The fourth
reason detective mysteries are appealing as stories is related to the
foundational truth that human existence is meaningless apart from community. We
do not thrive nor are we fully content as solitary creatures, because as the
Creator said in the beginning, it is not good to be alone (Genesis 2:18).
Extended solitary confinement can drive a person mad, and even hermits usually
build their cells near one another.
And because
we are finite and fallen creatures, as soon as community is established a
system of some sort is necessary if justice is to be maintained. It may be a
simple system that grows up informally, but something systematic is required if
the community is not to descend into some sort of libertarian anarchy. This is
the wisdom in Jesus’ instructions to his followers about how to proceed if
someone sins against us (Matthew 18:15-20) and when churches fail to take his
words seriously the result is rarely admirable.
And because
we live in a broken world, corruption can penetrate our systems, within the
church or without, and when it does all of life is disrupted and perverted.
Sadly, corruption is a constant threat, from cities where the police accept
bribes to look the other way to the incestuous relationship between Washington
and Wall Street. Corruption undercuts the pursuit of justice, skewers the hope
of victims, and allows the powerful to gain at the expense of the powerless.
Detective
stories bring this complex interrelationship of community, system, justice, and
corruption into focus so that as we read life seems to be clarified. We love
detectives who are incorruptible, and see them as heroic. We wonder about the
detective who takes shortcuts for the greater good, and cheer if their breaking
the rules results in the criminal being apprehended. And we feel a weight when
the story is of corruption all through the system, so that justice is always
thwarted and the forces of law instead make a bargain with the forces of crime
to keep the evil within “acceptable” limits. This is why debates about a
nation’s judicial system become so heated—even if we are not dragged into the
justice system personally it matters to us that the system in our community is
not corrupted.
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And so
detective stories are appealing because they allow us to live in a fictional
world where these realities are explored, for blessing and for curse. We follow
the cases of incorruptible detectives and feel hopeful, or the cases of corrupt
detectives and wish they would be caught and exposed. Human community, systems
of law and order, and the diabolical threat of corruption are constantly with
us, and both justice and hope lie in the balance.
Lord Peter & Father Brown
If you have
not read Dorothy Sayers’s (1893-1957) Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries or G. K.
Chesterton’s (1874-1936) Father Brown mysteries, please do so. I think it is
correct to say that these two Christian authors not only wrote ripping good
stories, they revealed how glorious the detective genre could be.
Lord Peter
is a stereotypical British aristocrat, with a trusty butler, and time on his
hands because his money, which is considerable, was inherited. So he solves
mysteries, and because of his moral commitments and lack of need, is
incorruptible in his pursuit of justice. An interesting detail for Christians
is that though Lord Peter is not a believer, another character in the stories
is, and the interplay between the two is fascinating.
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Father
Brown is a Catholic priest, and is a good detective because he cares only for
truth and has spent so many hours hearing confession that he has no illusions
about human nature. He can see past and through deception and lies, and notices
ordinary details that more distracted people all miss. When he confronts the
criminal at the end of the story it is not with the standard, “You are under
arrest,” but with “I am ready to hear your confession.”
Both Sayers
and Chesterton clearly saw how detective stories fit into the deeper biblical
story of reality, and though neither series are religious in the sense of being
preachy, both take law, guilt, justice, mercy and forgiveness with the
seriousness they deserve. The fact that neither detective is corruptible makes
the stories all the more satisfying. I’d like both Lord Peter and Father Brown to
be at work in my community.
Father
Brown (51 short stories published in various editions).
Lord Peter
(11 novels plus 6 short story collections published in various editions).
The Protectors
The Danish
national police force includes the P.E.T (Politiets
Efterretningstjeneste) division, whose job is similar to that of the U.S.
Secret Service, providing protection to politicians, public figures, royalty,
and visiting diplomats. The series follows a group of new recruits to the
service, so we get a glimpse of the more mundane as well as the exciting parts
of the job. The individuals on the squad have personal lives and concerns, and
how these interact with their demanding and dangerous work is a subtext woven
into the plot.
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In one
sense The Protectors is not a
detective series, yet fulfilling the tasks assigned to them usually involves
needing to anticipate dangers and unravel threats to the persons they must keep
safe. Their work carries them to the edge between criminal violence and social
justice, and hidden clues and mysterious criminals always lurk. And they are
tasked with preventing terrorist attacks, tracking dangerous persons, and
finding stalkers.
One of the
delights of The Protectors is the
insight it allows into Danish life and society. Filmed in Copenhagen, each
episode provides lovely vistas of Danish countryside or the scenic streets,
architecture, interiors, and neighborhoods of Copenhagen. Following the members
of the squad also allows insight into Danish culture, mores, and daily life.
I enjoyed
this series, appreciated the character development as the episodes progressed
through each season, and came to understand how even working as a bodyguard can
demand choices that are rife with ethical concerns, and sometimes moral confusion.
The Protectors are often misunderstood, criticized when things go badly by
powerful figures in politics and the media, and ignored when everything goes
well. Yet the squad remains committed to its work, and does its best even when
needing to protect unsavory characters. In a fallen world, police like the
P.E.T. will always be necessary, and one can only hope that they act with the
integrity the officers in The Protectors
sought to nurture and display.
The Protectors (2 seasons, 10 episodes
each, 1 hour each episode, Danish with subtitles, available on DVD or
streaming)
Spiral
The Protectors is set in Denmark and
follows a squad of limited officers who desire to live with integrity, while Spiral takes us to France where nearly
everyone depicted in the series seems willing, if not eager, to be corrupted to
get ahead. Spiral is delightful for
the opportunity it provides to see into French life, society and culture and
the lovely setting of Paris. The corruption comes not because they are French,
but because they are fallen, and to mark the contrast, one figure in the series
seeks justice even at personal cost.
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The French
system of justice is quite different from what I am used to, with magistrates
empowered to investigate crimes and determine whether the persons involved
should be brought to trial. The series follows one such magistrate and the police
working under his direction depicting how he must weave his way through a
labyrinth of political vested interests and legal corruption. Two young attorneys,
trying to get their careers launched in a crowded and competitive field,
discover the temptation to bend the law is not merely present but is usually
far more lucrative than just doing the job of a lawyer.
The
depiction of corruption is never glorified, and though characters may claim
things are relative, the stories reveal that is not the case. Choices have
consequences, justice perverted is never victimless, and the individual who
chooses corruption may gain wealth and even prestige but loses their soul.
Each series
of episodes tends to follow one major crime, as it is investigated and brought
to justice, with subplots of other smaller cases woven into the plots. Over
time we watch as temptation, disappointment, and choices make a difference,
setting up ripples that work their way out to poison the system upon which the
community depends. This is a rather dark and gritty series, one that shows not
just the horror of crime, but the tragedy that is corruption.
Spiral (5 seasons, 8-12 episodes each, 1
hour each episode, on DVD and some streaming, French with subtitles)
Peaky Blinders
A
production of BBC Two, Peaky Blinders tells the story of a family gang that
ruled the streets of Birmingham, England in 1919. World War I has just ended,
conditions for working men in Birmingham are grim, Communist agitators are
seeking to organize resistance, industrial pollution is unrestricted, and
despair and alcoholism are rampant. The Peaky Blinders, a family of gangsters
are named for their caps, into the peaks of which they have sewed straight razors,
so in a street fight they can be slashed across an opponent’s eyes. The
neighborhoods that the gang rules are bereft of law, the police either bought
off or too afraid to get involved. Then the brutal but effective Chief
Inspector Chester Campbell (played by Sam Neill), is brought in from Belfast by
Winston Churchill to clean up the mess, and he soon comes up against the head
of the Peaky Blinders, the clever and ambitious gangster Tommy Shelby (played
by Cillian Murphy).
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In this
series we go one step further and watch what life is like when corruption has
perverted the system, so that the street gang and the police are more alike
than not. Both take life when it suits them (though for different reasons),
make compromises to get ahead, and try to find a way to further their own ends
even if integrity is lost in the process.
In some
neighborhoods today residents fear a squad of police arriving on their street
even more than they do the gangs that rule the street when the police are
absent. Peaky Blinders gives some
hint of what that must be like, and it is not as it should be. Chief Inspector
Campbell is on the side of law and order, yet is willing to brutalize, torture,
invade homes, and make the sight of a constable a reason for the law abiding
citizen to fear.
The
trajectory from Lord Peter and Father Brown to The Protectors to Spiral
to Peaky Blinders follows stories of
increasing corruption. None of these productions glorify crime and corruption
but force us to face the reality of the tragedy of living in a darkly fallen
world. They reveal how badly we yearn for a system within our communities that
seeks justice with integrity, which in turn reveals why we mean it when we
pray, “Thy kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
The Peaky Blinders (2 seasons, 6
episodes each, 1 hour each episode available exclusively on Netflix and DVD)
This entry was posted
at Wednesday, October 22, 2014
and is filed under
Book review,
Community,
Ethics,
Evil,
Fiction,
Film review,
G.K.Chesterton,
Justice,
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