Case Study - Criminal Minds

 

Criminal Mind's is a tv show in which an elite group of profilers analyse the nation's most dangerous criminal minds in an effort to anticipate their next moves before they strike again.

Above are the key members of the Criminal Minds team, from left to right, we can see: Joe Mantegna (David Rossi), Shemar Moore (Derek Morgan), and A.J. Cook (Jennifer ‘JJ’ Jareau), Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss), Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia), Matthew Gray Gubler (Spencer Reid) and Thomas Gibson, who plays Aaron Hotchner.

Criminal Minds only slightly represents reality, in my opinion.  Most agents spend their time doing paper work and investigating things, they aren't sent out everyday to investigate such matters, there's usually a whole lot more paper work and thigns to sort out before they are.  Also, most crimes in the world don't involve serial killers, this is just used to make the show more interesting.  While the crimes that are dealt with on the show are loosely based on real cases, most crime shows are based on real cases.  Real agents usually work on things that don't involve serial killers.  Very rarely do serial killers come up in real life crime, they definitely don't come up as much as Criminal Minds makes them come up

The majority of key investigators in Criminal Minds are male and this is, in fact, still the case today.  You’ll find there are many more male investigators than female investigators.  Female characters in crime shows or crime films are usually used for “eye-candy” for men hence their looks.  The women, all three of them, have young, attractive faces which was obviously deliberately when casting.  Also, they could be there just to give males a helping hand.  As you can see, the men have more prevalence in this photo whereas the women have been put to the back.  They look smaller and less important.  In the photo, the men are shown to be smart and clever looking because of the fact they’re all wearing suits.  Smart clothing is usually used in detective shows to imply smartness and intelligence.  The women appear to be wearing casual clothing which could connote that maybe they aren't as smart as the men.

Also, the fact that in the picture above, the order, if you think about it, goes from older to youngest,  The two oldest, more intelligent looking men are at the at front of the picture and the youngest people are behind them.  This could maybe show their status in the show or their roles in this programme.  This could also show the representation of old people in society, how much intelligence and wisdom they have and how necessary they are in some situations 

The female characters in this programme are usually portrayed to be quite intelligent but quite stereotypically flirty and fun-loving people. The team specializes in the psychological profiling of criminals – basically, their job is to get inside the criminal’s head so they can catch their target.  The women may be used to maybe use seduction to get information out of the male criminals since the women in this show are all young, intelligent and portrayed as quite flirty characters.  Also, the fact that Jennifer has blonde hair could maybe conform to the "dumb blonde" stereotype.  She can sometimes get emotionally attached to suspects which could also conform to the stereotype that women are emotional.  Male roles in this programme are shown to be more physical and more intelligent than female characters, for example:  Spencer Reid.  Reid is a brilliant psychological profiler, he is the youngest member of the team and has the highest IQ.  He has a variety of other talents though and knows a high amount of chemistry and mathematics.  He has photographic memory and can read quite fast.  This reinforces male dominance in this programme.  Women are usually made to stay at the computers and away from the action unless they're specifically needed.  

 Penelope is dating another FBI analyst but has a joking; friendly relationship with Derek Morgan, Derek calls her “baby girl” and “sugar”.  She’s a computer nerd (which reinforces her intelligence) but she cares a lot about her appearance: changing her hair colour and style nearly every episode and she also wears quite unusual accessories.  This could reinforce how women are maybe represented in this show to be quite immature.  Male gaze is used in this programme too, not just for the male audience but because the woman is usually used to gain information from criminals through the use of seduction.  They'll flirt or maybe show interest in the criminal so the criminal opens up to them.

There are more male characters than female, but only by one.  The four males and three females make up a team of experts in the “Behavioural Analysis Unit (BAU) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).   

Genre Conventions.

When looking at crime drama we have to establish the Conventions of this genre. Criminal Minds fits under the category of a ‘crime drama,’ as it conforms to the conventional Police Procedural drama. It contains a hierarchal relationship between officers and a fight to find the criminal. However the programme differs in its exploration of the criminal rather than the crime. The central characters of the piece are all highly trained, special agents who deal with high profile, exaggerated cases. For example – a psychiatrist serial killer who murders people using their deepest fears. This is an unrealistic storyline for a conventional crime drama, however it provides entertainment for viewers. As television progresses, the conventions of Crime Drama are also changing. We are no longer in a World of realism and sense ‘The Bill,’ we have now plunged into a state of unrealistic storylines, characters, etc..  In order to entertain the public.

The narrative of the piece as we are taken on a journey through the minds of the criminals, we see flashbacks to their childhood for example and we see a clear correlation between the way they were treated and the way they now treat others. However realism is shunned again when looking at the characters, especially the law enforcement team. They are all special agents, they all carry guns in holsters and have intense debates about the case and what they believe the answer is. These are then followed by miraculous brainwaves which give them the solution to the whole investigation. A convention we now see in so many crime dramas, however sadly not in reality.

The use of props is also important. We're going to a location where a crime has been committed, we often see the conventional objects we would expect to find, a line of tape to cordon off the area, a forensics team investigating the murder, etc.. However when the climax reaches and the officers finally find the criminals whereabouts, they often run in, wearing no armour and no reinforcements, thus glamourising the police giving them a brave, heroic status, which is again something we wouldn’t find in reality. 

The conventions of a Police Procedural drama would be investigations, which are often shown, meetings to discuss the evidence found, however these often break out into heated arguments and the excitement of the ‘chase’ without the responsibilities that the police have to face when solving a crime.

The audience are constantly made to feel a sense of tense excitement which is resolved at the end of the programme when the ‘killer is caught,’ which is a convention of all Crime Thrillers. Nevertheless, reality tells us something different, solving a crime can be an extensive task where police spend hours looking at evidence, dwelling over paperwork and waiting for a breakthrough, (The Wire) however crime dramas cut these moments out due to the lack of entertainment experienced, thus making it an hour long, action packed thriller, which may not resemble reality, but it provides the amusement we crave and means we continue watching.