Law, Hollywood and the European experience

Pages117-146
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/S1059-4337(2009)0000046005
Date2008--
Published date2008--
AuthorPeter Robson
LAW, HOLLYWOOD AND
THE EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE
Peter Robson
Law and Film, paradoxically, has an image problem. It is popular with
students and thriving in terms of courses and publications (Denvir, 2005,
p. 183). There is however, the danger of it being sidelined as no more than
an irrelevant sideline within law schools. The past 20 years have seen the
emergence of a recognised area of scholarship around law and popular
culture, generally and law and film in particular. Here I reflect on the nature
and health of this academic development and attempt to assess its prospects,
principally outwith the United States. America is where the first significant
work was carried out. It is where much of the product found in cinemas has
been produced and has been the dominant location from whence has come
much law and film writing. It is not, though, the only game in town.
This chapter seeks to reflect on the implications of the impact, principally,
of American mainstream cinema on the representation of justice. Law and
film studies are entering their second decade and what their nature and
trajectory are likely to be, merits consideration. The traditional sources of
interest concerned with the portrayal of the justice system are noted. There
is an outline of what the principal currents of the work of law and film
scholars have been. A contrast is made between scholarship from the United
States and that which has emerged in Europe. The chapter explores the
academic work on law and film in the past decade in various countries
focusing principally on work from French, German, Spanish and British
writers. It also notes the tensions between the globalised market for film, the
Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Volume 46, 117–146
Copyright r2009 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved
ISSN: 1059-4337/doi:10.1108/S1059-4337(2009)0000046008
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impact of the financial European commitment to the defence of its distinct
cultural products and related institutional developments. In conclusion it is
surmised, on the basis of these developments, that the dominance of the
focus on Hollywood, which is apparent across the board, may well alter.
This change is likely to be accompanied by a shift away from textual
analysis towards more intertextuality highlighting not just the cultural
framework but also the production process and the consumption elements.
1. OVERVIEW OF LAW AND FILM SCHOLARSHIP
Just as the films that we see are conceived in specific economic, political and
cultural contexts, so scholarship is produced within determined situations.
This chapter notes some of the driving forceswhich have led to the emergence
of law and film as an area of extensive and very diverse scholarship in the past
decade. Whilst these factors have shaped the nature and extent of this work it
should be noted that changes in both legal professional interests, academic
criteria and within the culture industry mean that we can expect shifts in the
nature and patterns of scholarship in the future. These may not, however, be
the ones called for by other commentators (Moran, Sandon, Loizidou, &
Christie, 2004;Sarat, Douglas, & Umphrey, 2005).
In order to make some kind of informed judgment on the future of law
and film it is essential to map out how the area emerged and what scholars
have been seeking to do as the work developed. The sustained scholarship
and development of courses in the area of law and film stemmed from a
number of ad hoc comments in a variety of papers in the late 1980s
(Macaulay, 1987;Stark, 1987;Friedman, 1989). These sought to develop the
idea of the significance of popular culture. These insights were prompted by
high profile examples of popular culture on television. The comments did
not provide a systematic overview of the field but rather provided inspiration
to others to survey the world of film and to a much lesser extent television.
Others urged an alternative to the alleged sterility of critical legal studies
(Chase, 1986). The work produced thereafter mapped out a whole host of
areas of interest and concern to scholars (Sarat & Kearns, 1998).
In a survey of the state of this scholarship in July 2003 for the UCL
Colloquium on Law and Popular Culture Law it was suggested that it was
possible to identify three principal kinds of academic courses in which law
and film scholarship has been encountered – legal doctrine, legal theory and
social theory (Robson, 2005). The early method found in law schools was to
use films as illustrative of aspects of legal doctrine. The availability of
PETER ROBSON118

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