Justice Game Hsc Paper

Every individual holds a perspective, and often these views clash with those of others. Inevitably, this reflects upon all texts, as composers interweave their own personal perspective regarding personalities, situations and events within their text. In the Justice Game, Geoffrey Robertson presents his views on several legal cases in which he practised in both the Show Trials and Michael X on Death Row. Matt Norman’s documentary Salute portrays opposing attitudes regarding controversial racial conflict whilst Sauer-Thompson’s web blog Bill Henson #6 uncensored canvasses the contrasting public opinion evoked by Bill Henson’s controversial artwork.

Perspectives often clash over of the role of the legal system and the concept of a fair trial. In his chapter Show trials, Robertson clearly illustrates his point of view on the situation through recounting one of his cases in Singapore against Lee Kuan Yew. To convince the reader of his perspective, Robertson immediately creates a negative image of Yew, painting him as power hungry and arrogant in the statement “this infuriated Yew, who regarded himself as Singapore’s only God.” As suggested by the title, Robertson sees the trial as staged and a “show”, evident through his use of imagery to describe the “art of choreographing a show trial”, such as references to “television cameras” and a “surface fairness.” Robertson also constantly points to a generational discrepancy as the cause for many of the disagreements throughout the mocking tone of the disparaging diction when referring to the judges as “geriatrics in power” that are “old and dreary.” The composer then captures the injustice of the situation through the paradoxical statement that “in Singapore, the state could not lose, even when it lost.” Robertson’s perspectives on the Yew’s devices and policies are clear, yet he ultimately forces the responder to create their own judgement.

Whilst Robertson engages with the morality behind an unfair trial in a...