Hollywood Justice: Fact and Fiction - Term Paper Example

? Hollywood Justice: Fact and Fiction Literature review: crime, media and justice The phenomenon of criminal justice against activities of crime has tightened as a result of the protests and upheavals against the long course of proceedings for attainment of justice by the victims and their parties. The role of media is very significant in reporting activities of crime and quickening the path of justice. It is always said that justice delayed is justice denied. The media here plays the role of a catalyst in ensuring that the time required for attaining justice is reduced by reporting true facts on the crime that has taken place. The roles and responsibilities of media in reporting activities of crime goes along in spreading the news of the criminal activities, the information on the victims affected by the crime and the information on the miscreants who have committed the crime. The media has the right to make the people aware of the criminal events. This is a fundamental duty of the media as they function in the society in which they report events of the social happenings. The media has the duty to uphold the moral value of the society. The reporting of criminal activities of the society provides awareness to the people in terms of the deviation from the moral path (Surette, 2011). This creates a panic among the readers and viewers of such information which influence their sense of moral and ethical duties. The moral panic created by the reports of the media is aimed at controlling the behavior of the society and attainment of stable conditions in future. The media also influences the path of social justice by publishing fictional stories, documentaries and films on the criminal activities and spreading a message to the public for attainment of justice. These fictional stories are viewed by the public with great interest and in the process consolidate the sense of justice among them. The element of moral panic is a weapon for the media that serves its purpose of influencing the thought process of the public and in developing the required sense of ethics and moral duties of the people. The moral panic has a tendency to amplify the basic information and exaggeration of facts and figures occurs as the information is transmitted to an increasing number of recipients of the information. The spread of moral panic builds public opinion and with majority support of a large base of population, the criminal activities are prevented by the participation of the public, at large. The government is also influenced by the role of the media and a joint effort in conditions of resurgence takes place in order to hunt the cause of crime and uproot the section of miscreants. There are two views towards the role of media in reporting events to the public. The left view is opposed to the role of the media where the rightists view in favor of the media functions. Marxists or the communists view media as playing the role of fulfilling the interests of the bourgeois class by influencing the opinion of the public. During the period after the Second World War, the media reported against the communist sections and gathered public support to drive out communism. The Hollywood is also a party to the role of media in ensuring justice against the activities of crime. After the Second World War, the Hollywood also took actions against the communist views and the proponents of communism. The US government also undertook the same views with the media in making USA free communism. All sections of the society, all industries and the people joined hand to drive out the forces of Communism. These actions spread to the field of art and culture. The Hollywood industry in its efforts against Communism created hostile environment for the proponents of Communism. This led to the fleeing of the international actor Charlie Chaplin to Switzerland. The functionalists support the role of media in spreading awareness against oppression and crime by integrating different view points of the society. The integration of different view points in the democratic world gives equal importance to all view points and therefore frames public opinion and provides the right direction for justice against criminal activities. The various forms of media that influences the attainment of justice are the traditional media and the new forms of media which uses advanced technologies and are able to reach the society without limitations. The use of mobile communication devices, portable electronic devices like laptops, palmtops, big screens are all channels of media. The publication of the media develops a sense of justice among the recipients. Hollywood justice: fact and fiction The facts on crime and the nature of people involved in committing criminal activities, the effectiveness of the cops and the attainment of social justice has been portrayed by the several fictional stories developed and launched by Hollywood industry. USA have seen plenty of movies that have been launched with the stories of violence and the victory of the right over wrong. The stories of violence and the actions portrayed in the motion pictures in attaining social justice have created an impact on the society (Beckett and Sasson, 2005). The fictional stories on the deprivation of the under privilege sections of the society, the incidents of oppression, incidents of crime that has hurt the fundamental rights of the people have hit a large section of the audience. The fictional stories also portray a judicious ending where the oppressive and criminal forces are uprooted by a herculean effort from the heroes who attains justice for the victim and sets standards of moral action to the society. Several fictions that have been launched and published by Hollywood may be treated as means of entertainment but there are based on real stories or have been framed from plots of real life. The Hollywood has observed a surplus of violence fiction over the years which have influenced the behavior of various sections of the society. The stories or motions pictures of Hollywood have been promoted all over the globe which impacted the style of behavior of the human population. These fictions establish real facts of life which explain the intention of the criminal, the ways of committing a crime and the effectiveness of the cops in ensuring the path of social justice. This could be related to real life criminal activities and the ways adopted by the victims and the society in attaining justice. The fictional stories of Hollywood establish that the criminals are clear and articulate in their approaches of committing a crime. The criminal activities start from the identification of the target victim. The criminals generally have a motive behind committing the crime. The criminal mind is articulate and clear and has the intentions to outsmart the system of law and justice. The effectiveness and the smartness of the law enforcement agencies and the police in being to detect the intentions of the crime, identifying the criminal and collecting adequate evidence against the criminals to ensure justice is also understood. The practical scenario of implementation of law enforcement bodies and the effectiveness of the system of judiciary in delivering justice is a matter of debate. However, the facts established from the fiction of Hollywood provide the right direction through which justice could be attained. Over the last two decades the fiction of Hollywood has widened the scope of criminal justice. As a new approach to the making of films and fictional stories, the directors have started to make an effort to include a humanistic approach of explain the criminal activities of the offenders (Oliver and Marion, 2013). The crimes committed by the offenders are investigated deeply to understand the background of criminals that have led to the commitment of crime. Several background studies depict that the criminals from their childhood have grown up under limitations of poverty and inadequate education. The desire of short term wealth or a sense of attaining justice against the torture once faced in the hands of the oppressive forces lead to the commitments of crime. This section of criminals is, however, treated differently to the class of professional criminals. As against the professional criminals, this section of criminals is now allowed with the opportunity of rectifying themselves and to develop into better and normal human beings. Instead of enforcing laws of punishments and putting them behind the bars in the prison, the criminals are also allowed with a space of self-realization in the rehabilitation centers. This offers the scope of justice in broader sense. The transformation of the so called criminals into mature and responsible human beings helps to uproot sources of crime and thereby paves the path for an inclusive social justice. The fictions of crime, kidnapping, extortion and the actions of protest and revolt in attaining justice is imitated by the society and therefore the criminal activities and the ways of justice in the real life carry resemblance with the Hollywood justice. Although Hollywood has provided innovative ways for the occurrence of crime in the society through motion pictures and fictional stories, the Hollywood way of justice has also been imitated by the people in their real life that establishes an important relationship between fiction and real life facts. References Surette, R. (2011). Media, crime, and criminal justice (4th ed.). USA: Cengage Learning. Beckett, K. and Sasson, T. (2005). Crime in the Media. Retrieved From: http://www.publiceye.org/defendingjustice/overview/beckett_media.html. Oliver, W. M. and Marion, N. E. (2013). CRIME, HISTORY, AND HOLLYWOOD: LEARNING CRIMINAL JUSTICE HISTORY THROUGH MAJOR MOTION PICTURES. Retrieved From: http://clcjbooks.rutgers.edu/books/crime_history_and_hollywood.html. Read More