El caso de Alemania

The previous three chapters have developed the idea of the continuum; this method maps out graduated articulations of certain elements, elements which remain structurally consistent but shift in how they are utilised. This then works as part of the discursive genre cluster of texts and paratexts to form the crime drama genre. This method has allowed for an exploration of how a genre can incorporate multiple modes (for example gothic empathetic investigation and empiricist scientific experiments) while still maintaining core elements which hold it together.

Consequently, a pattern has emerged through this approach that suggests subtle shifts across the genre as each different show moves focus from the primarily scientific to the supernatural.

This chapter, and the next, will look at issues of gender, an area of interest for scholars of crime fictions for many decades and, as with the conceptualising of reason in the previous chapter, gender is a thematic preoccupation. These texts coalesce in their depiction of gendered roles despite their divergent approaches to investigation; gender archetypes remain rigid throughout the genre no matter the show, they are simply articulated differently. Despite its progressive move on many fronts the crime drama remains stoutly conservative in its depictions of femininity and masculinity. Though gender in the crime drama is one area that has been analysed multiple times, once again it has fallen foul of the desire to instate exemplar texts. From the understated almost femininity of Grissom²¹⁹ to the hyper masculinity of McNulty²²⁰, gender analysis of the crime drama has become as reductionist as much of the other analysis of the genre.

Consequently, certain models of masculinity have been suggested to stand in for how the genre

219Mythili Rajiva, "Troping Mr. Johnson: reading the Phallic Mastery and Anxiety of Season One of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," in The CSI effect : television, crime, and governance, ed. Michele Byers and Val Marie Johnson (Lanham ; Plymouth: Lexington Books, 2009).

220Alasdair McMillan, "Heroism, institutions, and the police procedural," in The wire: urban decay and American television, ed. Tiffany; Potter and C. W. Marshall (Continuum, 2009).

as a whole deals with the concept. However, through my method, looking at the ways masculinity (and in the following chapter, femininity) is explored across multiple texts, instead finds a central point of cohesion, a line running through the genre that helps to establish its boundaries. The continuum concept is still at play, illustrated not in the way certain types of masculinity are portrayed but in their position within the narrative²²¹; every show perpetuates the same idea about what masculinity means and what masculine characters do. These chapters further the argument that these shows still operate within the same genre regardless of how greatly they differ in terms of plot construction or investigative method.

Though this model of gender is relational it is essential to separate out analyses of masculinity and femininity in order to explore how they function as distinct collections of convention. Though in places they inform one another, they are also informed by very different sets of media,

consequently, they must be understood in terms of how they function as gendered entities. While the previous chapter focused on the intersection between investigative method and forms of knowledge, an interplay that is not without a gender dimension, this chapter eschews

investigative method in favour of examining character conventions, focusing on a study of how concepts of masculinity are at play in the character of the consultant.

As the title of this thesis suggests, it is ultimately a case study of how gender functions as part of the investigative process in the contemporary consultant procedural. Though gender has always been of interest to scholars the foundational effect it has on the genre is still often ignored. The crime drama is a heavily gendered genre, from its overtly masculine beat cops to its

underestimated feminine amateur sleuths; it is marketed, broadcast and discussed-both

academically and culturally-in gendered terms. However, what is of interest here is not primarily how these texts perform investigation as a gendered endeavour, but how larger cultural

221 For example the scientific shows have a central masculine figure couched in reason and lacking in emotional understanding; in the pseudo-psychic shows those characters tend to be part of the institution whereas the masculinity of the protagonist is one of emotional sympathy tempered by bravado and showmanship.

understandings of gender play out within the genre, in an increasingly evident uniform manner.

As this chapter will detail, masculinity, at least successful masculinity, is coded in very specific terms within the genre, terms which reflect ideas in cultural studies but are also very specific to the genre.

Successful masculinity in this case refers to a performance of masculinity which is shown as powerful, useful and given narrative prominence. A successful masculine figure is one who both has control of the narrative and continually steers it toward a positive conclusion. In other words the successful masculine figure is the one able to solve cases. By mapping these conventions of the portrayal of masculinity the usefulness of the continuum approach becomes more apparent. It creates a method for understanding these moments of conformity which, although often subdued within the texts, are central to the ‘ineffable’ genre cohesion this thesis is exploring. The rigidity of gender conventions across disparate texts becomes so entrenched into the fabric of the genre as to become unnoticeable; this is especially true in shows where the masculine figures are

background characters. Though not central to the narrative these figures still participate in masculine tropes which tie them to the genre. That this is rarely discussed is a prime example of the way in which the crime drama has been both extensively written about and recently ignored.

Once again, my thesis aims to redress critical imbalance and take a closer look at how gender and its portrayal is still central to the ways in which crime dramas function.

As Judith Halberstamwrites in the introduction to Female Masculinity,

“Masculinity in this society inevitably conjures up notions of power and legitimacy and privilege; it often symbolically refers to the power of the state and to uneven distributions of wealth. Masculinity seems to extend outward into patriarchy and inward into the family.”²²²

222Judith Halberstam, Female masculinity (Durham, N.C. ; London: Duke University Press, 1998). P2

With this statement she presents masculinity as something that extends in opposing directions, out into society but perhaps more importantly into the family. At the same time it is bound up in ideas of power and legitimacy that then bleed into these spaces. These are the ideas that form the basis of the conception of masculinity found in crime drama; that masculinity is understood in terms of the privilege of power it is afforded and how that fits into both societal patriarchy and the family.

With this in mind this chapter will be divided into four separate sections, each dealing with different aspects of masculinity in the crime drama. Firstly, it begins with an examination of the position of the male consultant as both a specialist but also a figure who operates outside the institution. This section explores the effects of the consequent lack of official authority on the depiction of masculinity. As skilled professionals but without the power designated by a position of authority within the institution, this section asks if the role these characters play within the justice system is one of controlled rebellion. This section will also look at investigative pairings such as Jane and Lisbon in The Mentalist, further examining how gender is part of the process of balance between the rational and the intuitive explored in the previous chapter. The second section will move onto the emphasis placed on patriarchal teaching as part of the backstory of the consultant. While I have already established the place afforded to innate talent in the character of the consultant there is also frequently space made for the father as a childhood mentor. This positioning of the fatherly role as a predominately pedagogical is especially interesting considering that in the shows in which it occurs (namely The Mentalist, Psych and Bones) the characters’ mothers are noticeably absent.

The third section will move to the role these characters have with their own families, exploring how their own fatherhood works as impetus for their work. It has become a clichéd backstory, these characters seeking redemption for perceived failings as fathers and therefore as men.

Hence, this section will explore what affect is created in positioning them as parents. The final

section of the chapter will look specifically at Bones considering Brennan as a masculine female character. While changes to her character have occurred over six seasons the show is still at pains to portray Brennan as an emotionally inept rationalist, traits typically reserved for male

characters.

For the most part this chapter examines masculinity as it pertains to consultant figures. However, this is not to say that similar issues are not at work with respect to characters whose institutional affiliation is clear. The complex masculinity of a character like Booth, he is both institutionally powerful yet narratively often powerless, is still worthy of study; as is the way in which Lisbon’s authority is frequently contrasted to her femininity. While these characters will not be central to this chapter (in much the same way they are not central to the shows) they function as useful juxtapositions and counterpoints to the ways in which the consultants are portrayed, often mirroring character traits displayed by more prominent but similarly gendered characters in other shows. That there is a consistency to the portrayal of gender (note this is not the same as sex or biological notions of gender) further establishes the coherence of the genre, suggesting there are particular character types that continually appear in these shows, character types which are not defined by gender but rather gendered traits.

Biological notions of gender, though not of central importance to this chapter, cannot go uncommented upon. Though masculinity and femininity are not defined by cisgendered

boundaries there are biologically gendered tropes that do occur. Though Brennan is consistently figured as masculine this is also often framed as a failing on her part. As explored in the last section of the chapter, Angela’s job is often to teach Brennan how to be a woman. Furthermore, the connection drawn between women and motherhood cannot be ignored. Throughout all six shows while every female protagonist is (eventually) a mother, only two of the male protagonists have children and only Lightman has a child that features as part of the show. Despite the

concentration in this chapter on non-biological gender, there is still work to be done on role that biological gender does have in the crime drama.

In previous chapters I have touched on tropes and themes of the crime genre before it took a turn toward being focused on consultant protagonists. In the twenty years prior to the consultant era the genre, for the most part, split into two categories, the shows set in police precincts and shows set in law offices (or in the case of Law & Order, both). In both instances characters identified as masculine were the most common protagonists across the genre. Cop protagonists in shows such as NYPD Blue were gruff and exacting. They were for the most part portrayed in terms of their physicality; their strength and power – both literally and metaphorically – were what defined them. Marc Oullette describes NYPD Blue’s Sipowicz as being the definition of R.W. Connell²²³’s idea of hegemonic masculinity, “[Sipowicz] resorts to violence, he resists change and he resents women and minorities”.²²⁴Furthermore, the approach to crime solving in these precinct shows was about ‘hard graft’; they would work the streets, speak to the right people and solve the case.

Justice was served because these men put in the time and exacted their control. It was not because of special training or skills, but because of knowledge gained from experience; these men had control of the streets. They were, for all intents and purposes, the epitome of eighties masculine convention; not simply part of the institution, they were the institution. As Richard Dyer has written, “The claim to power is the claim to speak for the commonality of humanity”²²⁵. Therefore, the power to investigate, to uphold law on behalf of society, was by default seen as masculine, men were the protectors.

However, as Brenton J. Malin details²²⁶, as masculinity moved from being “unmarked” to a topic of social and political discussion in the late 80s/early 90s there were shifts in the depiction of male

223R. W. Connell, Masculinities: Knowledge, Power and Social Change (Berkeley: California University Press, 1995). P131

224Marc Oullette, "“It’ll pass”: NYPD: Blue’s Sipowicz and Mundane Masculinity," Universitas 2, no. 2 (2006).

225 Richard Dyer, White, p2 Richard Dyer, White (London: Routledge, 1997). P2

226Brenton J. Malin, American masculinity under Clinton : popular media and the nineties "crisis of masculinity" (New York ; Oxford: P. Lang, 2005).

cops. It is also worth noting that it was only really at this point that even the possibility of female cops was normalised in the genre. Now outside of the workplace male cops were usually failures;

family became a place where they lacked the control and power afforded them by their jobs, they were alcoholics and philanderers, bad fathers and terrible sons. Much like theorists who advocate the idea of a crisis in masculinity at the time²²⁷, within the crime drama the idea of the masculine patriarchy was coming apart and so successful masculinity was becoming defined by workplace success rather than personal success. Arthur Brittan writes: “[What had changed was] not male power as such, but its form, its presentation, its packaging. In other words while it is apparent that styles of masculinity may alter…the substance of male power does not.”²²⁸ Gone was ‘head of the household’ mentality and instead being a good man in these shows was often about

sacrificing the personal in order to achieve professional success and as a consequence the betterment of society. Sipowicz continually battled with alcoholism and estrangement from his eldest son, Law & Order’s John Munch was four times divorced and incapable of maintaining a relationship. However, both were generally seen as good cops.

Much the same could be said for the lawyer characters in their shows. Men, Elayne Rapping dubbed “Attorney-heroes”²²⁹, who gave up personal lives in favour of long hours spent crafting case law at the expense of spending time with their families. However, while their personal lives tended to be equally miserable their work lives were about creating systems for society to work by rather than the physical ‘clean-up’ that the cops performed. In the legal shows these

characters were there to uphold the system society put in place to protect itself, even if it went against the character’s own beliefs. Many an episode of Law & Order and other shows of that ilk focus on a lawyer having to do something they feel is morally wrong because it is legally right. For

227 For further examples seeJohn Beynon, "Masculinities and the Notion of Crisis," in Masculinities and culture (Buckingham: Open University, 2001).;Sally Robinson, Marked men : white masculinity in crisis (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000).

228 Arthur Brittan in Stephen Whitehead and Frank J. Barrett, The masculinities reader (Oxford: Polity, 2001). P52

229Elayne Rapping, Law and justice as seen on TV (New York ; London: New York University Press, 2003).

P21

example in the episode “Nullifaction”²³⁰McCoy has to argue the case for jury nullification, the right for a jury to find a defendant not guilty because the law is unjust rather than because the evidence suggests it. Essentially he is arguing for the right to acquit a guilty defendant because the law is wrong, not because he did not commit the crime. The law was more important than the individual, and so once again we see the appearance of the idea that sacrifice is a ‘good’

masculine trait. A good masculine character was one who was willing to sacrifice for the greater good, one who used their power to keep the world safe. However, it is important to note that this power was a given. The assumption was that men – as generally the masculine characters of these shows were male – held inalienable rights and power in the world; control was theirs by default.

In a period where Robert Bly’s Iron John²³¹ was defining new theories of masculinity, the crime drama remained a conservative, patriarchal genre in which masculine authority was still a central motif. This remains mostly the case even within the period of this study, an authoritative

masculine presence is still the default and any move away from this is toward feminine authority results in protagonists rendered victim as often as they are saviour. As the previous chapter argued, masculine characters have domain over knowledge, learning and its inherent agency meanwhile feminine investigators are at the mercy of their psychic powers.

At this point it is useful to look at these ideas in terms of the theory of hegemonic masculinity. It theorises that masculinity as seen by society is made up of a dominant and culturally normative form and then a series of subordinate forms. The normative form being that which is seen in these earlier shows; the strong but emotionally impaired male who uses his strength and privilege to maintain power in the world. However, this theory was criticised by scholars such as R.W.

Connell²³²who saw it as a destructive and reductionist approach to the study of masculinity.

Connell argued there were multiple forms of masculinity at work at once and that viewing it through the lens of hegemony did not account for the ways in which different masculinities

230Episode 8.5

231Robert Bly, Iron John : a book about men (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1990).

232R. W Connell, Masculinities, 2nd ed. ed. (Cambridge: Polity, 2005).

worked together. However, I would argue that the crime drama is still a place where hegemonic masculinity holds firm, though, not without criticism. Instances of characters who maintain the concept of hegemonic masculinity are rife throughout the contemporary procedural drama;

however, they are tempered by masculine figures who maintain power without the backing of institutional authority. The ‘successful’ masculine figure in these shows is one who asserts his power through his acts as an individual rather than as part of a larger system. Hegemonic masculinity somewhat makes sense as a way to theorise the traditional ‘old boy’s club’ authority of the police, both literally and symbolically, but the consultant is an outsider. This is obviously complicated by the institution-by-proxy effect of being a consultant, however, the shows

continually position these masculine figures as ‘not police’. Instead figures of dominant masculine authority are forced into the background, lynchpins of the institution of policing but not central to the practice of modern investigation. They represent the power of legal authority, the patriarchy of control, but they do not have power over knowledge. The contemporary protagonist is one who rejects those forms of masculinity and the genre seeks to create a different idea of what it

continually position these masculine figures as ‘not police’. Instead figures of dominant masculine authority are forced into the background, lynchpins of the institution of policing but not central to the practice of modern investigation. They represent the power of legal authority, the patriarchy of control, but they do not have power over knowledge. The contemporary protagonist is one who rejects those forms of masculinity and the genre seeks to create a different idea of what it