An Addict's Reflection: Law and Order SVU

My name is Kelsey Knoedler, and I'm addicted to serial television.

Right now, my drug of choice: Law and Order SVU.

"In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad called the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories."

(I really want to meet the guy who does that intro. Wouldn't it be wicked awesome if you were working at a coffee shop in NYC, and all of a sudden a guy comes to order his coffee with THAT voice? That chance alone almost makes me want to move to New York City.)

The past two weekends, I have hardly been unable to pull myself away from the computer watching episodes of Law and Order SVU online-- as many episodes as I can find. Over Christmas break, I learned how to use the DVR and recorded the many daily marathons of SVU that occur on 15 different channels and watched them non-stop all day. I just don't get it. It's nearly the sames stories, episode after episode, filled with rape victims and/or children being criminalized. It's sick, it's terrible, and I can't tear my eyes away from it. I've tried watching episodes from the other 57 versions of Law and Order, and none of them are the same. It can't be the sex crimes that keep me interested, because those give me nightmares if anything. The other night after watching a particularly frightening episode involving a break-in, I told my friend Rachel to text me when she got home and dead-bolted the apartment door behind her. So what is it that draws me in?

One theory is that it's the detectives, Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler, that keep me glued to my TV or computer screen. They're beautiful, they've got issues, and they somehow, after ten years of being partners, have never been romantically involved. I'm not sure if it's their personalities I am drawn to or if I'm just watching and waiting until all those years of working so closely lead to a hot and steamy sex scene.

Or is it the suspense? The sense of mystery. Each episode opens with the discovery of the victim, and if I happen to be flipping through the channels and catch the first five minutes, I'm hooked. I just have to finish out the hour to find out if it was the psychiatrist, the ex-boyfriend, or a stalker from the grocery store. Most of the stories are fairly similar, and most of them are totally predictable, but I keep watching time after time just in case they surprise me this time-- like the best episode ever that ended up being about a legendary bank robber.

(It's actually my dream to play a dead body on one of the Law and Orders. Just imagine, you're flipping through the channels on day at home, when you suddenly see me as a cold corpse on TV and you're like "hey! I went to college with that girl!" It's also my dream to be in a first aid video and in a reenactment of "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" on the Discovery Health Channel," but that's another blog post altogether...)

Or do I watch SVU for the satisfaction that comes from watching the bad guys get caught and pay for what they did? According to the RAINN website, only 6% or rapists will ever spend time in jail. On Law and Order SVU, they nearly always get their guy (or sometimes, girl). In real life, less than 40% of rapes are reported. If a rape is reported, there is a 50.8% chance of an arrest. If an arrest is made, there's an 80% of prosecution. If there is a prosecution, there's a 58% chance of conviction. If there is a felony conviction, there is a 69% chance the convict will spend time in jail. So, even in the 39% of attacks that are reported to the police, there is only a 16.3% chance the rapist will end up in prison. Factoring in unreported rapes, about 6% of rapists will ever spend a day in jail. 15 of 16 walk free.

Why do we subject ourselves to watching crime shows or horror movies or murder mysteries, when those crimes and horros and mysteries are our greatest fears? I think the reason I'm so drawn to SVU is because Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler and all the other detectives on the show make me believe that I am safe-- that they will protect me. That there are detectives out there who are keeping rapists off the streets and keeping me safe. In the real world, only 6% of rapists spend a day in jail, but in the world of Law and Order SVU, nearly 100% of rapists are taken off the streets and sent to prison. I think I'd rather live in that world.