Dexter...
Is a Showtime series, about a forensics specialist in Miami, who murders "bad people" on the side. My mom watches it, my sister-in-law and brother-in-law watch it, and my sister Liz and her husband are also now watching it. Liz raved about it when Adam and I were over on Saturday, and loaned us the DVD's to season 1.
Adam watched ONE episode a few months back with Mom and Bob, and said he enjoyed it. So, I decided to give it a shot...even though in my gut I was thinking "its a show about murder...not only a sinful act, but an unlawful one".
So, we started the first episode. It is the CREEPIEST show I've seen in a long time. I became nauseous watching it. The first episode shows us that when he was younger, he killed and buried the family dog, and his foster dad talks to him about it...and asks if he'd ever wanted to "kill anything bigger", and the kid says "yes, but I thought you and Mom would get mad at me". WTF!
EDITOR'S NOTE: I had much more description of the episode in this blog, but after I read it through again...I didn't want it out there. The above one paragraph is bad enough.
I finally convinced Adam I had to turn it off...I was going to be sick.
We're not watching that show ever again. People I know who are watching it say it's ok, because he is "killing for good". My question for them is: Why are we justifying any sort of killing?
I do not agree with the death penalty. Mainly because I don't think you can ever be 100% sure someone actually DID commit that crime. But I also don't agree with the death penalty because I don't agree with murder, and cruel punishment. I just don't think we should treat humans that way.
So...that's my problem with Dexter. Whatever, maybe he is killing people who do bad things. But to actually make a show about it, and to have normal American families become addicted to this show really disturbs me. Why do we need to watch this? Why do we let networks produce this disgusting imagery for our children to one day run across? I don't care how you justify his actions, even if his actions are justified (even if he is 100% certain the people he kills are Guilty)...it's not ok for us to oogle over it. It's not ok for us to take pleasure in watching this disgusting, violent media.
And that...is my two cents.
5 comments:
I'm going to confess that I love it, and I'll explain the why's which are no better than your reasons mentioned for people's whys.
I don't think the point is to justify what he does. That's how HE justifies it, but I think they're not asking the audience to buy that, just to understand it as part of the plot.
I like it because of the way they write it. They take this guy who's totally messed up, who cannot feel anything. They put him in a savior sort of role with a girl who's totally messed up, who cannot feel, for different reasons. They show the development of his internal struggle, how he learns to kind of love Rita, how he's trying to change by following the example of Rita's 8 year old. They suck you in and make you want to like him. They give you some excuse for what he does, and just when you ALMOST sympathize, just when you think he's learned to feel, when he's doing social justice, they pull the rug out from under you.
They take this guy who you want to love and remind you that he is just a souless animal, and that he's fooled YOU just like he's fooled his sister, his co-workers, his girlfriend and, most importantly, himself.
It's a really interesting experiment in the way people relate to one another.
That said, yeah...that show is SO not for everyone. It's really, really macabre. I know which episode you're talking about, and it's pretty tame in comparison. If I were you, I'd never ever watch it again.
Just don't hate me for liking it, okay? Or for leaving a novel in your comments? SO sorry about that. :)
I too really enjoyed Dexter. It's dark, offbeat, macrabe, and not for everyone. Why do I like it? Because he is an extreme-EXTREME-example of what many of us are.
He feels alienated from the rest of the world and has to put on a show to get by. There is a scene where he is going through his workplace with donuts for his co-workers, greets everyone with a smile, a laugh and a joke. When he gets to his desk the box, like him, is empty. WE all do that on occasion-Remember fake it til you make it?
He has trouble understanding why people feel or act the way they do and studies them and their actions so he can fit in better. What teenager has never done this?
He has secrets he has to keep from the rest of the world. He wonders in his self-dialog what friends, families, lovers would do if they knew the real him. Yes the real him is a murderer but don't we all hide parts of ourselves from others? Perhaps there is a work self, the person you are with your friends at a bar on saturday and the you who is just available to yourself and perhaps a special few. Don't we all have deep dark secrets we are afraid to let the world see?
He grows though the series. He is a hero to his girlfriend, he is a good dad-figure to her kids, he has affection for his sister, is great at his job. He is very human in many ways.
Now as for our children one day running across it. . . on the news today I was waiting for weather. My kids heard the 911 call detailing the finding of Caylee Anthony's skull and the fact that her mother is in jail for it. That is real life. That is a mother who killed her baby and put her in a hefty bag and tossed her out by her grandma's house in an area she played in. Dexter is a show Dave and I watch after all are asleep. It is not the bachelor which is on prime-time network tv where one man is making out with 50 beautiful women to find true love. That is disgusting and immoral and out there for my kids to watch while they are awake and channel surfing. It is not daytime soaps which detail sex, drugs, murder, affairs, promiscuity and is out there for my kids to watch in the afternoon when they are awake. That is where you as a parent need to be aware of what you are watching around your babies and what they are watching around you. There are many shows I find more morally bankrupt then Dexter.
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the series. But please don't judge me for enjoying it.
I'm not judging anyone who enjoys the show...I never said that at all. I just don't understand what the appeal is, that's all.
Yes, there are shows out there who show promiscuity and drugs and violence, and all that jazz...but you can say that about video games, and books, and whatever. I guess my main problem with the series is that he is taking another life!! Who made him God?
Maybe there are some similarities between the character of Dexter and myself...maybe I do hide something of myself from my co-workers, but I can guarantee you it's not something as unlawful as taking another living beings life with my own hands. That is MURDER! MURDER! That's what I don't understand, how we have become so desensitized in our world that we think a "great character" like Dexter is Fun to watch...even if he is a MURDERER...because he reflects us in some hidden way.
Would you say the same if this wasn't a story? If this was based on a real serial killer? Would you be watching Marilyn Manson chronicle his murdering escapades every week? Don't you think he had some very human characteristics as well?
I'm not judging you...but don't judge me for not enjoying it, and for being disturbed by it. I'm sensitive I guess...I thought the Dark Knight was too gruesome as well.
I need to leave another more calm comment. I didn't intend my last one to come off as mean/rude as it did.
Here's the bottom line. We all have our different tastes and preferences as to what we find enjoyable. Maybe if I could have gotten past the chopped up dead bodies in the 1st episode of Dexter, I would say the same things about how great of a show it is as everyone else does.
The fact is, however, that I was hardly watching the show, because it was making me physical nauseous.
I would like to say part of the reason I feel so strongly AGAINST this show is because I've actually seen these people. My job introduces me to some pretty not so nice guys, and I guess I just don't want to have to see the same type of lawlessness in my free time.
I don't watch a lot of tv, I don't even have cable. I don't read sad news stories, (well, besides about the economy), I try not to read about the crimes that are happening in and around my neighborhood...because it scares me.
I used to watch Criminal Minds, and than it just got too real. The majority of murder/rape/torture victims are women in that show. It scared me to know not only am I at a higher risk for something awful to happen to me...but to watch similar situations unfold on my tv screen. I cut the show out immediately.
I try to read and watch happy shows. I try not to make myself reflect on the evil that is out there, because I don't live my life...and I hated when I was like that. I like not being afraid to walk my dog at 5:30 in the morning. Watching Dexter, and Criminal Minds, and the like...make me afraid.
So...i apologize for my rant in both my last comment and this comment, but I just need to clarify some things.
I'm glad its a good show, and it has its supporters. I just hope that in the future...we can start supporting shows that emphasize other aspects of life...not just the scary ones.
OMG!!! I'm so jealous that THE MR. LADY commented on this here blog. Find me a show I can put down too. I heart her! I want her name on my blog!! Gotta go read the rest of the comments.
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