Rachel Velody - CSI

I found a paper online which partially talks about the representation of women in CSI. I am trying to get hold of the whole paper but this is just the beginning. Enjoy reading it

Rachel Velody
Goldsmith's College, London
If Looks Could Kill: The Abject Gaze of Crime Scene Investigation
http://www.wickedness.net/e3s9.htm
In this paper I want to re-situate the term Abjection, looking at both the functions and dilemmas of its usage, within the popular American television series, C.S.I. (Crime Scene Investigation).
The c.s.i. team function much as a homicide detective squad, but forensics is the core of their work, consequently the body of the victim becomes the prime location of crime solving. C.S.I. is a recent addition, then, to the spectrum of Anglo-American television crime dramas that focus on forensics as the location of modern and authentic detective work. This shift to the body legitimates an explicit-ness in its processes of re-representation of murder. Much of C.S.I. is devoted to sequences in which the corpse is apparently dissected in front of us.
This paper takes a three-fold argument; with abjection positioned between the discourses of taste and gender. In the first instance will be looking at how C.S.I. operates on the one hand as a site of repulsion, and risks distancing the viewer. In this dual mode however, it also makes a demand that the viewer joins in its particular, (and pleasurable), rhetoric of violence. I argue in this first section that forensics is structured through a hyper-masculine rhetoric. Here the dynamic re-representation of the body and the processes of pathology are depicted through a kind of assault on the body, visceral, and frenzied - repulsive yet powerful and inviting. To position ourselves in the mode of detective in C.S.I. means subjugating ourselves to this 'macho' address.
I will then move on to analyse more closely two related ways in which the text is able to counter the risks associated with abjection. In the first instance I want to give a comparative account. Objective and scientific signs within the text are discussed as a critical mode of address working to exorcise the 'abject gaze'. There are of course, other American sub-genres contemporaneous to C.S.I. that can act as interesting contrast. Rather than cross to other sub-genres, however, I want to make a comparison of C.S.I. against recent British crime drams in which forensic pathology is dominant. I will therefore be considering the similarities to, and distinctions between C.S.I. and British texts such as Waking the Dead (dates) and Silent Witness (1996 onwards); to see how concepts of taste impact on the ways that crime drama is positioned in broadcasting. In the second part of the argument the concept of a hyper-masculine rhetoric emerges again.
Here, however, the focus looks at the ways that abjection functions in relation to the women of C.S.I. This is because the text produces a range of strong and active femininities in the roles of the forensics 'personnel', Katherine and Sarah. In this context of gender I want to look at the ways in which abjection both contributes to and contains the concept of a strong female in the text itself. The relationship between forensics and femininity is a particularly resonant theme in discussions of contemporary female representation, because of the traditional representation of women in crime, and the ways that C.S.I. appears to challenge this. At the same time, the sign of femininity is extremely useful, helping to conflate abjection with the female signifier of the pastoral. I want to look the extent to which this is the case.

change of essay question

I might be changing my question and thesis completely to representation of women in CSI series, if it follows stereotypes/if its an accurate representation of women in our society.

my thesis will possibly be something along the lines of how CSI subverts stereotypes of women(blonde in particular)and actually shows them as intellectual successful (in every aspect of life, personal and career wise)women that have achieved alot. they are also seen quite equivalent to men in the programme.catherine (the blonde one) is second in command to grissom...although he has overall power, in his absence she is to take all responsibilities of everyone. however getting through college and uni was hard so she became an ''exotic dancer' (aka hoe LOL) and that is brought up a few times in the show so in a way she is still portrayed as a sex object for the male gaze.... however in many other programmes or films blondes are shown as stupid and inadequate to do anything a man can do.CSI focuses on serious subjects but films such as legally blonde and legally blonde 2 also show that females (especially blondes)are capable to achieve anything anyone else can but it falls into the comedy genre.a negative representation of women is footballers wives or desperate housewives, which shows women that are where they are because of a man in their life, and many are seen as sex objects, another example of a negative representation is Baywatch.Marilyn monroe is a typical example of a blonde woman, a damsel in distress in any situation and flirts with men to get her way, being manipulative in a very sly way.Individuals such as paris hilton, dolly parton, jessica simpson have also grasped the dumb blonde idea quite well. :)...but i dont know if i want to focus on blonde women or women in general in CSI.bond girls are also a good topic to focus on, comparing to the CSI detectives. A theorist i can look at is laura mulvey and her theory about visual pleasure and narrative cinema.she described the male gaze in 2 ways specifically between the 50's and 60's "voyeuristic" (seeing women as 'madonnas') and "fetishistic" ( seeing women as 'whores').but i believe it still exists in the society, and many films are made specifically for the male gaze.but her work was much critisized,however it still fits in with my possible new question.looks like im changing my question then LOL :P

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QuOtEs

a few random quotes from da show :)
$Ea$On 1

• Gil Grissom: Thing is, I tend not to believe people. People lie. The evidence doesn't lie.
• Warrick Brown: Only clue he's got is a missing boat which sucks, 'cause ... it's missing.
• Catherine Willows: You right, you know. I should be just like you. Alone in my hermetically sealed condo watching discovery on the big screen working genius-level crossword puzzles, but no relationships. No chance any will slop over into a case. Right. I want to be just like you.

Gil Grissom: Technically, it's a townhouse. And the crosswords are advanced, not genius.But you're right. I'm deficient in a lot of ways. But I never screw up one of my cases with personal stuff.

Catherine Willows: Grissom ... what personal stuff?

• Rave Girl: I love you.

Gil Grisosm: Uh, thank you. You're a total stranger to me.

Warrick Brown: It's ecstasy. It makes everyone fall in love. Don't take it personally, miss. He's kind of married to his job.

• Gil Grissom: Well, if you're gonna break the law, Jim you've gotta know the law.
• Gil Grissom: There's three things I got a real problem with: Guys that hit their wives, sexual assault on children and the scum that deal death to kids.
• Gil Grissom: Nobody stopped to ask Candlewell if he was all right. They just assumed, because he was kicking the back of Nate's seat, that he was a jerk -- because he was pushing his call button that he was bothering the Flight Attendant -- because he was trying to get into the lavatory he was making a scene -- because he was going back and forth up and down the aisles, he was posing a threat.

Catherine Willows: He was a threat.

Gil Grissom: No. He turned into a threat. It didn't have to be that way. People make assumptions. That's the problem. You just did. And I think these passengers made the wrong assumption and now this guy's dead.

Warrick Brown: Well, if that's your stance how could it have been prevented?

Gil Grissom: If just one person had stopped and taken the time to look at the guy to listen to him, to figure out what was wrong with him it might not have happened. It took five people to kill him. It would have only taken one person to save his life.

• Sara Sidle: I am a woman, and I have a gun. And look how he treated me. I can only imagine how he treated his wife.
• Gil Grissom: It could be a piece of wrist bone.

Catherine Willows: Well, do you want to suck it ... to be sure?

• Sara Sidle: I wish I was like you, Grissom. I wish I didn't feel anything.
• Catherine Willows: What?

Sara Sidle: Nothing. This is fun.

Catherine Willows: As compared to what?

Sara Sidle: As compared to a more scientific approach.

• Gil Grissom: Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is to do nothing.

$Ea$On 2

• Gil Grissom: People don't vanish, Jim. It's a molecular impossibility.
• Gil Grissom: I can't be everywhere, Warrick and they banned human cloning
• Gil Grissom: Truth brings closure.Catherine Willows: Not always.
• Greg Sanders: Hey, yo, Cat ...

Catherine Willows: I'm going to forget that you called me that.

• Greg Sanders: Hey, Catherine? Do you think Sara would ever go out with me?

Catherine Willows: Sure. As long as you don't tell her it's a date.

• Nick Stokes: Sometimes, I hate this job.

$Ea$On 3

• Catherine Willows: Don't touch me. I'm evidence.
• Greg Sanders: All work and no play make Greg a dull boy ...

Gil Grissom: All play and no work make Greg an unemployed boy.

• Nick Stokes: There's a sucker born every minute.

Gil Grissom: Yup, and they all come to Vegas.

$Ea$On 4

• Gil Grissom: Dead men don't ride roller coasters

$Ea$On 5

• Jim Brass: Hey, Gil. Wait. You've got something stuck to your shoe. Oh, no, it's just Sanders.
• Catherine Willows: So I know that I've never said this to you guys before, but ... hide the evidence.
• Gil Grissom: My God, he's being eaten alive.

*ZeBrA*

the cast of *CSI*

This is William Peterson who plays Gil Grissom, he plays a night shift supervisor at the Las Vegas forensic science labs.he is shown to be a lonely individual who is ''married to his work'' as stated by Warrick brown, his colleague.Grissom's hobbies include his work, cockroach racing, reading, solving crossword puzzles, and riding roller coasters.Grissom often offers quotes from a variety of literary sources, particularly Shakespeare.Grissom knows sign language as his mother was deaf.
He has a relationship with co-worker sara sidle.

This is Marg Helgenberger who plays Catherine Willows and is second in command to Grissom.She has a daughter and Willows herself worked for a time as a dancer/stripper and briefly had a cocaine habit, dropping it before pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from the University of Las Vegas. She has had many relationships within the programmes and was once a crime victim as her drink was spiked and she was raped.she is shown to have a rebellious streak in her even though she is a scientist, quite the opposite of Grissom who likes his routine life.

this is Jorja Fox who plays Sara sidle.she has a relationship going on with Grissom, and in the 7th season finale she is kidnapped and hid under a car and left to die, the team have to find out where she is located.In high school, Sara preferred to befriend teachers over students and she often ate alone in the library.

She also has a soft spot for animals - after seeing Grissom conduct an experiment using a pig, she became a vegetarian.

She also has a good singing voice, and can read upside down.

This is George Eads and he plays Nick Stokes.Nick specializes in hair and fiber analysis.

When he was nine years old, Nick suffered molestation, at the hands of a baby sitter.Nick has also appeared as a victim in a season finale where is trying to be rescued by his team from a bomb rigged coffin.he has had many more crime encounters, he had his car stolen, he's been stalked, thrown out of a 2nd storey window and been held at gun point many of times.During the sixth season of CSI, Nick grew an ill-advised moustache, but soon got rid of it.

This is Gary Dourdan who plays Warrick Brown.Brown has beensalvaged by Grissom.Brown had a heavy gambling addiction.He put himself through college working as a taxi driver, a bell captain at the Sahara, selling helicopter rides over the Grand Canyon, and a grave digger before finding his way to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and its CSI.His gambling problem got another CSI killed.He has a wife but they have shown problems in the past, as if they have given up on their marriage yet he still wears the wedding band.he has a strong bond with Nick stokes and feels awful when he is captured in the glass coffin.

This is Eric Szmanda and he plays Greg sanders.Greg knew from a young age that he wanted to become a scientist.Greg was the captain of the high school chess team.

He has a wide variety of hobbies, including surfing, scuba diving, numismatics(study of coins) supermodels and latex.He's always smiling, he remains somewhat optimistic.he was involved in a lab explosion accidentally caused by Willows, and also put his life at risk to save a tourist being beaten up by teenagers.Greg had a crush on Catherine Willows. Soon, the crush was replaced by another one Sara Sidle, which hasn't yet disapeared.He has alot to learn as he is very young.

This is Paul Guilfoyle who plays jim brass.Brass spent 20 years working his way up to detective in New Jersey.Brass, under stress, sometimes drank and would cover it up by popping cough drops to hide the smell of alcohol on his breath.Showing as an example of how much he trusts the team Brass has stated that he would want Gil Grissom's CSI team to investigate his murder.He used to have Grissoms job.Brass is seen in a tattoo parlor, having the date of his shooting (May 11, 2006) tattooed just below the bullet scar.
He has a daughter, ellie who unfortunately works as a stripper, but he still loves her but wants her to be careful in the sin city.

This is Robert David hall who plays Dr Al Robbins, cheif medical examiner(coroner)he examines bodies and works out C.O.D(cause of death).He is Grissom's intellectual equal – the two often carry out academically acquired banter.In one episode, he reveals to Grissom that in his fourth grade at school, he once dropped out of karate class because a kid half his size made him cry.Robbins has a fondness for coffee and plays guitar in a band he has formed with the day shift coroner.He also keeps an album of autopsy photos of celebrities who have died in Las Vegas and wound up on his table, including Tupac Shakur and The Who.

*zebra*