The 'good judge' in Australian popular television culture

Crofts, P

The 'good judge' in Australian popular television culture

Crofts, P

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Publisher:: Cambridge University Press
Publication Type:: Chapter
Citation:: The judge, the judiciary and the court, 2021, pp. 283-306
Issue Date:: 2021-09-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Crofts, P https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6018-7159
dc.contributor.editor	Lynch, A
dc.contributor.editor	Appleby, G
dc.date.accessioned	2021-10-30T20:58:59Z
dc.date.available	2021-10-30T20:58:59Z
dc.date.issued	2021-09-01
dc.identifier.citation	The judge, the judiciary and the court, 2021, pp. 283-306
dc.identifier.isbn	9781108494618
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/151276
dc.description.abstract	Despite the dominance of legal themes in popular culture, judges do not always make an appearance, and when they do, tend to be secondary and/or caricatures. Despite (or even because of) their relative absence and unimportance in popular culture, the portrayal of judges still gives insight into assumptions and values about the relationship of judges to the law and justice. This chapter explores two key themes in the portrayal of judges in the contemporary Australian television series such as Rake and Janet King and the classic Australian series SeaChange. The first is the portrayal of judges as marginal or secondary characters and the second is the desire expressed by characters for a ‘good judge’. Drawing upon the insights of the jurisprudence of American realists, this chapter interrogates the concept of a good judge in terms of authority, legitimacy and the relationship with law. How is the concept of the good (and of course the bad) constructed? There is also an interrelationship between the two themes: despite the desire for the good judge, the secondary role of judges in popular culture often reflects the tendency to regard the role of judges as primarily objective representatives of the institution of the court and law rather than as individuals.
dc.format.extent	12
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Cambridge University Press
dc.relation.ispartof	The judge, the judiciary and the court
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1017/9781108859332
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.title	The 'good judge' in Australian popular television culture
dc.type	Chapter
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Law
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	true
dc.date.updated	2021-10-30T20:58:58Z
pubs.place-of-publication	Cambridge
pubs.publication-status	Published
dc.location	Cambridge

Abstract:

Despite the dominance of legal themes in popular culture, judges do not always make an appearance, and when they do, tend to be secondary and/or caricatures. Despite (or even because of) their relative absence and unimportance in popular culture, the portrayal of judges still gives insight into assumptions and values about the relationship of judges to the law and justice. This chapter explores two key themes in the portrayal of judges in the contemporary Australian television series such as Rake and Janet King and the classic Australian series SeaChange. The first is the portrayal of judges as marginal or secondary characters and the second is the desire expressed by characters for a ‘good judge’. Drawing upon the insights of the jurisprudence of American realists, this chapter interrogates the concept of a good judge in terms of authority, legitimacy and the relationship with law. How is the concept of the good (and of course the bad) constructed? There is also an interrelationship between the two themes: despite the desire for the good judge, the secondary role of judges in popular culture often reflects the tendency to regard the role of judges as primarily objective representatives of the institution of the court and law rather than as individuals.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/151276