I agree with Katy Waldman’s thoughts that Dexter allows us to play-act at evil through the identification with its sympathetic lead, Dexter. Dexter is a homicidal psychopath, who strips his victim and lays him on the table covering him with a shrink wrap before attacking with a knife (Waldman, 2012). Additionally, Dexter takes a blood sample from his victims for his trophy collection before mutilating their bodies. These rituals show that Dexter enjoys attacking people and unsympathetic because he is never concerned about making his victims pay for their crimes instead he finds pleasure through hurting others.
People play-act evil as a way of embracing and enjoying the show by Dexter, without any representation of the true feelings concerning his acts against justice and morality. With the understanding that psychopaths are born, viewers only pretend to be sympathetic with Dexter when his foster father enables his serial killing habit (Waldman, 2012). More so, Dexter’s parent death does not earn him any form of sympathy from his viewers because they are nauseated by his serial killing habits, which makes them play-act evil as a technique to help them enjoy the show.
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People like the Dexter series because it provides a form of justice that is different from the one available in society. Up to date, society is concerned about crime, especially due to the slow wheels of providing justice and the failed recidivism. Additionally, the courts, prosecution, and the police fail to coordinate their processes in a manner to guarantee effective and efficient social control. In most cases, various criminal justice systems engage in irrelevant and competitive practices that slow and affect the process of justice. Therefore, viewing how Dexter searches and captures the lawbreakers enables the viewers to fantasize about a good criminal justice system, which would help to bring justice to the victims and prevent any forms of recidivism completely.
Reference
Waldman, K. (2012). Character Studies: Dexter Morgan . Retrieved 27 June 2021, from https://slate.com/culture/2012/01/dexter-morgan-why-do-we-really-love-a-murderous-sociopath.html
