cop shows, part 2
if you noticed from my previous post, i started listing tv-related commentary and made one point, but then didn't follow up with any more. that's because i fell asleep mid-post, but i continue my thoughts today.
2. i'm sick and tired of this murder scenario: girl from minority family—either arab/muslum/korean/chinese—gets killed. she comes from a tight-knit, traditional immigrant family. she has parents who barely speak english and the protective brother who takes care of everything. they usually own some sort of bodega or city grocery store. then the detectives wend their way around the girl's life. they find out she has a white boy fetish. maybe she's dating a white guy who has a temper (b/c all white guys have tempers). he is always the first and main suspect. miscellaneous things happen, and then SURPRISE! it's the brother who ended killing her. usually because she somehow "brought shame" upon the family and also b/c that slut was living the free and easy life he never got to live b/c he was too busy taking care of the store. the killing usually happens in a fury, after she mouths off to her brother, and then there is always the crying scene at the end where he's all "i'm so sorry. i'm so sorry."
anyway, i know at least two law and order episodes (here) and (here) that have had this plot, and i watched a without a trace last night that did the same thing. i don't watch CSI enough (or any other procedurals for that matter) to say definitively whether they had any stories like this, but i would bet my own first-born male heir that they did.
i'm not sure how i feel about this, except for the fact that it's lazy and uncreative. does it make male foreigners look bad and make immigrant families seem backwards and crazy. maybe. is it racist? maybe. it's interesting that it's always the younger, female sibling that gets killed, and how she almost always has a white boyfriend. obviously the gender thing is a plot device (women generally aren't going to be strong enough to whack a disrespectful brother over the head and kill him), but it also touches on a lot of cultural stereotypes and the persistence of lazy writing. perhaps most annoying is that it's rare when these shows focus on asians or arabs, so when they do, and it's the same old shit, i have to say i'm kind of disappointed.
3. lastly. why does david caruso have his own show? he was terrible in nypd blue, and he's terrible in csi miami. THIS MAN SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO SPEAK ON TV.
ali out.
2. i'm sick and tired of this murder scenario: girl from minority family—either arab/muslum/korean/chinese—gets killed. she comes from a tight-knit, traditional immigrant family. she has parents who barely speak english and the protective brother who takes care of everything. they usually own some sort of bodega or city grocery store. then the detectives wend their way around the girl's life. they find out she has a white boy fetish. maybe she's dating a white guy who has a temper (b/c all white guys have tempers). he is always the first and main suspect. miscellaneous things happen, and then SURPRISE! it's the brother who ended killing her. usually because she somehow "brought shame" upon the family and also b/c that slut was living the free and easy life he never got to live b/c he was too busy taking care of the store. the killing usually happens in a fury, after she mouths off to her brother, and then there is always the crying scene at the end where he's all "i'm so sorry. i'm so sorry."
anyway, i know at least two law and order episodes (here) and (here) that have had this plot, and i watched a without a trace last night that did the same thing. i don't watch CSI enough (or any other procedurals for that matter) to say definitively whether they had any stories like this, but i would bet my own first-born male heir that they did.
i'm not sure how i feel about this, except for the fact that it's lazy and uncreative. does it make male foreigners look bad and make immigrant families seem backwards and crazy. maybe. is it racist? maybe. it's interesting that it's always the younger, female sibling that gets killed, and how she almost always has a white boyfriend. obviously the gender thing is a plot device (women generally aren't going to be strong enough to whack a disrespectful brother over the head and kill him), but it also touches on a lot of cultural stereotypes and the persistence of lazy writing. perhaps most annoying is that it's rare when these shows focus on asians or arabs, so when they do, and it's the same old shit, i have to say i'm kind of disappointed.
3. lastly. why does david caruso have his own show? he was terrible in nypd blue, and he's terrible in csi miami. THIS MAN SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO SPEAK ON TV.
ali out.
posted by alison at 12:42
5 Comments:
I am PROUD to say that I like David Caruso in CSI Miami. You can't take him seriously. He quotes cheesy song lyrics over dead bodies. But he does rock those sunglasses. He is a ginger, so maybe you are just prejudiced against him.
I am dominating your comments today.
dominating, eh? you're picking up some of that michigander lingo. watch out.
Whoa. I was saying dominating when you were still in high school.
I do love the word "Michigander" though.
You are right on about David Caruso. If he every had the moxie to write a book about acting the keys to his success would be to deliver dialogue with the vocabulary of a cave man and the expression of a person with terminal constipation.
Your friend,
Mr. D
holy shit, ali - it's like you totally read my mind. and, i'm not being sarcastic.
a.) i've also become tired of the aforementioned 'minority female sexing up white dude' scenario on ALL the (previously) entertaining crime shows. not only is it repetitive, but it also reinforces stereotypes. now everyone thinks all asian/arab/non-white females have a lunatic older brother and a murderous family lurking at home. and you and i both know that this is very untrue. except for the time sunil beat me for wanting to learn how to drive. JUST JOKING.
b.) david caruso wears WAY too much make-up. how old is he anyway? a million? oh. and his character was named john kelly when he was on nypd blue. that's my ex-boyfriend's name. sick.
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