You can look to Hollywood for a lot of things. Entertainment. Information. Discussion topics. But one thing you don’t want to do is look to Hollywood for legal advice. The way that specific legal processes are shown to operate in various movie and TV settings is demonstrably false. You never want to go into a formal court setting with expectations built on something created by the entertainment industry.
There are several examples of why this is not a good idea. First of all, when it comes to something like wrongful death, reality and fantasy are very different. Secondly, depictions of police officers via the Hollywood perspective are dramatically different than what real life might be. And third, Hollywood is always going to showcase dramatic events rather than the dry, boring truth of a court case.
Reality vs. Fantasy Concerning Wrongful Death
In a case of wrongful death, think about the difference between a Hollywood presentation and one in real life. In real life, you hire a wrongful death lawyer to determine the details of the case and present information to a jury in a precise, practical manner. In the fantasy world of TV and movies, emotions run high, tears flow, and judges and juries tend to either play the part of the hero or the villain rather than simply following the rule of law.
Depictions of Police Officers
The Hollywood depiction of police officers seems to be a standard presentation. There are lots of guns, lots of violence, and representations of good guys versus bad guys. In the real world, most police officers don’t even ever fire their sidearms.
A lot of police work is done using research and logic and tedious paperwork. If you look to how the entertainment industry suggests law enforcement operates, it skips 99% of the hard work and just leaves in death, destruction, and heroism.
Drama Over Dry Detail In Court Cases
How Hollywood portrays court scenes is very different than reality as well. There are specific rules about prosecutors, defenders, judges, juries, and every other aspect of a standard court procedure. Hollywood can break any of these rules that they want to present a more dramatic event.
If you’re trying to get legal advice from what succeeds or fails in a Hollywood scene, you are going to be seriously disappointed when everyone in the courtroom looks at you like you’re crazy. It’s extremely important to make sure that you talk to a legitimate lawyer before you decide to have a particular approach concerning a court case you’re involved in. Don’t take the legal system for granted if you plan on using entertainment as a resource for your knowledge.
Originally posted on September 17, 2019 @ 1:27 pm