Media and Crime
Fall 2007
Paper 2
Crime
films and television programs both reflect and affect society. “Crime films
reflect our ideas about fundamental social, economic, and political issues
while, at the same time, they shape the ways we think about these issues”
(Rafter, 3). Simply put, crimes films usually portray the modern concerns in
society and in doing so cause reactions to these concerns. Crime films help
define the current crime trends. “Because crime films are so clearly linked to
social norms, values, rules and everyday practices, they mirror and reflect back
on a society in constant motion, evoking more saliently than any other film
type our culture’s deep and shifting attitudes toward morality and the state”
(Rafter, 58).
“Examining
the history of crime films helps explain why different types of crime films
flourish at different points in time” (Rafter, 21). Over the past century,
crime films have evolved tremendously. This evolution first began with the
Silent Film Era, spanning from 1897 to 1927. These films were also called
“shorts” because they were much shorter than films of the present. Silent films
were often characterized by chase scenes and pre-gangster genre scenes. The
“silent ….
