George Floyd's death won't dim crime shows as society continues to 'view law enforcement as infallible heroes'
Although fictional crime and true crime shows are very popular with American audiences, experts opine that TV producers need to implement a string of changes if they want the genre to maintain its popularity in the aftermath of George Floyd's death.
After Floyd, an African American man, was killed by a white Minneapolis officer who placed a knee on the former's neck during an arrest for almost nine minutes on May 25, widespread protests and riots started across the country. As conversations around police brutality and racial violence came to a head, Paramount Network’s long-running crime reality show ‘Cops’ was officially canceled last week. The show, which originally launched on Fox in 1989, has long been criticized for its portrayal of law enforcement and glorification of police tactics and methods that have come in for criticism.
The news came on the heels of Variety reporting that A&E decided not to run new episodes of ‘Live PD’ last weekend. “Out of respect for the families of George Floyd and others who have lost their lives, in consultation with the departments we follow, and in consideration for the safety of all involved, we have made the decision not to broadcast ‘Live PD’ this weekend,” A&E said in a statement.
But even with a significant shift apparent in cultural discourse around racial portrayals, which led to multiple cancellations of popular crime shows, it highly unlikely that the popularity of the genre itself will fade.
"True crime is appealing because it allows people to explore the darker side of human behavior. At the same time, it is a TV or Internet program, so it also creates a psychologically safe distance. It is a form of rubber-necking; watching something dangerous and horrible at a safe distance. The danger and horror increase the physiological response (adrenalin) but it is bearable because it is mediated," Dr. Pamela B. Rutledge, Director of Media Psychology Research Center, told MEA WorldWide.
Marissa A. Harrison, Associate Professor of Psychology at Penn State Harrisburg, called the phenomenon 'protective vigilance.' "I believe people have an evolved drive to pay attention to people and events that can harm them. On the surface, we watch these programs for entertainment, but in our evolved minds we may be attending to them to inform our survival mechanisms," she told MEAWW, adding that "true crime and crime fiction will remain popular," even in the aftermath of Floyd's death.
"People have a morbid curiosity... we can't help but pay attention to that which is alarming or even gruesome," she said. "Shows such as 'Cops' and 'Live P.D.' have been canceled amidst our nation's anti-police-brutality protests. However, these shows are popular, as evidenced by their ratings and long runs. At least some of society seems to view law enforcement as infallible heroes. I am uncertain if the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Derrick Scott, and so many others will awaken a different perspective in those who don't see there is a problem. As reported on NBC, when Derrick Scott said, 'I can't breathe' in 2019, an officer replied, 'I don't care.' I fear many people share this 'I don't care' apathy about what is happening to Black Lives and to other underrepresented groups."
But according to Rutledge, there are crimes shows which are busy hailing the heroics of law enforcement officers that they often gloss over the plight of minority communities, which is a problem in the current scenario.
"Fiction runs the risk of creating mental models and stereotypes of communities and groups that, however unintentionally, promote a worldview that denies the existence of police violence and can reinforce a level of acceptance for police breaking the rules and cutting ethical corners in the service of the fictional narrative to ‘achieve justice’. These shows also show the main characters as being fundamentally ‘good’ which overlooks the reality of systemic racism that exists in law enforcement," she said.
Research also shows that certain shows are more likely to show people of color as suspects. "Perhaps a greater issue is that people without first-hand experience (of the) injustice in law enforcement can start to assimilate fictional representations into their beliefs about how the world really works. This creates cognitive dissonance when real-life events violate those fiction-based perceptions and can make these people slower to accept the magnitude of the problem and be willing to take action," she said.
But that does not mean that narrative will remain the same in the future for crime shows as producers are more likely to be sensitive to the demand for greater representation in such shows so that it appeals to various audience demographics. One of the ways such a change can be brought about is by giving a platform to more black voices.
"According to some research, Black and White Americans conceptualize interactions between police and citizens very differently. Just like new voices, narratives and perspectives need to be heard across all media content, writer’s rooms for police procedurals need to include people that can bring these disparate realities, raise issues, challenge status quo, and increase sensitivity to unjust structures and the perceptions of these institutions when it comes to race. While these shows are fiction, change is often facilitated by the ability to 'see' an outcome. Thus there is an opportunity to support social change by modeling desired outcomes," Rutledge said.