Essay 3 FINAL

The walls of the “kill room” are lined with transparent plastic tarps. Not just the walls, but the ceiling and floor too. It makes for easy clean-up, and not a shred of evidence to be found after the kill. A man or woman, made unconscious, is laid on a plastic covered table in the center of the room. Their body is saran wrapped to the hard surface, and held down tightly so that when they wake up, they have no possible way to get up. Photos and newspaper clippings of the victim’s victims are hung around on the walls and ceiling as reminders to the lifeless body of the evil deeds they have done. Knives, power tools, and other deadly weapons are spread out on another table in the room. The scene is like something out of a bad horror movie, and it is clear what is about to happen in this space. The lifeless body suddenly becomes alert, and their eyes open wide. They usually struggle and stifle a scream, and their eyes dart around the room trying to figure out what is happening to them. They notice the photos of their victims hanging around them, and the lethal hardware strategically placed in an order of some kind on another table, and the fear sets in.

Dexter walks in calmly, with a determined look on his face. A smile creeps across his chin as he reveres in the fact that his victim is awake. Gracefully and routinely he takes a small, short knife out of his pocket and walks towards the writhing body. He puts the blade on the face of the squirmer and drags it across their cheek. Using a dropper, he takes a sample of the blood that drips slowly down the victim’s cheek. Dexter places the blood on a slide, and adds it to his collection of dozens of others he keeps safely tucked away in a place that only he can find them. This is when the victim usually asks why they are there, and why this Dexter has put them in that place. What did they do to deserve this? This is when Dexter looks at the man or woman in the unfortunate position of being about to be killed, and tells them to look around at the people in the photos staring back at them. He mentions “the code” and begins his work on dismembering their bodies while they are still alive, using various tools to get the job done.

This is a common scene on the show “Dexter” which plays on the Showtime network. It is about serial killer, Dexter, whose victims are killers. As a young boy, his mother was murdered right before his eyes, and he was adopted by the police officer who found him a couple days later in a shipping container. Ever since then, he has felt compelled to kill. It started off with just urges, but then his stepfather, Harry, showed him how to satisfy those urges in a way that he wouldn’t be caught. He would kill animals once in awhile when he really couldn’t hold back, but as he grew older, his father taught him how to kill human’s quietly, efficiently, and secretively. It became a way of life for Dexter, and to commemorate each kill, he would keep a sample of each person’s blood. He turned his fascination with dead bodies and blood into a profession as a blood analyst, and was a member of Miami metro homicide in Florida. Throughout the series, Dexter learns through experience how to feign feelings and commonality as he begins a family. He tries to “blend in” as his stepfather Harry suggested to him, to keep his anonymity as a serial killer.

Dexter is charming, handsome, and mysterious. To women, he is irresistible. He has perfected the act of “normalcy”, so much so that even his own wife does not know his true identity. Viewers of the show are enthralled by his hunt to find a killer to kill, and we root for him the whole time. Yes, I said it. We are on the side of the serial killer. Before “Dexter”, killers were crude and cold-blooded. “Dexter” shows us another side of the serial killer. It shows us the human side; the side that needs to kill to survive. Ah, the irony. As we watch, we hope that he finds the victim he is hunting, because we are made to feel like that person deserves to die for what they did. As we start to get to know Dexter, we start to believe the same things he believes: that people who kill the innocent should die for what they did. But wait a second, does that make us believe that in the real world, all killers should be put on death row? After watching an episode of Dexter during which I am fascinated by his killing technique, watching his victim get his limbs sawed off by a chainsaw and dumped into the ocean, I question the appeal. I wonder, how can the Showtime network as us, the viewers, to identify with a serial killer? How can the general public possibly relate with a person who kills people for fun; who needs to kill?


This statement makes me nervous. As I watch the show, I feel satisfied. I feel intrigued. I feel interested. However what does that say about me as a person? I don’t identify my personality with anger, but looking more into the reasons why I watch it, maybe I should re-evaluate myself. I have one friend who watches Dexter who hates gore. He can’t watch horror movies because of the blood and guts, however is enthralled with Dexter. As I hounded him with questions such as “Do you support Dexter’s decision to kill killers?” and “Is it possible that you might secretly be a serial killer?” I became more and more intrigued by viewer interest. “No Chelsea, I’m not a serial killer and I don’t support murder, there is just something about this show that grabs my attention and won’t let go.” What is that something?

Maybe Dexter satisfies some kind of subliminal urge we have as humans, to get revenge on people who have done us wrong. Dexter only murders murderers, or people who “deserve” to die. He is a vigilante of sorts, clearing the streets of people who create crime, however along the way he creates a criminal of himself. Vigilantism, although not legal, is a common theme in movies, television, and comic books. The public will support and praise a hero for taking care of criminals, even if they are committing crimes themselves. We have become desensitized to the fact that these “heroes” like Dexter are breaking the law and hurting others. In the past, we viewed killers and psychopaths in a bad light. There was never any type of media showing serial killers in a positive light, because we couldn’t even fathom putting them there. However times have changed, and with the example of vigilantism and Dexter, one of the most popular shows on television, it seems that the public has started to change their opinion of murder.

Ecotone Publication

Ecotone: Reimagining Place

About

Ecotone was first started in 2005, and comes out of UNC Wilmington. It comes out twice a year. The purpose of Ecotone is to publish stories or art that re-imagine place.
Submissions

Ecotone accepts creative non-fiction, fiction, poems, and art focused on and reimagining place. The website defines “Ecotone” as a transition zone between two adjacent ecological communities, containing the characteristic species of each. It’s nature writing, but not cliché. It should break boundaries, and use vibrant descriptions.
• Reading dates: August 15-April 15
• One prose piece or 6 poems at a time (separate by genre)
• Prose - no longer than 30 pages, double spaced, one side of page
• Poems – single or double spaced, one side of page
• Only accepts snail mail, unless international

Description of Essays

Subject matter:
• Nature
• Animals
• Different places combined
• What is important?
• Natural world/human world
• Religion/Sexuality
Voice/Tone:
• Humor
• Informal
• First person
Form:
• Prose
• Double spaced
• Dialogue
Artistry:
• Literary
Length:
• Short stories
• Short Poems

Analysis

After reading a sample of entries in the Ecotone journals, I have found a broad variety of subject matter, purpose, and tone. The editors descriptions of the works that they publish say that the look for vibrant descriptions of breaking boundaries between nature and humans. From what I have read, the writers have really pushed those boundaries include almost any topic. They involve love, religion, and relationships. I think the audience this publication is aiming towards appreciates the simplicity of nature and our effect on it.


Links:
Ecotone: www.ecotonejournal.com