Tuesday, May 31, 2005

The long arm of the Law

It should be made compulsory by law that all fathers-or-lawyers-to-be be given a copy of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. Never has a book had as admirable a central character as Atticus Finch, be it in his gentle but firm style of parenting, or his silent determination as a defense attorney.

For whatever reason, lawyers have always been looked upon somewhat derisively, while the law itself, as George Bernard Shaw informed us,is but an ass, and the cornucopia of lawyer jokes doing the rounds is perhaps representative of this image.

Case in point:
Q)If you were stranded on an island with Adolf Hitler, a lawyer and the Devil himself, and you had a gun with two bullets, whom do you shoot ?
A)The lawyer twice.

I am beginning to like lawyers though. Despite my abhorrence of John Grisham's yearly forays into the bestseller lists, and his now innumerable imitators, I've always had something of a soft spot for Ally McBeal, and am now wholly in awe of James Spader's Emmy winning performance in The Practice.

Just shows how the long arm of the law has tightened its grip around the neck of pop culture.

4 comments:

saba said...

Quite true. But then, hasn't pop culture taken over almost everything in its reach - even the education system.

psnob said...

haan, no one ever thinks of how lawyers can only act within the law, within the system. but noo, its easier to blame the lawyers now innit :s
:p
(yes, me was a lawyer in a past life)
seen 'and justice for all'? :D :D

JL said...

there are some things one can do, but probably shouldn't. i think this is the reason lawyers have a bad rep. pressing cases demanding more warning that coffee is served hot is just tacky. then again...

Anonymous said...

Ally is nice.

Go for her.

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a recluse waiting for salvation