==================================================

Location: Home.
Listening: The television.

I've determined that Law And Order is a propaganda piece. I've seen numerous episodes in the past few months, and I've noticed several running themes. The rights of victims and witnesses are secondary to the need of the DA to produce any semblance of a case, more often than not to preserve the department's reputation. This is usually portrayed to be completely acceptable in the end--as long as they catch the "bad guys". The lines between harrassment, illegal search and seizure, illegal entry, etc. are so blurred with legitimate police work that one could very easily begin to believe that these things are routine and acceptable forms of "police work". The minute the populace begins to accept such things and take them for granted is the minute we surrender ourselves to complacency, facilitating corruption. In addition, more often than not, the police and lawyers in the show are often portrayed as moral watchdogs, passing personal moral as well as legal judgement on victims and perpetrators alike as well. This behavior is also portrayed as perfectly acceptable and, since the viewing audience is encouraged to sympathize with the police and the lawyers, they are also subtly encouraged to sympathize with their views--which are often conservative.

Admittedly, I have my own biases that this show triggers. I was sexually harrassed by a Memphis cop when I was 16. My fiance and I were parked on the riverbank talking (no, seriously) when a cop car rolled up. We were taken out of the car, separated, and asked what we were doing. He got a slap on the back and a few jokes about what he should be doing. I was backed up against the other side of the car and told, in detail, what exactly could happen to "whores" like me. Other things were said and intimated (such as what might happen to me if I were taken into custody), but I won't go into them. I had done nothing wrong. I had also had never had any dealings with the police before then and was too frightened and humiliated to say or do anything. Suffice to say, I've never reacted well to the police since then. If I was looking for a reason to overcome my negative responses, Law And Order is the last possible place I should have looked.