Justified and philosophy : shoot first, think later

281 Pages·2015·2.084 MB·English

by  Arp, Robert, Carveth, Rod

P O P U L A R C U L T U R E A N D P H I L O S O P H Y ®
PHILOSOPHY / TV AND FILM
POPULAR CULTURE AND PHILOSOPHY®
C
A
“ ou haven’t read Justified and “The Western’s an excellent genre for R
Philosophy yet? Folks have contemporary viewers and readers to explore V
E
been shot for less.” what if’s. In a world with no rules, seemingly T
H
— NICOLAS MICHAUD, editor of unending wealth for the taking, and the A
Adventure Time and Philosophy: opportunity to exercise any number of harmful N
D
The Handbook for Heroes and immoral acts, would you, should you, or could A JUSTIFIED
you? Justified is the Western for the twenty-first R
“Looking into hearts blacker than century, as Clint Eastwood was for the previous P
the blackest coal, we’ve discovered one, and Justified and Philosophy gives us many
what happens after the shotgun exciting insights into the quick-draw world of
wedding in Justified. It seems that Raylan Givens.”
blood’s thicker than cold sorghum
— ROGER HUNT, Boston Graduate School of
syrup up in those mountains. The
Psychoanalysis
Hatfields and McCoys weren’t nearly J
so imaginative or so well armed, but “Even people who’ve never read a word of U
S
the Crowders and the Crowes and philosophy will be able to read this book and find T AND PHILOSOPHY
the Givenses and their boys aren’t it justifiably fascinating.” I
F
so different from what you and I — RICK ANDERSON, independent television critic I SHOOT FIRST, THINK LATER
E
would be if our loyalties were all
D
we believed in. Thoughts deeper
than the deepest holler are in the crosshairs here, ROD CARVETH is Director of Graduate A
and since these aren’t yesteryear’s rednecks, Studies in the School of Global Journalism and N EDITED BY ROD CARVETH AND ROBERT ARP
Carveth and Arp have summoned a crew of down- Communication at Morgan State University. He D
home thinkers who know their way around the co-edited Mad Men and Philosophy (2011) and
P
backroads of philosophy.” Media Economics: Theory and Practice (2003).
H
— RANDALL E. AUXIER, author of Time, Will, and
ROBERT ARP is an intelligence analyst for the US I
Purpose: Living Ideas from the Philosophy of L
Army. He has written and edited many works in
Josiah Royce O
both academic and popular philosophy, including
S
Homeland and Philosophy (2014), 1001 Ideas that
“If John Rawls was a lawman, he’d be Justified’s O
Changed the Way We Think (2013), and What’s
newest Chief Deputy Marshal. But, if Raylan P
Good on TV? Teaching Ethics through Television
Givens was a philosopher he’d write this book and H
(2011).
make it a capital offense not to read it.”
Y
— MICHAEL J. MUNIZ, Northwood University
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Justified and
Philosophy
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Popular Culture and Philosophy® Series Editor: George A. Reisch
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Popular Culture and Philosophy®
Justified and
Philosophy
Shoot First, Think Later
EDITED BY
ROD CARVETH and ROBERT ARP
and
SHAUN P. YOUNG
OPEN COURT
Chicago
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Volume 88 in the series, Popular Culture and
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ISBN: 978-0-8126-9876-3
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2014955512
Leonard Cohen and philosophy / edited by Jason Holt.
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ISBN 978-0-8126-9856-5 (trade paper : alk. paper) 1. Cohen, Leonard,
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Justified and Philosophy 4th pages_Layout 1 11/24/14 4:34 PM Page v
Contents
Gray Areas in a Gray Area vii
I Vittles ’n’ Such 1
1. Know Your ABCs (Always Be Cool)
JONCOTTON 3
2. Can Proactive Policing Be Justified?
JOHNR. FITZPATRICK 19
3. The Crimes of Old King Coal
CLINTJONES 29
4. Justified’s Message of White Superiority
RODCARVETH 41
5. Justified True Belief
CYNTHIAJONES 51
II Signs from God 63
6. Was Boyd Truly Born Again?
MICHAELD. JAWORSKI 65
7. Handling Snakes with Fear and Trembling
ROBERTOSIRVENTANDCALEBACTON 79
III Right and Wrong in Harlan County 91
8. I Did What I Had to Do
CHRISTIANCOTTONANDANTHONYPALAZZO 93
9. The Ethical Theories of Raylan and Boyd
GERALDBROWNING 111
10. Justified or Just Making Excuses?
ALEXANDERDICK 121
v
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Contents
IV Harlan’s Feminine Side 131
11. We Are Not Your Savages
JOANNACROSBY 133
12. Boys Will Be Boys
CYNTHIAJONES, SANDRAHANSMANN, ANNESTACHURA,
ANDLINDAENGLISH 145
V Family Values 157
13. Failed Patriarchs
PAULZINDER 159
14. Motherhood and Apple Pie
PETERS. FOSL 171
15. Family Matters in Harlan County
GERALDBROWNING 193
VI Quite the Characters 201
16. Pleasure Über Alles
RODCARVETH 203
17. Mags Bennett—Outlaw Mother
JULIAMASON 213
18. Raylan Learns to Restrain Himself
NATHANVERBAANANDADAMBARKMAN 223
Justified Killings? 235
About Our Authors 253
Index 263
vi
Justified and Philosophy 4th pages_Layout 1 11/24/14 4:34 PM Page vii
Gray Areas in a Gray Area
A
n FX series based on Elmore Leonard’s novels, Pronto, and
Riding the Rap, and his short story “Fire in the Hole,” Justified
might appear to be just another Western set in contemporary
times. After all, Raylan Givens in his cattleman’s hat is more
Western gunfighter than modern law enforcement—he’s the
type of Eastwoodian anti-hero who might ask that you drop
your gun, but surely will blow you away if you don’t.
“I want you to understand,” Raylan tells one criminal
who’s considering his options, “I don’t pull my side arm un-
less I’m going to shoot to kill. That’s its purpose, to kill, so
that’s how I use it. I want you to think about that before you
act and it’s too late.”
But Justified is a much more nuanced, much more com-
plex show than that. Not only are the storylines involving,
but the characters also possess motivations that are never
simple or what they seem to be. There aren’t any characters,
for example, who are purely evil (even Mags Bennett had
some good in her)—some are stupid and some are a bit crazy,
for sure. On the other hand, no one’s completely good. Even
Art has an unpleasant side, as Raylan will attest when Art
gives him a black eye. Characters such as Boyd Crowder,
Mags Bennett, and Ellstin Limehouse commit vicious
crimes, yet often come across as sympathetic and, well,
human-ly.
vii
Justified and Philosophy 4th pages_Layout 1 11/24/14 4:34 PM Page viii
Gray Areas in a Gray Area
Justified resonates with its audience because, at its core,
it’s a series about believable human beings, not “black hats”
and “white hats.” And the issues and topics addressed are
too complicated to be considered “black-and-white” too. For
example, you may think that the rampant crime in Harlan
County is wrong, and you would be right . . . sorta. After all,
it’s corporate exploitation of the people in Harlan by the coal
industry that has bred many of the ills, and you find yourself
empathizing not only with the desperation of folks in the fic-
tional scenarios of Harlan, but also with real-life coal mining
towns where this kind of exploitation is occurring right now.
The topic of religion and belief in a god are certainly not
portrayed as black-and-white areas in the show either. Billy
St. Cyr seems at times to be genuinely concerned with the
souls of the people of Harlan County, and religion offers a
way to reform your life and do some good in the Appalachian
mountains, but not everything is as it appears. Perhaps St.
Cyr has discovered a heavenly way to exploit folks at the
Last Chance Salvation Church by lining his own pockets
with their Sunday offerings? We also find out that Boyd
claims to be a born-again Christian and self-proclaimed
leader of a rival church group not to save his soul from the
fires of Hell, but to dupe a group of ex-cons into ridding Har-
lan of meth labs so that he could ultimately control the busi-
ness. Or maybe not, as there are certain reflective moments
where Boyd does some of his own soul searching. Again, no
black-and-white areas here.
And, of course, in the Pilot episode Raylan is kind of bait-
ing and threatening Tommy Bucks by giving him twenty-
four hours to get out of town or else he’s gonna kill him. And
when the twenty-four hours are up, and they’re both sitting
at the table at that Miami rooftop bar, we might think
Tommy deserves being shot and killed because he pulled
first—oh, and he’s a scumbag to boot. However, even scum-
bags have basic rights and fundamental dignities. If you
stop to think about it, killing Tommy doesn’t feel very legal
or ethical, and Raylan really should have been at a mini-
mum stripped of his badge for such a move, if not tried and
viii
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Gray Areas in a Gray Area
convicted. Raylan gets away with it, and there are many
more moments in Justifiedwhere we wonder if Raylan really
is justified in killing folks, or if it’s straightforward murder
in the guise of “cleaning up Harlan County.”
We’ve mentioned just a few of the issues in ethics and po-
litical philosophy that are explored in the show with a fair
amount of sophistication. There are other topics in episte-
mology (the study of knowledge), metaphysics (the study of
what exists), and logic (the study of correct reasoning) that
the authors in this book draw a bead on.
As you read, remember that none of the issues discussed
can be considered totally black-and-white; rather they’re of-
tentimes gray. Possibly as gray as the coal-ridden skies of
Lexington and the surrounding areas of Harlan County.
ix