my first paragraph, would introduce my essay and explain my thesis.(a v.brief summary of this is that the essay is about the rep of women in CSI and 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. )
After this comes my second and third paragraphs which will mainly explain the CSI concept in more detail and alongside that analyse the representation of women in the programme. CSI:crime scene investigation is a a series which looks into the investigationof murders, this can be coutned as part of the police genre but almost a soap opera, not only does CSI just look into the murders they focus on the protagonist's personal lives, allowing some sort of relation to be made by the audience. The programme subverts typical housewife stereotypes as still seen in many programmes, therefore allows many females to appreciate the characters. the prominent regular female characters are Catherine willows, a 30 something blonde who got through university by being an exotic dancer(allowing vouyeristic/fetishistic pleasure through th emale gaze) she is second in command, Gill grissom is the "Boss", allowing a man to be in control. the second female is Sara sidle who is a general investigator alongside many males.these 2 are the main females within the show who are featured in almost every episode alongside the males. the females have a 25% share in the main characters which still isn't alot compared to the 75% of males.these females overall have been given strong independant roles, as catherine is a single parent raising a girl and also working, getting by in life, and Sara has proved she can protect herself. [R, G, A] [S]
Relating texts
The main historical texts that i will relate back to CSI in my essay is Cagney and Lacey.C+L started in 1981 and followed two female undercover investigators in their pursue of doing their job, which is tracking down criminals.this can be compared heavily to the female characters in CSI. "working girls" by Yvonne tasker pointed out the fact that when females are put side by side in programmes or films, they will usually have opposite characteristics. as seen in C+L one is blonde one is brunnette, which leads the blonde one to be much more female, has a more feminine appearance, from props costume and personal appearance.the brunnette is seen to be slightlier more butch and more masculine, emotionally stronger etc. This is the same case with CSI. Catherine Willows is blonde and wears dresses, skirts has longer hair, applies make up etc, whereas Sara is brunnette shorter hair,consistently wears trousers is shown more emotionally stable and solid. etc.this is an interesting view to expand on in the essay. these programmes have alot of similarities which can be identified. [R, G, A, N] [H]
Alongside this more recent texts such as legally blonde, which follow the more intellectual approach to stereotyping women...blonde women in particular. women are not just seen as the damsels in distress that need saving, they are independant enough to handle their own problems. Also i f referring back to the Auteur theory, i can talk abotu CSI :NY and CSI:MIAMI, which are both directed by Antony .E.zuiker, who has also directed CSI:crime scene investigation
Theorists and list of titles to refer to
Laura mulvey is a must, her theory of the male gaze fits in well with the topic i will be exploring, somehow CSI is able to subvert many stereotypes but ends up back in order to please the male audience.Mulveys visual pleasures and narrative cinema will be referred to alot through my essay, apart fromt his, as her work is influenced by Freud and Jaques Lacan(i fink thats how you spell the name :S) i will refer back to them to.
apart from that there are some vital books which will help in order for me to write this essay, some of them will be mentioned more than others obviously as some are directly relevant to my study
Working girls by Yvonne Tasker --> this book , even though i borrowed it and didnt read it thpouroughly, i only read the chapters relevant to CSI, has alot of information for my Independant study [R, M, Id, G, N] [S, H]
Defining women: TV and the case of cagney and lacey by Julie D’Acci (1994)
Spectacular bodies: gender, genre and the action cinema By Yvonne Tasker(1993)
Representing women myths of femininity in the popular media By
Fabrications: costume and the female body by Gaines Jane and Herzog charlotte(1990)-->Although I haven’t had a chance to read through this book because I have to find it first, I’ve read a brief Summary posted up on the internet and this book basically takes Laura Mulvey’s theory and pushes it further with its own ideas, of how costumes helps the representation of women in media, to fulfil the voyeuristic male gaze.
i have lots of other books which can be refered to, and they have been stated in a previous post, but i believe these are the main titles i will refer to.
CSI issues and debates
CSI is able to bring up many issues and debates within the media but also within the audiences.
Racial issues
As CSI is a US programme, alot of the ideas could have been influenced by the rest of the media, e.g the news. alot of the convicts and criminals are portrayed as Black men, creating a moral panic within the society (as stated my michael moore in bowling for columbine), however CSI subverts this and rarely shows a black man as a criminal, it explores all types of races, even though the asian are a minority this may be done in order for a sense of realism, because the programme is set in Las vegas, how many asian do you expect there?
Feminism
CSI is set since 2000 onwards, and within this time frame, women have been much more assertive, in reality and within the media. Catherin and Sara are perceived and portrayed as independant successfull women, who don't need to rely on men for support in any way shape or form.When Catherine is raped she confides in Sara showing a form of female union, even though they aren't shown as best of friends they work together and respect each other.they are supportive of each other, and if any onehas a sexist comment to make, catherine and SAra don't take it lighlty but they actual fight back [R, Id, A, N] [S]
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