Murder Most Foul

"Needless to say I have some unusual habits, yet all these socially acceptable people can't wait to pick up hammers and smash their food to bits. Normal people are so hostile." - Dexter a Shotime Series

This post deals with the themes of the show, not the plot, so it should be readable even if you've never seen or heard of it.

For those of you not in know or like me without premimum cable stations like Shotime, Dexter came out last year. It's about a serial killer who takes out bad guys. It had the potential to be very very bad. The decision to rent in on DVD was based on a series of great reviews, Michael Hall (my most beloved actor formerly of Six Feet Under) and a morbid streak the size of the Grand Canyon.

As creepy and morbid as the show's concept is, Nox and I consumed the entirety of it over the weekend and I never felt afraid or grossed out. There were tense moments, but there was more blood and gore in one episode of CSI.

The writing for this show is phenomenal. The artistic direction is beautiful. Like the first few seasons of Six Feet Under, there is a perfect sync between words and visuals.

So that's the review. Now onto the meat of the matter:

What makes this show so appealing?

Surely, Dexter is the monster we most fear. He repeatably assures us that he feels nothing, cares for no one and that if it were not for his foster father's particular way of dealing with his killing urge, he wouldn't even bother choosing sinister victims.

The show is told from the first person. There is no escaping that this is a man who kills because it is the only way he can 'feel'. He followed the traditional path of a sociopath, killing animals as a child working his way up to human victims.

And yet...there is something so very appealing about him. About his situation. Every time he takes down another killer, a part of me cheered for him. After all, how different was his take down of a child killer then that of one Batman might exercise? Batman is continually cast as fairly unfeeling and he's a superhero!

The theme of normalcy comes up often. Dexter must maintain a veneer of the normal to cover his bloody acts. Continually tested beyond his capacity, every day is a struggle to fit in and pass under the radar. Layered in with that is a deep feeling of loneliness. Only his father really knew him and now, he feels unknowable.

And who the hell hasn't felt that way? Dexter is that most extreme end of that darkest piece we all carry. That awful, unknowable and alien depth which the book Why Good People Do Bad Things calls the 'Shadow Self'.

Every time Dexter uses his dark impulses to rid the world of someone bad, who hurts others...is that to be celebrated?

How do we all turn our own dark impulses to good use? How sure are we that it isn't another way of saying 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'?

The mask of normalcy we all wear can cover a multitude of evils not only in ourselves, but in our day to day lives. Is it any wonder that this show is a hit in a country that watches an endless (seemingly bloodless if you judge by the news) war slowly strangling our economy and social infrastructure?


Catch you on the flipside,
CGL