Irish Freethinker and Humanist • September-October 2020

Exposing the Perry Mason Myth

Brian McClinton

IKE many teenagers in the The makers of this new Perry Ma- late 1950s and early 1960s, son seem to have an even more L my introduction to American ambitious target, however, namely popular culture came partly through the myth perpetrated by Trump listening on a transistor radio under and others of a great American the bed covers to Radio Luxem- past – a country dedicated to liber- bourg on 208 metres medium wave, ty, truth and justice, a country that especially the D-E-C-C-A Record does the right thing, and a practical Show. Many American companies nation that ‘gets things done’. By had no pressing plant in the UK and having Drake as a black cop, they much of it was manufactured by emphasise that there were no black Decca, sometimes under that com- officials in the original series. By pany’s own name (e.g. RCA) and having Street as a feisty lesbian, sometimes under the London, they emphasise that women were Brunswick or Coral labels used by judicial life, then it is easier to think either slaves or sluts in the original. Decca for these recordings. So this of him as a perfect hero, but the show featured artists such as Elvis makers of this series seek to shatter Above all, the loose ends of the case Presley, Roy Orbison, the Everly this myth. Here, as played by that occupied the eight episodes are Brothers, Little Richard, Fats Domi- Matthew Rhys (above), he is a dour, not tied up. How did the baby die? no, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie stubbled, alcoholic, private investi- And who was responsible? Mason Cochrane, Sam Cooke, Ricky Nel- gator, with a dishonourable dis- thinks he knows the answer but it is son, Del Shannon, etc. – indeed the charge in the Great War, PTSD, a never tested in court. At the begin- creme de la creme of American pop failed marriage, and living on an ning of the last episode, he thinks of culture. It was unmissable, despite inherited two-cow dairy farm close putting the chief suspect, Sgt Ennis, the frequent poor reception. by an airfield. He is as far removed in the dock, but Hamilton Burger, from Raymond Burr’s upright legal the assistant DA, tells him: “No one I also loved some of the American superhero as you could imagine. ever confesses on the stand”. The TV crime series. I recall two in par- point is that they always did in the ticular. 77 Sunset Strip featured two The demythologisation doesn’t stop original. private investigators: Stu Bailey, there. Not only is the main villain a played by Efrem Zimbalist Junior, policeman but also the entire LAPD In the end Mason has to accept and Jeff Spencer, played by Roger is presented as a corrupt mafia-like that, although he has achieved a Smith. Then there was Perry Mason, organisation. The lone exception is mistrial, he has not proved the in which Raymond Burr played the a black officer called Paul Drake mother’s innocence or Ennis’s guilt. defence lawyer who rarely lost a (Chris Chalk), who will later give He has failed to ensure that truth case. In 271 episodes of this court- up his badge and become Mason’s and justice are done and seen to be room drama, which ran from 1957 private investigator, just as Mason done. He blows the thread from the to 1966, he was assisted by Della will cease to be a private eye and baby’s eye into the Pacific, symbolis- Street (Barbara Hale), his secretary, become a lawyer. Even Della Street ing that it is time to let the case go and Paul Drake (William Hopper), a has a makeover: she is in a lesbian and move on to the next one. This is private eye. Typically, witnesses or relationship and has a distinctly the way the world really is: often the real villain confessed in the feminist edge, ultimately demanding messy and impenetrable; and our dock. Moreover, we knew nothing equality with Mason in the new attempts at fitting the pieces of the about Mason’s family or private life: legal firm. jigsaw together are, at best, only Erle Stanley Gardner, his creator, moderately successful. maintained that such details were And there’s more. Evangelical reli- irrelevant to the crimes he was in- gion also comes out badly. At the This dark, superbly acted and visu- vestigating. heart of the story is the kidnapping ally stunning reboot will not be for and death of a baby whose corpse is those who want their crime thrillers In the summer, Sky Atlantic showed recovered with its eyes stitched to have neat endings when the hero HBO’s new eight-part miniseries open. The baby’s parents belong to catches and exposes the killer. But it Perry Mason, directed mainly by the Radiant Assembly of God, led is a brilliant exposé of the Perry Tim Van Patten, which imagines the by a charismatic faith healer Sister Mason myth, and simultaneously a protagonist’s life in the early 1930s Alice (Tatiana Maslany). It turns out debunking of the myth of American before he became a lawyer, and in that the church is also riddled with exceptionalism. There is to be a so doing seeks to subvert the earlier corruption and that it had debts of second series, and it will be fascinat- pristine image. Of course, if we $100,000, the exact amount de- ing to see where they take the story know nothing about Mason’s extra- manded by the kidnappers. on from here. q 23