Understanding Courtroom Drama | Under Lens

What Exactly A Courtroom Drama Is? Courtrooms attract people. It is the place where an act of crime meets a logical conclusion. It is the place where everything is clinically dissected and truth is revealed. It is the place where justice is delivered. Courtrooms have been an important part of our literature. Remember Merchant Of Venice? Remember Panch Parmeshwar? Remember Julius Caesar? A story that deals with legal aspects of an action (usually in Act 1) in Act 2 and reaches a conclusion, traditionally holding the torch of justice, in Act 3 can define a courtroom drama in its generic form.

 

What Happens In A Courtroom Drama? In a courtroom drama, two opposite sides- prosecution and defense, analytically examine and cross examine the evidences and witnesses. The charges and accused’s stand is discussed. More than often, motive or rational behind the crime is discussed. Emotions flow and sometimes heated arguments forces judge to intervene. Not only people are in the box, even sometime law is judged. Sometimes, sanity of accused is questioned. Sometimes, validity of crime is questioned. Sometimes, morality of victim is questioned. Sometimes, the court is questioned.

 

Examples: 12 Angry Men, Anatomy of a Murder, A Cry In The Dark, A Few Good Men, Judgment at Nuremberg, Philadelphia, Qatl are rated high. Movies like To Kill A Mocking Bird, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Waqt, Awaara, Achanak revolve around court cases and hence are treated as Courtroom Dramas.

 

Fine Print: As the word says- Drama, a lot of what is shown is fiction. The bottom line is to tell an interesting story. As a result even the best of the courtroom dramas show misinterpretation of law. As a result, many misconceptions are promoted. For example, in 12 Angry Men it is shown that Juror 8 brings in a knife in the room and tells that he got it from a shop in the area where crime took place. This and Jury making assumptions based on personal observations (not put forward by lawyers) would have led to mistrial in a standard court.