sister_luck | A serial killer as a force for good?

A serial killer is making his rounds, but it seems like people are applauding him.
He's on television. It must be alright then.

Of course, I'm talking about Showtime's Dexter and I'm not linking to the official site, because it discriminates against those outside of the United States and won't load for those who aren't allowed to watch it anyway.

The basic premise is this: The eponymous main character is a highly-functioning sociopath who by his own admission is neither man nor beast and was taught by his foster-father to channel his murderous urges by killing only those who deserve it and who have escaped punishment (or are in the process of escaping). The series is well-written and has both great acting and photography. I'm not sure about other viewers (who seem to think that Dexter is doing a favour to society), but I'm definitely challenged by this idea. I don't have a problem with serial killers as the narrators of books or films and I don't confuse their views with those of the writers.

It seems like Dexter is fulfilling some of our fantasies as we wish society could punish all those who deserve it. But he pays a huge price for being the way he is: he doesn't really understand human emotions and we follow his struggle to fit in with 'normal society'. He's a fascinating character and the developing cat-and-mouse-game with another serial killer definitely holds my interest.

Still, it asks a big question: If a serial killer kills only bad people, does that exonerate him in a way? What if he enjoys killing them? It ties in with vigilantism - when is it justified to take the law into your own hands? Any justice system has flaws, but who can decide that it is so unfixable that someone like Dexter has the right or even responsiblity to step in?

Of course, as I am opposed to the death penalty for various reasons I can't applaud Dexter and even if he'd just put these obviously (or is it apparently?) bad people in his own private jail, I'd still have a serious problem with an individual dispensing 'justice' without the backing of a proper legal system.

So, what can society do with people like Dexter who at an early age show pleasure in killing animals and it just seems to be a question of time until they move on to human beings? Lock them up indefinitely or like Dexter's foster-father Harry teach them to rid society off other monsters?

Yeah, I know, it's just a television show - but it's a starting point for a debate around here and it's been awfully quiet.

cross-posted to

salon_virtuel but only because it ended up here first