How to Get Away with Murder: A Must See or a Commandment Breaker?
Criminal Minds, Law and Order, Bones, CSI, Homeland. We all watch shows, such as the aforementioned, that involve or are based around murder. It is no secret that what makes these shows so popular is the suspense, action and mystery they evoke. However, in most societies, murder is considered illegal. This norm can be traced back to the Bible, not just the Christian Bible but the Quran and other religious texts. Yet, many societies allow for the depiction of murder of television. How can this be? Clearly there is a divide here and this blog aims to explore it.
It’s Not Reality so it’s Okay?
In the Bible, the book of Exodus details the account of Moses ascending from the Mountain with a stone in which he engraved ten messages he had received from God. The Ten Commandments, as they are known, outline acts in which people should not commit, thou shall not kill being one of the ten (Bible Gateway). However, a show like How to Get Away with Murder, in which a classroom full of law students is being taught how to not get caught for murder and if caught, how to convince a jury of the innocence of even the guiltiest of parties. In fact, the show often flashes forward to show some of the students trying to cover up a murder, one in which the show implies they have committed. Does this show not appear to undermine the God-given commandment?
There is however, one big difference in committing an actual murder and pretending to; the latter is not reality. But does that matter? If the commandment is applied broadly, making the very act of portraying or watching portrayals of murder wrong, then it does matter. However, if the commandment is only meant in a literal sense then perhaps not. However, shows that articulate and depict murder, such as the one described above, encourage the act as if it were a game to see if individuals can beat the system.
Should Television Encouragement Count as Breaking the Commandment?
Under Canadian and most Western legal systems, conspiracy to commit murder, aiding murder and abetting murder are against the law. In fact, these crimes are punishable by jail time (Criminal Code). However, television shows that depict all three of these, as it again is the very premise of some televisions shows, are allowed to air. Despite the fact they are not real, many of these shows are based on real life cases. They recite real facts, depict trials that real juries deliberated on and often, such as the case of How to Get Away with Murder, use antics, techniques or rationale, that are sometimes more than questionably legal, to win their cases. This, in many ways, is encouragement to commit murder because the show depicts how individuals can get away with heinous crimes and more worse yet, has people believing they can.
A Conflicting Dialogue
At the beginning of this blog, I alluded to the possible existence of a conflict between religion and popular culture when it comes to shows like How to Get Away with Murder. But are religion and popular culture really in conflict here? There is no question about it, these two concepts are in a dialogue but they may not be opposing each other(Forbes, 16). Popular culture is reliant on religion for its content (Forbes, 10). Murder on television would not be so popular if it was not considered wrong and that idea comes from the different world religions. It could be argued that this television show takes stretches the ideas of religious doctrine to the limits of what is allowed (Forbes, 11). But How to Get Away with Murder have characters that are in deep self-conflict. They are aware their acts are many times illegal and deeply questionable morally. This troubles the characters and these troubles effect other parts of their lives from their ability to sleep to their relationships with each other. Based on their struggles, the audience can conclude these characters understand what they have done or are doing is wrong and struggle to live their lives with this knowledge. Perhaps, How to Get Away with Murder is not promoting murderer but depicting how religious teachings, like “thou shall not kill”, continue to have a place in our society by the struggles the characters have with their consciences.
(Please Note: In this clip, extreme violence and death is depicted)
Responses from Religious Groups?
There is limited information written about shows that base themselves around the idea of murder. Does that mean religious individuals are not watching them or that they have no opinion on the content? Doubtful. However, one prominent personality of Criminal Minds, Mandy Patinkin, who quit over what he states were concerns with the violent content of the show. (The clip above demonstrates the violence in an average episode of the show). He argued the exposure to such violent crimes, including rape and murder, week after week, is bad for the audience who sensationalize these crimes as entertainment. He suggests working on the show “. . .was very destructive to [his] soul and [his] personality” (Taormina). In a way Patinkin’s comments about the destruction to him as a person, mirror what the characters are going through in How to get Away with Murder. Many of these shows are based off real crimes that have been spun and condensed to make them fill the hour of entertaining prime time television.
Murderous Television or No Murderous Television, that is the Question?
Murder on television is not new, and is here to stay given by the countless number of shows depicting murder there are on the air waves today. There is no question that How to get Away with Murder is breaking a lot of barriers that will potentially change what is allowed to air on television. However, making murder acceptable is not one of them. This may even be part of what makes shows like this so popular. At the end of the day, the suspense may keep bringing the audience back each week, but underlying that suspense is most people’s shared belief systems, core values and the fact that no one ever gets away with murder in the end.
References
“Exodus 20 — New International Version". Bible Gateway. Web. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20
Forbes, Bruce David. “Introduction: Finding Religion in Unexpected Places.” In Religion and Popular Culture in America. Ed. B. D. Forbes and Jeffrey H. Mahan, 1–20. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
Government of Canada. “Criminal Code”. Web. 1985. http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-6.html
Taormina, Anthony. ““Homeland’ Star Mandy Patinkin Calls ‘Criminal Minds’ His ‘Biggest Public Mistake’”. Screen Rant. Web. September 17 2012. http://screenrant.com/criminal-minds-mandy-patinkin-quit/
