Can Television Teach Us About Real Legal Matters?
You may have noticed that the law, and legalese, has become something of a hot topic in recent years. With many people becoming aware of the prior fractious political climate in the United States, and what that meant for the very top level of Government, it seems that political and legal awareness is at an all time high.
This is not to discredit the fact that in some respect, many of us fancy ourselves armchair lawyers, but that in no way means that we have any actual grounding to make judgements unless we are deliberately trained in this. If experiencing an accident, for instance, we absolutely cherish using a lawyer that handles personal injury cases rather than our friend that has watched all nine seasons of Suits.
But what does this mean in practice? Can television teach us about real practical and legal matters? Well, it depends. Sometimes, knowing this can help you further enjoy a show as entertainment, without getting too involved in it. In other cases, it can help you make a better choice of what to watch. Let’s consider what this might all mean in the long run:
Fact Check Channels
Of course, sometimes being entertained by the law can turn into a real, practical interest in how the law actually plays out in everyday scenarios. For instance, fact check YouTube channels can be quite entertaining to watch while thoroughly educating, such as LegalEagle’s efforts to review popular television shows, poking through the process and (often), showing how certain series stars would have been disbarred from practice time and time again.
Legal Truths
Of course, there are some legal truths to be gleaned from watching series such as this. It might be that you learn about proper jargon such as witness tampering by seeing it playing out in a dramatic setting. You’ll learn about court proceedings, such as how a judge keeps control over his or her courtroom. You’ll also learn about certain stages of the legal process, such as the discovery period, where lawyers request information that could potentially help them build their case. In some respects, you’ll also be able to see how speaking to a lawyer is almost always favorable, even if profoundly innocent, than talking to the police. These insights can be highly effective in our personal lives, given the right situation.
Quality Biopic Documentaries
Of course, you don’t have to settle for legal dramas of varying realism. There are many excellent legal biopics out there that describe a range of cases. For instance, The People vs. OJ Simpson is perhaps one of the most popular recent shows n this veins, as is Making A Murderer, or watching police interrogations and associated legal analysis from channels like Jim Can’t Swim. While not always a perfect depiction of how situations play out, these channels can help you understand the history of large-scale legal cases and why the outcome is as it was presented.
In that respect, yes, television can teach us about real legal matters. Just take what you see with a pinch of salt.
