Janet Collins
Billy MThe Crime Writing Craze
May 4th 2008 11:10
[Crime writing has always been popular but it seems to be gaining momentum.
Recently, I scrolled through the program for the upcoming Sydney Writers’ Festival. All the events, seminars and discussions on the topic of crime writing (at least the ticketed ones) were booked out. Maybe this happens every year I don’t know.
I then started wondering what it is about crime that fascinates us. After all, since television began in Australia, so much of the content has been based on crime, police stories or law. Whether these are Australian, American or British, crime shows seem to always attract a large and continuous following.
Remember some of the popular American crime shows over the past few decades. “L.A. Law”, “Law and Order” and its many spin-offs and “NYPD Blue” all drew large audiences across the globe.
The British ones I loved watching were the “Prime Suspect” series, “Dalziel and Pascoe” and “The Bill”. One of my favourite Australian ones, was “Wild Side” but there have been many more. Some of these were more gruesome than others but they were all excellent in their own way.
One thing they all had in common though was that the focus was on the police and the prosecutors rather than the criminals. The crimes were central to the story but how the crimes were solved was what made the shows so fasinating. What also made these shows more interesting than others was the vulnerabilities and frailties and sometimes, darker sides of the characters.
When the very dark “The Sopranos” hit our screens years ago, the focus changed completely to the lawbreakers themselves. This series was gruesome and extremely violent but the characters were so colourful but real and I was addicted to the very end. All of a sudden, the criminals were now the heroes and the crime busters the smaller parts of the story.
“Underbelly” even described in one article as a series that would make “The Sopranos” look like a picnic, lived up to its name. I don’t think I heard an Australian series talked about so much for years.
It’s not that this hasn’t been done before but more on the big screen. “The Godfather” series was (I think) the first to focus on the mafia and see things from the perspective of the criminal. “Goodfellas” did much the same.
If I am not mistaken, I think “Underbelly” has now created a new crime writing craze. I very much enjoy writing but crime I would rather watch.
Recently, I scrolled through the program for the upcoming Sydney Writers’ Festival. All the events, seminars and discussions on the topic of crime writing (at least the ticketed ones) were booked out. Maybe this happens every year I don’t know.
I then started wondering what it is about crime that fascinates us. After all, since television began in Australia, so much of the content has been based on crime, police stories or law. Whether these are Australian, American or British, crime shows seem to always attract a large and continuous following.
Remember some of the popular American crime shows over the past few decades. “L.A. Law”, “Law and Order” and its many spin-offs and “NYPD Blue” all drew large audiences across the globe.
The British ones I loved watching were the “Prime Suspect” series, “Dalziel and Pascoe” and “The Bill”. One of my favourite Australian ones, was “Wild Side” but there have been many more. Some of these were more gruesome than others but they were all excellent in their own way.
One thing they all had in common though was that the focus was on the police and the prosecutors rather than the criminals. The crimes were central to the story but how the crimes were solved was what made the shows so fasinating. What also made these shows more interesting than others was the vulnerabilities and frailties and sometimes, darker sides of the characters.
When the very dark “The Sopranos” hit our screens years ago, the focus changed completely to the lawbreakers themselves. This series was gruesome and extremely violent but the characters were so colourful but real and I was addicted to the very end. All of a sudden, the criminals were now the heroes and the crime busters the smaller parts of the story.
“Underbelly” even described in one article as a series that would make “The Sopranos” look like a picnic, lived up to its name. I don’t think I heard an Australian series talked about so much for years.
It’s not that this hasn’t been done before but more on the big screen. “The Godfather” series was (I think) the first to focus on the mafia and see things from the perspective of the criminal. “Goodfellas” did much the same.
If I am not mistaken, I think “Underbelly” has now created a new crime writing craze. I very much enjoy writing but crime I would rather watch.
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