Dig up the Bones

As much as forensic science really intrigues me, I was never that into the whole CSI thing. But every once in a while I turn on the TV attached to the treadmill and watch an episode of Bones, another forensic crime fighting team.

This comedy crime drama features a forensic anthropologist, Dr. "Bones" Brennan, accompanied by Special Agent Booth who solve crime through identifying human remains that are too difficult to identify through FBI forensics. In the particular episode I watched, they find a mutilated body siting in a pool of its own blood inside a pod. They identify the body and begin doing an investigation.

Now, with Booth on their team, it makes a little more sense that they are doing extensive detective work, but the level of involvement in the investigation by the forensics team is still surprising to me. This aspect of the forensics crime fighters really stems from the CSI crime drama series.

In class, we talked about how people are drawn to these types of crime fighting shows because they see science has hard facts solving crime and restoring order to society. Just like this idea is expressed through CSI, so it is through Bones.

One of the most prevalent aspects of the show that reinforce science accurately solving crime, is the highly advanced technology. Not only does the team have screens in which they can navigate through all of their information, they are able to see things and investigate at a much more advanced level than forensic scientists would be able to do in reality. The gadgets and gizmos allow them to do things that make their investigation more credible, therefore the audience holds more belief in the science that solves the crime.

So people who watch shows like Bones do so because they can believe in something factual and proven that unmistakably locks up the perpetrator and restores order to society. And who can deny the credibility of the investigation with all that high-tech stuff?

Though the representation of forensic science is highly exaggerated in crime shows such as Bones with the detective-like manner the forensics team operates in and the technology which lets them do things they wouldn't have access to in reality , I think the show is giving the audience exactly what they want: a reason to believe in science to solve crimes.