Moral ambiguity in drama

Anton Sherwood (dasher@netcom.com)
Tue, 14 Oct 1997 20:46:48 -0700

Ernest Adams writes--
: I strongly recommend the NBC TV series Law and Order as an example of
: how American television *can* present morally complex problems when it
: puts its mind to it. The "good guys" don't always win; the "good guys"
: aren't always even that good. [...]

Another reason to watch it: it never follows the "Colombo" pattern
of showing you the crime and then leading the heroic detective
infallibly to the criminal. An episode of _Law and Order_, in
my experience, has at *least* two surprise twists, as the onion-like
evidence slowly reveals that (a) the crime wasn't done by the most
obvious person and (b) maybe it wasn't a crime at all ...

Anton Sherwood *\\* +1 415 267 0685 *\\* DASher@netcom.com