November 29, 2011

Giglio on Hollywood Lawyers“What does Hollywood have against lawyers?

The answer is ‘nothing’ because the studios hire many and work closely with them. How, then, to explain their screen portrayals? One explanation is that the entertainment media has turned lawyering into a performance art. In a culture dominated by the visual media, the screen courtroom is no longer a venue for sifting through the facts to discover the truth. Rather it is an opportunity for lawyers to sway jurors with emotional appeals, bombastic rhetoric, and courtroom tricks.” (p. 171)

Evil Female LawyersGlenn Close in Jagged EdgeMary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

in Mass ActionBarbara Hershey in

DefenselessJessica Lang in Music BoxKelly McGillis in The Accused

Giglio, pp. 168-9

TV Shows Featuring LawyersThe Good WifeLA LawBoston LegalPerry MasonLaw & OrderThe DefendersThe PracticeAlly McBeal

• Rumpole of the Bailey

• Damages• Night Court• Judging Amy• JAG• Civil Wars• Matlock

Mainstream Films of the 1960sJames Bond spy moviesAdvise and Consent (1962)The Best Man (1964)The Ugly American (1963)The Green Berets (1968)Patton (1970)

Christensenand Haas,Ch. 8

President Nixon Loved “Patton”“One of the most fascinating sections of Nixon at the Movies is its discussion of a film close to the President's heart: Patton (1970).  It stars George C. Scott as the American General, a devout Christian who believes in reincarnation, leading his forces in a series of victorious battles across North Africa, Sicily and Bastogne in France until he finally ploughs through to Germany itself.  Patton is shown as brusque, disconcertingly frank, a believer in the rightness and efficacy of American military might.”Source: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sukhdevsandhu/blog/

2009/01/23/nixon_and_the_movies

Counterculture Films of the 1960sEasy Rider (1969)Bonnie and Clyde (1967)The Graduate (1967)Z (1969)

Paranoia and Cynicism in 1970s FilmsThe Candidate (1972)All the President’s Men (1976)Network (1976)Being There (1979)The China Syndrome (1979)

Christensen and Haas, ch. 9

The New Patriotism of the 1980sThe Rambo franchiseTop Gun (1986)The Right Stuff (1983) Chuck Norris filmsClint Eastwood and

Arnold Schwarzenegger films

Science Fiction of the 1990sLater Star Wars episodesMen in Black (1997)The Truman Show (1998)The Matrix (1999)Minority Report (2002)