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Fiction vs. Reality

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Fiction vs. Reality
Kristin Gainer
CJS/220
May 13, 2011
David McNees

Fiction vs. Reality In a day and age where televisions are flooded with multiple courtroom drama based series, it is easy for the public to develop the belief that what is viewed during prime time accurately reflects the events that actually unfold in courtrooms across the country. However, these programs are created for the purpose of entertainment, and while some of what they portray is true to real life, a great deal of it is overly glamorized, and much of what actually occurs inside the courtroom is not covered. Popular movies like Runaway Jury and A Few Good Men are examples of programming that depict courtroom activity in a more exciting and dramatic light. While some of the circumstances presented in these are parallel with reality, when compared to real life cases that can be viewed daily on TruTv’s In Session, it is clear to see that the majority of the content is intended for entertainment purposes and are designed to appeal to the public’s need for instant gratification: heart-pounding anticipation followed by a neatly wrapped up resolution, all in the span of less than two hours. Unfortunately, this is not the case in real life. Jury selections are often arduous (as I have recently seen through viewing the jury selection for the Casey Anthony case on In Session), trials can last for months upon months, and there is not always a happy ending. Runaway Jury, a popular 2003 film based on the book by John Grisham, is an excellent example of entertainment that showcases a great deal of truth in regards to the inner-workings of the courtroom, but also offers a good bit of exaggeration. In the movie, which is set in New Orleans, Louisiana, a disgruntled employee at a stock brokerage firm arrives at his former place of employment armed with a semi-automatic rifle and begins firing on

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