Dangit, CSI

[Guest Mutts4Me]

Okay, CSI is my favorite show on TV at the moment. And I've taken issue with some of the stuff they've said/done on there, sometimes regarding dogs. They've never done anything blantantly discriminatory that I've noticed, though there have been the passive "stereotypes," such as the good goldens alerting the gardener that their owner's just been murdered, and the GSD being the one who carries a decaying human head home to gnaw on (yuck).

But I've never seen an attack. Once, a man was murdered by a dog, and I feared it'd be a pit. But it was a Mastiff/Great Dane mix - and *cough* they discovered it was exactly that mix by casting a mold of its bite marks :roll:

Tonight, though, I got really upset. They're going in to search the home of a firework-lovin' kid. It turns out they're anti-government, bomb-buildin', assault-weapon-holdin', knife-dealin' recluses (one of which is a murderer). But they go in the house initially, and you hear dogs barking from the backyard. One guy says "those sound like some nasty dogs out there," and I'm thinking, great, they're going to go outside and see a bunch of pits in chains, but they don't go or even look outside. The next thing you know, one detective says "I'm calling Animal Control to get those mutts outta here." I get mad, because if someone was in my house, my dog would be throwing a fit, too.

Later, when asked about blood upstairs, the dog owners suggest it was the dogs, because sometimes they get upstairs and fight. "A lot." Yuck! Enough for blood to be splattered on the walls?? Well, the blood was human, but it also turns out that the dogs (which were never seen) were indeed pit bulls. So thank you, CSI, for playing into the myth that pit bulls belong to uneducated, uncouth, and downright disgusting people. Just one of the many "assault weapons" that family owned, perhaps? Or just a white-trash kinda dog?

I'm mad, and I may write a letter, but I'll also continue to watch it. It is, after all, my favorite show. Just wanted to rant.

[BuddysMom]

So thank you, CSI, for playing into the myth that pit bulls belong to uneducated, uncouth, and downright disgusting people.

Well wouldn't you agree that in some cases this is all too true? I think the myth you are meaning to point to (which I all too recently bought) was that this is MOSTly the case.. as it is not!

Unfortunately there are many uncouth and downright disgusting people who favor pit bulls and we should be working to protect these wonderful dogs from those slimebuckets instead of pretending there is no connection.

[Guest Mutts4Me]

[quote name='desertlady']Well wouldn't you agree that in some cases this is all too true?

Most definitely it is. But it didn't have to be pit bulls. There didn't have to be dogs. They played no part, except as a minor excuse about where the blood came from. And there was really no need to indicate the dogs were pit bulls.

If it were a political move, that would be one thing. I wouldn't begrudge a show that showed a real-life scumbag's dogs as pit bulls (though I'd be annoyed he had them, just the same). And I have no problem stating that many, many pit bulls are in bad hands. I wouldn't have a problem with someone saying the same. The problem certainly exists.

But that family didn't have to have "pitbulls" for the sole purpose of throwing that word and all its negative connotations around. That's all.

[BuddysMom]

Yeah, you've got a point there for sure! At first I was thinking this show is based on real cases but it isn't is it, it's all script writers? If so then shame on them, you are right.

[Guest Mutts4Me]

desertlady napisał(a):

Yeah, you've got a point there for sure! At first I was thinking this show is based on real cases but it isn't is it, it's all script writers? If so then shame on them, you are right.

Yeah, it's all fake.

I almost did put in my original post, though, that I was aware that there was a connection (through no fault of the poor dogs themselves) between pits and scumbags, but I didn't.

LOL, they showed the kid's bedroom, and it had a couple band logos and posters. I'm sure there are perfectly normal people who listen to those bands, and I wonder if they're raging that their bands always get associated with maniacs, too?

[Guest Anonymous]

Mutts I agree with you that it wasn't neccesary just to put in a breif bad image towards pit bulls, but like you said...in all honesty, tons of scumbags own this wonderful breed of dog and that is the worst problem.

[ObedienceGrrl]

On a side note....

During the autopsy when he cracked the chest......

MAN....that was freaking COOL!!!!!!!!!!!

Just had to get that in.....

:D

[kendalyn]

That does suck. I didn't see that one, but I think it's probably worth a letter...

Mutts4Me napisał(a):

But it was a Mastiff/Great Dane mix - and *cough* they discovered it was exactly that mix by casting a mold of its bite marks

It's when they do stuff like this that really irritates me. Yeah, they can really tell from bite marks exactly what kind of dog the bite was from. It seems like they're constantly making these "100% accurate" connections that are totally unrealistic. Sometimes I can't stop rolling my eyes during that show. :roll:

[schippsmom]

:Dog_run:

For anyone who knows anything about forensics, that show is exactly that, a show. It's all about ratings. I also roll my eyes, a lot, during that during that show.

Paula & Re-Run

[__crazy_canine__]

Yeah unfortunately shows have to bring people interesting things to watch by any means...

Its a business and they have to do their job. BUT why the hell do they have to keep spreading the bad image of pits?!?! :evil:

[Guest Mutts4Me]

pwrpufgirlz napisał(a):

this is why i stick to law and order and crossing jordan.

LOL :lol:

What's "this"?

I remember a Law and Order episode that featured a pit bull who killed a guy. The dectectives were going through a kennel, where someone was trying to explain that killing a person isn't natural. One of the detectives sarcastically says, "Yeah, that whole 'blame the deed, not the breed' thing, right?" L&O constantly rips shows from headlines, and I believe that happened not too long after the Diane Whipple case. Another episode had the detectives investigating a potential suspect, and a woman tells them that her co-worker was injured when that man "sicced his pit bull on him in the parking lot." Just another case of throwing the term "pitbull" around for the sake of bringing up negative connotations about what kind of person a suspect is. Could've just been a "dog" or a "mutt," bit it was a "pitbull."

I'm a fan of Law and Order, too, btw. But I don't think one's better than the other :)

[Horsefeathers!]

I like CSI, but I get kind of tickled at the melodrama. I mean, everyone on that show ALWAYS looks like this >>> :o
I don't think I've ever seen one of them crack a smile.

[courtnek]

which one HF? There's three of them now....

I like them all. The forensics they use are actually being supplied by a real forensic pathologist, who gives her input on the scientific terms and the
use of the medical equipment, etc. Most of it is based on fact, but then exaggerated some to make the story more appealing. BTW, rarely does any city, even a major one, have a forensic dept quite that elaborate. However, the federal govt does, which is why in many of those cases, that
evidence would be sent to the feds to evaluate.

as far as the teeth marks? That is very real. They could not have actually pinput the breed of the dog from them, but they could tell examples of dogs who would have a mouth that size, and that bite radius, and then check it against an actual dog with a wet casting to confirm it. They do this same thing to identify people by their jaws, and even human bite marks.

I think the purpose of mentioning the dogs, aside from the blood spatter,
was to make a connotation of really rotten people having vicious dogs.
not uncommon in drug houses and anti-government terrorist type people.
Unfortunately, in a lot of cases these are Pits. This is how they got their bad rep to begin with. Although a letter mentioning that this is not helping the real Pit breed any is a good idea. IMO, most of these incidents are not
tru Pits, but rather mixes that dont have the real Pit personality and have been abused and untrained, or negatively trained.

[Horsefeathers!]

courtnek napisał(a):

which one HF? There's three of them now....

Oh, I guess it would have to be "regular" CSI. The one in Vegas? I'd forgotten they branched out. I really don't get into CSI: Miami and CSI: New York and whichever. :P

So now if you watch CSI in Vegas, look at those faces. They remind me of the FedEx commercial where are the guys are standing around saying, "we're DOOMED!" (it was making fun of melodrama, too).

I like the show. I just think it's funny how they all stand around with their lips pursed and brows furrowed ALL the time. >> :o <<

[Guest Mutts4Me]

[quote name='courtnek']as far as the teeth marks? That is very real. They could not have actually pinput the breed of the dog from them, but they could tell examples of dogs who would have a mouth that size, and that bite radius, and then check it against an actual dog with a wet casting to confirm it. They do this same thing to identify people by their jaws, and even human bite marks.

Yes, this is very true. But on this particular episode, honest to goodness, they made a casting of the bite marks and discovered the dog was "a Great Dane, Mastiff mix" (straight from Grissom's mouth). They then used that info to get a list of all the registered Great Danes and mixes in Vegas. They didn't find the suspected dog and compare its jaw to the mold of the bite marks. That would have been believable ;)

I don't have a problem with CSI's melodrama, but I know plenty of people who do. I just take it as, if I were working around dead people and murderers all the time, I'd be pretty grim, too.

My all-time horrified moment in CSI history: a kid's talking to Grissom, an entomologist, and itching his arm. Grissom asks what's wrong, and the kid says "I got a spider bite, and I think it's infected or something." Grissom asks to see, and a grim look steals over his face. He looks up and says, "That bite didn't come from any insect."

cuz, umm, a spider's not an insect, and an entomologist would know that

[courtnek]

I know the "facts" are greatly exaggerated, and I didnt se that episode (dont know HOW, thought I'd seen all of them... :lol: ) but Griisom is supposed to be an entomologist, or have training with them. His big thing is bugs. (**shiver** **shiver**)I dont like bugs. I dont mind them OUTSIDE, I DONT want them inside. ok heres a confession. I have a problem with ants and spiders and flies in my basement. tried every known bug killer available. didnt help. One summer I noticed they werent there....hmmm...why was that? My cat was down there (his food is down there) "hunting" I found two centipedes (thousand leggers) and they were eating the rest of the insect population. I let them stay. They live under the bookcase. PushyCat cant get them there. I no longer have a bug problem.....

[Horsefeathers!]

Mutts4Me napisał(a):

I don't have a problem with CSI's melodrama, but I know plenty of people who do. I just take it as, if I were working around dead people and murderers all the time, I'd be pretty grim, too.

I don't mind the melodrama a bit. It's what makes the show entertaining to me. CSI is on now and I think it's a dandy show. I just love those faces. Seriously, they make me giggle, grim or not.

>> :icon_rock: << *snicker*