with this I think that if I was on a jury and there was no physical evidence I would not feel right convicting.