Texts 7 Luther - Genre

Learning Objective: To study Luther, TV series with consideration given to generic issues, signifiers, conventions, iconography

Key words: signifies, iconography, palette 

Mean world syndrome
a term coined by George Gerbner to describe a phenomenon whereby violence-related content of mass media makes viewers believe that the world is more dangerous than it actually is. Mean world syndrome is one of the main conclusions of cultivation theory.

An antihero or antiheroine is a main character in a story who lacks conventional heroicqualities such as idealism, courage, and morality.

Sleuth: someone whose job is to discover information about crimes andfind out who is responsible for them.

Anxieties (Richard Sparks) 

Luther:
Crime drama series starring Idris Elba as Luther, a near-genius murder detective whose brilliant mind can't always save him from the dangerous violence of his passions.

Luther is a British crime drama series starring Idris Elba as the eponymous character DCI John Luther. Written by Neil Cross, the first series, comprising six one-hour long episodes, premiered on 4 May 2010 and concluded on 8 June 2010. 

Wikipedia introduction to the series.

Conventions of TV Crime drama:

Television crime drama is a sub-genre of the television drama genre and usually focuses on the committing and solving of a crime. Television crime dramas are the fictional recreation of real-life stories. The best television crime dramas engage the audience because we believe in the characters and the worlds they create, even if those worlds and characters are seemingly unbelievable. The defining features of the genre are CHARACTERS, SETTING and NARRATIVE. 

Task 1:
Opening Sequences and Titles
View the opening sequence for BBC TV's Luther, a crime genre programme, answering the following Q's taken from a WJEC handout:

* What information about the programme does the sequence give the audience?
* How do the graphics signify information about the programme that will follow?
* How have music and audio codes been used to reflect the pace and style of the programme that will follow?
* Which characters are introduced? What expectations will the audience have of them from this sequence?
* How have the narrative or specific plot situations been introduced?
* What clues are given about the sub-genre? 

1. What information does the opening sequence give the audience? 

Firstly, the colour scheme of red and yellow signifies danger, blood, violence death and crime. These signifiers can be linked to the ‘mean world syndrome’ (A lens through which the audience views the world as dangerous and 'mean...' reception of the text suggests anxiety is communicated) which is backed up by the graphic iconography of bullet holes and crime tape. 

2. How do the graphics signify information? What does it stand for? 

The graphics consist of a colour palette of red and yellow, which connotes danger and violence. The graphics also consist of mainly squares, lines and droplets. The Lines could represent broken shards of glass or possibly even a spider diagram interlinking different crimes, events and the role of Luther in deconstructing this web of enigma. (Barthes) The silhouette of Luther presents the main protagonist, literally 'in the shadow,' which indicates that he is an anti-hero. This may also foreshadow his need to break the law on occasion in order to apprehend the law breakers. This reflects changing attitudes toward morality in the modern world...right and wrong, good and evil become subjective viewpoints. The lines create confinement (are these legal constraints) within the frame itself. Also the droplets are used as transitions and can connoteblood or violence. Although the series is based in the present, the opening sequence has a grain effect in order to give a vintage or crime noir aesthetic. The sequence has intertextual value, as the abstract imagery is associated with James Bond. Likewise, this suggests that Luther is a super-sleuth. Images of fingerprints are also used as it is associated with forensic evidence (sub-genre) and profiling criminals. As we don't know who the finger prints belong to,everybody remains a suspect. (Crime genre convention) A large eye is visible at 0:22, with the red background seen throughout the film. The red colour changes the way we perceive the image of the eye. The eye would normally resemble sight and the future, but the red adds a hint of violence, resembling the eye of a witness or the criminal. 

3. How have music and audiocodes been used to style the pace of the programme? 
The music is supposed to be the backing track for the opening, creating a suitable (meanworld) atmosphere for viewing the series. The soundtrack isn’t fast paced and is instead slow and dark, which reinforces the themes of the drama itself. The beat is rhythmic and consistent throughout the entire sequence, providing appropriate places for the editor to cut on the beat. The repetitive melody places the music in the trance sub-genre and communicates tension. A However, the lyrics in the opening sequence are very dark, and certain phrases in the song link to specific parts of the theme. For example, at 0:22, we can hear the woman singing ‘eyes of flame’ and we see the image of an eye followed up by the eye of Idris Elba a.k.a. Luther. The flames have demonic connotations and suggest that he will need dark, demonic powers to combat the problems faced in the criminal underworld

4. Which characters are introduced and what expectations does the audience have?

As an audience we can tell that Idris Elba is the main character from the introduction of his name over the dark silhouette. His star persona therefore anchors the character he is playing as Elba is well known for playing hyper-masculine characters. He has been in several well known crime series, this builds an expectation from the audience about the series. The audience would normally expect 2 or 3 of the other main characters to appear during the opening, but Luther defies that expectation and we only catch short glimpses of Luther’s face and his silhouette. The core target audience is British (although it is a successful international export too), I believe that the audience would expect to see imagery of the city to establish location. Ruth Wilson is well known for playing the role of ‘Femme Fatale’ in other films/series. When her name shows up next to the silhouette of Luther, this indicates to the audience that she will play an important role. 

5. How is the narrative being introduced? 

From the opening sequence we can tell that it is based in London, because of the vectors of the London skyline. We can also tell that this is a show about crime, due to the iconographic markers of yellow police tape and fingerprints. From the image of lines linking from the Vectors of London to Luther, we can feel that Luther is connected to the imagery of the city. This is reinforced up by the blood red sky, indicating danger and emphasises the ‘Mean World Syndrome’. However the counterclaim for this would be that Luther is a ‘Super Cop’ and that he will reassure any anxieties (Richard Sparks) or problems that get it in his way.

6. What clues are given about the sub-genre? 
Firstly, the images of fingerprints indicate that this is a sleuth as in common detective/sleuth TV shows and films, fingerprints are found at crime scenes by the main sleuth. Blood droplets can indicate crime, murder or violence, which are common factors in the sleuth sub-genre. Also the image of a police line tape is shown to indicate crime or police investigations and reinforce the image of crime genre.

A1. To what extent are your chosen texts typical of their genre? 

This is an A grade response which dealt with Luther as one of the texts, you will write about Common, Luther and Life on Mars:

BBC’s police drama, ‘Luther’ is a strongly typical of the police drama series. Set around the life of police detective John Luther, the series follows many of the conventions used within this genre, reminiscent of similar texts such as ‘Cracker’ and ‘Silent Witness’. Firstly, the series adheres to the crime series genre by using the familiar narrative of the police force catching the criminal. Throughout the series, new criminals are introduced only to be brought down by Luther and his team, creating peace, equilibrium, again taking Todrov’s theory into account. Interestingly Propp's idea of the hero character, here clearly defined as John Luther himself, is portrayed by black actor Idris Elba, subverting the stereotype that the hero must be a white male. However, the hero soon begins to display stereotypes and conventions visual to the television crime series, as we discover that John Luther is a troubled man, has anger issues and recently split up with his wife. This trait, the troubled cop, is heavily used throughout the series, drawing similarities to other crime dramas, such as Cracker, where the hero Fitz, played by Robbie Coltrane, has problems with alcohol and gambling. 

The good cop, bad cop stereotype is played upon in the form of good policeman Justin Rifoley, playing off Luther’s bad cop temper. Most characters speak with working class accents, DCI Rose Telser utilising a slightly dodgy cockney twang, which is a convention of most crime dramas, adding a gritty, realistic tone shying away from unnatural Received Pronunciation. Finally, the series lead setting, the police station, connotes to the audience that they are watching a police drama and not a romantic comedy, providing sufficient realism whilst enabling the writers to fill in any holes simply by pointing to a chart in the meeting room.

In conclusion, these three texts are typical of their genres, strongly conforming to the conventions laid down by series within the same genre that have come before them, adhering to character, setting and iconography traits, and whilst in places this is occasionally subverted, on the whole, it remains similar.