Dexter is a show on the Showtime network documenting the life of a sociopath serial killer that works as a forensics analyst for the Miami Police Department. When Dexter was a teenager his stepfather, who was a cop, realized that Dexter was addicted to killing and he trained him how to kill without being caught, but the rule was that he could only kill "evil people", meaning killers and rapists. Dexter lives his life based on "The Code of Harry" which is the name for these rules introduced by his stepfather. The second season of the show is especially thought provoking about the ideas of evil and what we base our lives on. One of the most gripping scenes is when he takes his confidant Lila into the morgue where some of his kills are laying in rest. As Lila looks at the dead bodies she speaks about the anonymous killer, which is really Dexter. Dexter asks Lila why she is not disgusted with the person who did this and she replies, “The person who did this is just like me, like you. We’re all good Dexter and we’re all evil.” At the end of the season Dexter looks into the camera and asks us this question, “Am I evil? Am I good? I’m done asking those questions. I don’t have the answers. Does Anyone?” This question is a truly penetrating question of the audience. After all, the shows tagline is “Dexter: America’s Favorite Serial Killer.” It makes us sympathize and empathize with the sociopath serial killer that administers vigilante justice. Dexter only kills the evil and as the show progresses he gains more capacity for feelings and relationships while still harboring his addiction to murder. We begin to root for Dexter and we are left asking ourselves. Is he good or evil? The show does not answer these questions but provides us with a very reformed perspective on this question. Dexter is both good and evil just like all of us.
Discussion Questions
1) Based on what you know about the show, does Dexter’s message reveal truth about the world in which we live?
2) Would you consider this kind of art to be apocalyptic, what do you think this speaks unto?
I haven't had the opportunity to watch Dexter, but it seems like a pretty fascinating show that is asking big questions. Unfortunately, its major plot device is flawed. While Dexter gets to be formed by his difficult past (allowing us to see him as both good and evil), his victims only get the chance to be evil--thereby justifying his killing. If we're all mixes of good and evil (very true!), then we're all capable of redemption. And that is as true for Dexter as it his for his victims.
ReplyDeleteOr am I missing something?
No, that pretty much hits the nail on the head. Dexter always talks to his victims before he kills them and they often plead and claim that they are just like him. And he oftentimes says "I'm nothing like you" as he kills his victims. This also speaks to our incapacity to see the good in others while also justifying our own evil.
ReplyDeleteI personally love the show Dexter, and in response to your question I think it is apocalyptic in the sense that it helps people who would generally be known as the antagonist to become the protagonist through looking at life from the characters own perspective. It lets you get into the mind of Dexter, and actually relate to him, even though he is a mass murderer. I think it does a good job of showing how good and evil are interwoven through our society, though I can definitely agree with Rob and Scott about the hypocrisy in the show . The show gives me the same feeling that Sufjan Stevens song John Wayne Gacy Jr. does, in the sense that it reminds the viewer that we are just as bad in our sin as the worst of criminals.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that part of how the show gets us to like Dexter is through his code to only kill "evil" people. Would we be able to root for Dexter (in a way) if he just randomly killed people? Probably not.
ReplyDeleteStevens' song, on the other hand, is a bit more honest and hard-hitting. He doesn't attempt to legitimate Gacy's killings; he simply recognizes that the same evil courses through his veins.
And that seems to be a pretty significant difference.
Oh ... I meant to say that it seems like a fascinating show!
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