Drop Dead Gorgeous

In amerikanischen Fernsehserien wie »CSI« oder »Six Feet Under« sind Tote nicht mehr nur Ausgangspunkt für Ermittlungen - der Tote selbst wird zum Untersuchungsobjekt, Fokussierungen auf tote Körper, etwa bei rechtsmedizinischen Untersuchungen, bestimmen die Szenerie. Tina Weber setzt sich mit diesen neuen filmischen Inszenierungsformen auseinander und fragt, welche gesellschaftlichen Symptomatiken im Umgang mit dem Tod sich darin zeigen.

Content

Part 1-Introduction

Preface xi
Acknowledgments xii
Introduction xv

1 Theory 20
1. 1. Image, death and discourse 20
1. 2. Historical survey of depictions of corpses 28
1. 3. Representation of corpses in TV shows from 1950-2000 35
1. 4. New representations of corpses in TV shows from 2000-2010 39
1. 5. New sophisticated death representations 44

2 Methodology 50
2. 1. Analysis of TV shows 52
2. 2. Pictorial Analysis 53
2. 3. Film Analysis 61
2. 4. Interviews 64
2. 5. Statistic research 65
2. 6. "Genre" 66
Part 2-Analysis: What is shown and how?

3 Pictorial Analysis: Pretty corpses in the pathology 73
3. 1. Introduction 73
3. 2. New TV shows with new representations of death 75
3. 2. 1. Documentary: North Mission Road and Family Plots 76
3. 2. 2. Black comedy and drama: Six Feet Under 81
3. 2. 3. Crime: CSI, Crossing Jordan, Bones, NCIS, and Castle 87
3. 2. 4. Fantasy comedy: Dead like me and Pushing Daisies 99
3. 2. 5. Fantasy drama: Tru Calling, Heroes, and Dexter 102
3. 3. Summary 110

4 Film Analysis: Disgusting autopsies in the pathology 113
4. 1. Media Aesthetics 115
4. 2. Film Analysis Autopsy 119
4. 3. Film Analysis CSI 128
4. 4. Comparison and Evaluation of the Representation Codes 134
4. 5. Summary 138

Part 3-Field Research: What is not shown and why?

5 New representations and new taboos 143
5. 1. Taboo and death 144
5. 2. General representation restrictions 150
5. 3. Specific representation taboos regarding death 160
5. 4. Excursus on hospital autopsies 168
5. 5. Conclusion on new representations and new taboos 171

6 Field research: The Representation of Corpses under Constraints 173
6. 1. Officials: The LA County Coroner TV show North Mission Road 174
6. 1. 1. Pictorial analysis of the representation of an autopsy 175
6. 1. 2. Interview with the medical examiner participant 179
6. 2. Producer: Interviews with the filmmaker 184
6. 2. 1. Money, time and censorship 187
6. 2. 2. Race, Age, Gender 202
6. 2. 3. Working on realism 204
6. 3. Recipients: The public response to the new TV shows 210
6. 3. 1. The "CSI Effect" in the juristic discourse 210
6. 3. 2. The "CSI Effect" in the humanistic discourse 212
6. 4. Summary 222

Part 4-Conclusion

7 Conclusion 225
7. 1. Visual knowledge and communicative genre 229
7. 1. 1. Changing genres 231
7. 1. 2. Changing body images 234
7. 2. New Representations of Death in other Audio-Visual Media 243

Works cited 247
Index 263