The bitter taste of payback: the pathologising effect of TV ‘revengendas’

Abstract

The thirst for vengeance is a timeless subject in popular entertainment. One need only think of Old Testament scripture; Shakespeare's Hamlet; Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill or the TV series Revenge, and we immediately conjure up images of a protagonist striving to seek justice to avenge a heinous wrong committed against them. These texts, and others like it, speak to that which is ingrained in our human spirit about not only holding others responsible for their actions, but also about retaliation as payback. This article seeks to problematise the way the popular revenge narrative effectively constructs the vendetta as a guilty pleasure through which the audience can vicariously gain satisfaction, while at the same time perpetuates law's rhetoric that personal desires for vengeance are to be repressed and denied. In particular, the article will demonstrate the way such popular revenge narratives contribute to the pathologising of human desire for payback.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the editors and the anonymous reviewers whose suggestions have enriched my arguments. I also acknowledge the support of the Legal Intersections Research Centre (LIRC), UOW of which I am a member.

Notes

¹ Revenge (ABC productions, 2011–2015).

²For an example of biblical revenge see the story of Samson in the Old Testament: Judges 13–16.

³Indeed, the revenge quest of Emily as described in the vignette, is reminiscent of several intelligent and quick-witted protagonists on the small screen who experienced significant personal tragedy at the hands of others. For example, the characters of Veronica Mars (Veronica Mars, UPN/CW, 2004–2007), Patrick Jayne (The Mentalist, CBS, 2008–2015) and Oliver Queen (Arrow, CW 2012–present), have each been enormously popular because they displayed a shrewd intellect, sharp tongue and a retributive way of approaching matters, motivated by the vengeful desires that haunt them.

⁴Bloom (2001), p 61.

⁵Worcester (2012), p 334.

⁶Alexandre Dumas (1844). For examples of reviews that compare the two texts see: D'Amico (2012); Schadler (2014); Stanley (2011).

⁷In contemporary society, the interest and popularity in Emily Thorne's quest for revenge becomes all the more understandable when considered within a context where there is enormous resentment for the wealthy among us who seem to be able to ‘buy’ justice in this particularly catastrophic economy. See for example the review of Stanley (2011), which elaborates on this.

⁸Bacon (1625), p 15.

⁹Miller (1998), p 70.

¹⁰Rosenbaum (2013).

¹¹Sarat (2005), p 279. See also Connelly (2007) and Culbert (2005).

¹²Garvey (2003), p 303; Braithwaite (2003), p 389.

¹³Tuomala (1993), p 229.

¹⁴This evokes a Kantian philosophy: ‘He must first be found to be deserving of punishment before any consideration is given to the utility of this punishment for himself or for his fellow citizens’ (Kant 1965).

¹⁵Miller (1998), p 73.

¹⁶Online Oxford English Dictionary. ‘Revenge’, http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/revenge.

¹⁷Miller (1998), p 73.

¹⁸Nozick (1981). Interestingly, Miller suggests that this explanation of revenge by Nozick ‘turns revenge by definitional fiat into a pathology’ and is ‘representative of the general anti-revenge tradition of political, moral, and legal philosophy’: Miller (2000), p 163. The inspiration for the major argument of this article in relation to the pathologising of revenge, was due in part, to this thread in Miller's work.

¹⁹Nozick (1981), p 366–367.

²⁰Nozick (1981), p 367.

²¹Nozick (1981), p 367.

²²‘Revenge by nature need set no limits, although the revenger may limit what he inflicts for external reasons.’ Nozick (1981), p 367.

²³Sarat (2005), p 279.

²⁴Nozick (1981), p 367.

²⁵Unemotional bureaucratic implementation of punishment looks much like law according to Kafka: Miller (1998), p 74; see also Miller (2000), p 164.

²⁶Miller (2000), p 161.

²⁷Oldenquist (2004), p 340.

²⁸Posner (1988), p 25–26.

²⁹Sarat (2005), p 279.

³⁰Sarat (1997), p 169.

³¹Sherwin has demonstrated the ‘highly porous’ nature of the boundaries between law, culture and images and I have consistently argued that popular stories help individuals to frame and contextualise normative expectations of the legal system: Sherwin (2014), p xxxv; Sharp (2011), pp 33–51; Sharp (2005), p 233.

³²Tager and Matthee (2014), p 24.

³³Bartsch (2012), p 294.

[E]ntertainment research has accumulated an impressive body of evidence supporting the assumption that affective experiences can be gratifying for media users, including both the immediate gratification derived from rewarding feelings, and the more indirect but not less significant role of affect in the gratification of social and cognitive needs. (Bartsch (2012), p 273)

³⁴Tager and Matthee (2014), p 25.

³⁵Worcester (2012), p 334.

³⁶Jacoby (1983), p 10.

³⁷See further some empirical research that highlights this public desire: Sharp (2014); Sharp (2015).

³⁸Berkowitz argues that ‘revenge has been neutered’ and is no longer seen as ‘wild justice’ or ‘law's other’ in the ‘mild fare of Hollywood blockbusters’ (Berkowitz (2005), p 280) however this supports my thesis that the contemporary revenge story in pop culture cultivates revenge as a pathology by presenting vengeance as palatable and desirable, yet ultimately producing destructive consequences. See further discussion in the section titled Revenge as Pathology in this article.

³⁹One online reviewer of Revenge commented: ‘We are invested in seeing if she gets [her revenge]’, and ‘I'll admit, I enjoy seeing the Graysons’ squirming’: Martina Boone (2011).

⁴⁰See for example this comment from a viewer: ‘I understand that Emily is not entirely innocent but the Grayson's murdered her father as well as a plane load of people. I think that gives her plenty of leeway to do whatever she wants’: Public comment by Mysterv on Jan 13, 2014 in response to Thomas, (2014).

⁴¹Miller (1998), p 81; Miller (2000), p 172.

⁴²Berkowitz and Cornell (2005), p 316.

⁴³See for example the work cited in Bloom (2001).

⁴⁴Bloom (2001), p 78. See also Eisenstat (2005).

⁴⁵Marongiu and Newman (1987), p 9.

⁴⁶Bloom (2001), 80.

⁴⁷Public comment by Ghenet Myrthil in response to Boone (2011).

⁴⁸Bloom (2001), 80.

⁴⁹Worcester (2012), p 332.

⁵⁰Worcester (2012), p 329.

⁵¹Sharp (2014).

⁵²Research has shown that people often equate punishment with justice. Welsh et al, (2011), p 460.

⁵³Sharp (2014); See also Sharp (201 1; 2014).

⁵⁴Bartsch (2012), p 271.

⁵⁵Miller (1998), p 72.

⁵⁶As one viewer stated: ‘I loved this episode … . Emily is most interesting when she is 100% revenge focused’: Public comment by QMargo on Jan 13, 2014 in response to: Thomas (2014).

⁵⁷Welsh et al, (2011), p 460.

⁵⁸Tager and Matthee (2014), p 21, use this description for the character of Dexter Morgan in the tv series Dexter. They argue that he is a character ‘who incorporates the emotionless, clinical actions of a psychopath into the day-to-day actions of a normal person’: p 21.

⁵⁹Keveney (2012).

⁶⁰Bartsch (2012), p 268.

⁶¹Episode 13, Season 3, first aired on ABC, 12 Jan, 2014.

⁶²In this episode, once she learns of her tragic loss, she says to Aiden: ‘I found out I can't have children. They took my father, my mother, my best friend, and now this’. Emily Thorne, Series 3, Episode 13, Endurance.

⁶³Public comment by QMargo on Jan 13, 2014 in response to Thomas (2014).

⁶⁴Liebes and Katz (1993), p 100.

⁶⁵Bartsch (2012), p 272.

⁶⁶Liebes and Katz (1993), p 103.

⁶⁷Public comment by Run4Nova on Jan 13, 2014 in response to Thomas (2014).

⁶⁸Tager and Matthee (2014), deploy this argument in relation to Dexter's voice-overs in the TV series Dexter: p 21.

⁶⁹Worcester (2012), p 329.

⁷⁰Tim Peters identifies the use of estrangement as a mode of cultural legal studies – such that ‘making strange’ traditional concepts and meaning about law, is another form of cultural legal studies reading: Peters (2015). 

⁷¹Kelly (2014), p 405.

⁷²Miller (2000), p 201.

⁷³Kelley (2014), p 405.

⁷⁴Kelley (2014), p 405.

⁷⁵Milton, Paradise Lost (Kastan ed, 2005).

⁷⁶Miller (1998), p 83.

⁷⁷Jaffe (2011).

⁷⁸Posner (19 8 8), p 39.

⁷⁹Yoshino (2009), p 224.

⁸⁰Shklar (1990), p 94, quoted in Sarat (2005), p 279.