Boston Justice is part of a law firm in Boston, whose partners are quite eccentric and non-standard. But unlike Ally Mc Beal, who was much too blue flower, not to say silly at times, Boston Justice is satirical, ironic, hits the mark and we regret that there are only five seasons.
Law and sex
The firm has two sex maniacs: Denny Crane, one of the firm’s founders, and Alan Shore. They’re two whistle-blowers, but oddly enough, you don’t always want to slap them. The scenario and the narration are that we can find them touching at times. We also understand that they fall in love almost every quarter of an hour, which reinforces the comic aspect of the thing.
If Denny Crane clearly embodies the retrograde, sexist, Republican macho in all its glory, Alan Shore is more subtle. Granted, he runs all the petticoats, usually one at a time. But, he is above all a defender of free choice for everything, especially with regard to sexuality and choices.
In some episodes, we see and hear him castigate American prudishness – which also works in France – which is indignant for a female nipple, but which does not hesitate to display sex to sell anything and everything. . We have pretty much the same weaklings in France. The series’ debates on the place of men and women and sexism echo certain current events in France and the United States.
This is the salt of the series: it was shot between 2004 and 2008. Disturbingly, in one episode, Denny Crane has a line saying more or less “and what’s next? A comedian in the White House? As much to tell you that we have a big white man in front of the stage.
Patriot Act, very tangible consequences
The series takes place during the second term of George W. Bush. Even if the series does not necessarily want to be political, like The Good Fight, it is in small, subtle and well-made touches. Alan Shore will come to the defense of Denny, because he is prohibited from flying. Not for taking off his pants at an airport, putting a hand on a flight attendant’s butt, bumping into an FBI agent. He’s on the no-fly list. Over the course of the episode, we learn that it is not him, Denny Crane who is targeted, but a namesake.
This example is not exactly fictional and in 2015 a Vendéen learned at the airport that he was on the no-fly list to the United States, along with other namesakes. Thanks to the Patriot Act, a very wide range of tools have been created to fight terrorism, including electronic surveillance tools. Alan Shore fights regularly on the show against this.
The tragedy being that if we could happily make fun of the Americans on this subject in 2004 and even in 2008, since 2015, this is no longer possible, because we have made exactly the same mistakes. Obviously, France and the European Union do not have the same technical, financial and human capacity, as the failures concerning the attacks of November 13, 2015 clearly demonstrated.
What hurts the most is that we had the American example of everything that shouldn’t be done, because it wasn’t effective. However, we made the same mistakes and we have the same question as Alan Shore: how to go back? How to guarantee individual freedoms and fight against terrorism? Contrary to what some bewildered people think, this is not angelism.
cowardice
You may have read or heard it. In the United States, there is a risk that abortion is about to be banned in some states and some pressure groups are just waiting for this to call for a ban on contraception.
In the series, Alan Shore—don’t believe that all business is handled by Alan Shore—finds himself defending the right to abortion. Even if legally, the series can take certain liberties, the scriptwriters raised an interesting point: on sensitive subjects, the political power turns to the Supreme Court to decide for them. The argument holds together from start to finish and again, we are struck by the topicality and relevance of the subject.
Although the series ended 14 years ago, certain social issues are still relevant: the recession and the economic crisis, the place of women and their rights, our individual freedoms, electronic surveillance, etc. It’s gotten to the point where you wonder if one of the writers didn’t have a machine to manipulate time, see what was going to happen and write it into the show.
Each episode is a gem of humour, satire and fantasy. The whole is light and leads to questioning our current society. Some series age very badly, to the point that after five years, you say to yourself “OK, it’s all a bit dated”. This is not the case with Boston Justice. Although it can be a little tricky to find legally — the DVD seems to be the only option — it’s worth the investment.
After all, everyone needs a show where a landlord wants to evict a tenant because she owns a duck that’s quacking on everyone.