Evidential Bodies: The Forensic and Abject Gazes in C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation

Abstract

This essay argues that CBS-TV’s C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation constructs a multiplicity of gazes for viewers with a particular focus on the forensic and abject gazes.The abject gaze is both repulsive and attractive in its focus on the physiological effects of death on the human body. The abject nature of the corpse is mediated by the investigators’ forensic gaze, which seeks to control crime, death, and abjection. In C.S.I., the forensic gaze also promotes the secondary gazes of voyeurism and forensic science as visual spectacle. Ultimately, the series’ forensic gaze can be associated with the prevalence and proliferation of biological identification technologies in modern society.