Crime drama: opinion on murder cases in a popular genre

One of the world’s most popular television genres is Crime Drama. It has been attracting millions of viewers for years. It incorporates many aspects of real-life relationships and family problems while trying to solve murder cases. Criminal Minds is one of America’s most popular television shows, and happens to be my favorite. Some other popular crime dramas are Crime Scene Investigations, Law and Order, and NCIS. A crime drama like Criminal Minds appeals to our sense of intelligence and helps us to understand the mind and actions of the criminal. Most crime dramas are very suspenseful and justice is always served. Many people watch crime dramas not only for the suspense but because they fill our need to see justice served.

I believe that there is no crime greater than the taking of a human life and we all want to see the murderers get caught and brought to justice. “ Murder is the ultimate catalyst for a good story, because the stakes are the highest,” said CSI’s creator, Anthony Zuiker (Smith CBS News 2010). I think that September 11, 2001 created a sense of fear in all of us and watching the good guys win and the bad guys get caught makes us feel safer. In an article from Newsweek, the mystery writer Walter Mosley says “ We are fascinated with stories of crime, real or imagined, because we need them to cleanse the modern world from our souls” (Newsweek 2009). We all feel better when we see justice served, and the criminal is caught. We all know that we live in a scary and violent world and I believe that watching crime dramas helps us to feel safer. It helps us believe the reality of good people in this world fighting for families, of lost loved ones, to see justice served.

I am most fascinated with the show Criminal Minds because it allows me see into the mind of the criminal, what he is thinking and sometimes, why he commits such horrible acts. This crime drama talks a lot about the flaws of the human character. One of the reasons I think I love it so much is because it helps me to understand the mind of the criminal. It tries to explain how each criminal has their own reasons and personal agendas, and that they’re all different. There seems to be no one moral code that all criminals live by.

I also enjoy a crime drama that assumes that their viewers have some kind of intelligence and believe viewers are interested in human character and how the criminal mind works. The psychological profiling in the drama Criminal Minds appeals to the smart side of the viewer. This is a show that is based on the psychology of crime. It works so well because it has a psychologically balanced team, who fights together to stop and capture the criminal.

One of my favorite parts of the show is that each episode begins and ends with a quote, usually about life, humanity and/or the human character. One of my favorite quotes is from Season 3 Episode 5 Seven Seconds where agent Hotchner says “ Dostoyevsky once said, “ Nothing is easier than denouncing the evildoer. Nothing is more difficult than understanding him” (Stewarty Feb 2012).

I believe we all enjoy this genre of TV and programs like Criminal Minds in particular, because they keep our interest till the very end. It’s more than just all the suspense though. I believe, along with many others, that we watch crime dramas because they give us a sense of justice and make us feel safer in this crazy world. They give us insight into the human character and they appeal to our sense of intelligence. They also give us a very intimate view inside the criminal mind and how it works, no matter how bizarre