The Horror Of The Television Show Dexter Essay

“I can kill a man, dismember his body, and be home in time for Letterman. But knowing what to say when my girlfriend's feeling insecure... I'm totally lost”-Dexter Morgan (Hall, 2007). Dexter Morgan is a fictional serial killer from Showtime’s series “Dexter”, but the writers and actors have portrayed a real life serial killer. Manuel Prado is the real Dexter Morgan. Prado was a Miami cop who started with smaller crime and worked his way up to becoming a serial killer. ”Prosecutor David Waksman told the Miami Herald: "He was very cold. He was doing robberies and went home and slept like a baby. He was proud of what he did."” (International, 2012) Real life serial killers do not have any empathy. They kill their victims and then return to

In The Mythology of Crime and Criminal Justice it discusses the consequences of reality programs have on the public. One particular show called America’s Most Wanted, was giving information about a fugitive named Don Moore who was wanted for having different sexual interactions with fifth-grade students. What happened was that a worker named Richard Maxwell was thought to be identified as Moore even though his description was not very close to the actual suspects. The police officers arrested him in his workplace in front of his other coworkers and went to the police station to fingerprint him and was found innocent and allowed back to work. He sued “the city whose police officers had compounded the process initiated by the reality programming”(Kappeler and Potter 16). What the court also had found was that the police officers never asked any questions or his consent to the fingerprinting. They “had no grounds for suspecting Maxwell” (Kappeler and Potter 17). This sort of mistake can lead to reputations being destroyed and can affect their future employment.

It is no secret that the media is able to influence the general public’s opinion on most anything. Whether the subject is fiction or non, movies, documentaries, and the news especially, are capable of swaying the public’s opinions and perceptions one way or the other. Not even the world of law enforcement is safe from the media’s purview (Barlow, M. H. and Barlow, D. E. and Chiricos T. G., 1995), as media portrayals often romanticize law enforcement as a well oiled machine that always gets the bad guy, and has a perfect relationship with the public. On top of this, the media has displayed a poor habit of portraying crime as predominantly violent and racial, rather than showing the whole picture(Gilliam, F. D. and Iyengar, S. and Simon, A. and Wright, O., 1996). In this paper, the motives driving these depictions, as well as the scope and effect of the media’s influence on public perception of law enforcement, will be explored and discussed.

Hollywood scripts and television programming are filled with storylines of crime and criminal justice. The viewing public consumes crime

If you have ever been interested in the world of why serial killers kill, chances are you have done some research or even watched the insanely popular television show Dexter. “Dexter Morgan is a Forensics Expert, a loyal brother, boyfriend, and friend. That 's what he seems to be, but that 's not what he really is. Dexter Morgan is a Serial Killer that hunts the bad. (TV.com)” Dexter is a serial killer yet he works for the Miami Police Department in blood spatter forensics, because of his experience he is extremely good at his job. Dexter was adopted at a very young age, his adoptive father soon realized that Dexter was different, his father taught him

In 1951, the first television crime drama series, Dragnet significantly influenced our American culture. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, the term “dragnet” is a symbol, for, a system of coordinated measures used to apprehend criminals or suspects. Most crime drama series solve a different case each episode. Although, in current pop-culture crime dramas focus on one particular crime, throughout an entire season. Similar, to the show “Homeland,” the HBO crime drama True Detective adds a twist on the conventional series. The show depicts a subject matter that has affected modern society as a whole. Southern Louisiana police detectives Rust Cohle and Marty Hart, in 2012, are asked to revisit their solving of a ritualistic murder case from 1995. The murder of a former student of the Light of the Way Christian Academy lays the foundation, for detective Cohle’s doubts about the true design of religion. The True Detective storyline portrays the utilization of religion, education, and politics, by men in power who manipulate and control young innocent children.

Ultimately, justice is what we are seeking in these entertainment driven TV series and movies. When criminals are held accountable for their misdeeds we as society are able to accept the misdeeds of others who are responsible for bringing the dangerous criminals to justice. A sense of peace and restoration of order is established in our hearts providing a sense of harmony in our

Since the rise of storytelling, one of the most important themes has been the conflict between good and evil. Often, a person’s role in society helped the audience understand what side they were on. Princes, kings, knights, these were the “good” characters. Tax collectors, witches, and other villains were quite obviously evil. In modern times, we consider law enforcement officers to be on the side of good. However, whenever a character who clearly belongs to one side or the other makes an appearance, we expect them to do something. Witches don’t just pass through town, they throw fireballs and put curses on people. Knights don’t simply gallop by, they stop and rescue damsels in distress. If a character who clearly belongs to one side or the other appears and fails to advance their side’s

For example, in 2010 17-year-old, Andrew Conley strangled his 10-year-old brother, Connor Conley, to death with his bare hands. After confessing to murder of his brother he told investigators, “he identifies with Dexter” (Thompson). Showtime drama, DEXTER, is about a man who lives a double life as a blood spatter analyst within the Miami Police Department and a serial killer. When taken to court Conley confessed to killing his brother and said, “he had an uncontrollable urge for murder and wanted to model himself after the TV serial killer Dexter…I feel just like him” (Thompson). It is quite startling to hear a 17-year-old say he identifies with a serial killer. Also, during trial Andrew stated, the day after he killed Connor he was fighting

The viewers are positioned in the group of people who are educated by crime knowledge. Television helps viewers to shape the way that they understand the world. They were educated to understand the social world and to recognize of right and wrong. The show warns the audience that the crime happens anytime any place. However, Even though the world contains crime and violence, people would not be hopeless because the police as a moral authority and they are the embodiment of justice.

Dexter was interviewed by Mrs. Emily Hutcheson at the Elmore County Child Advocacy Center. Dexter reported he was 6 years old and enjoys playing with his friends at school and playing his X-Box. Dexter reported that the following day he will be graduating from Kindergarten. He stated that his teacher name is Ms. Matthews. He stated that today in class they made bags to put all of their supplies and pictures in. Dexter stated he lived with Logan Riddle (his step-dad‘s son), his step-dad, Craig Riddle, his mother, his 2 sisters, and Logan McCoy. He stated that his step-father is nice but doesn’t like how he cooks. He stated he felt safe with his step-dad and he never did anything bad. He stated his mom is nice but when she is mad she spanks them

The Dexter T.V. show is about a blood splatter pattern analyst for Miami Metro Police Department who also accompany of an undisclosed serial killer. Hunting down criminals who

Television has become a vital aspect of daily life, within modern society; every aspect of television exhibits, to a certain extent, a reliance on genre (Mittell, 2001). Industries rely on genre to produce programs, and audiences use genres as a means of organizing fan practices (Mittell, 2001). According to a 2006 Nelson Media Research study, ratings confirm that aside from prime time shows such as American Idol and Survivor, part-time crime drama’s have been classified as one of the most favoured genre (DeTardo-Bora, pg. 154, 2009). The relationship between the media and criminal justice system is delicate, where more often than not, crimes are portrayed in a false light (Graveline, pg. 1, 2015). These misconceptions lead to

A very popular 1995 film involving crime is “Bad Boys” directed by Michael Bay. Michael Bay and his team of writers were able to film a highly intense action-comedy based around two detectives fighting organized crime. By examining distortions, crime causation theories, and the image portrayed in “Bad Boys,” the viewer is absorbed into the Hollywood perspective of our justice system.

Dexter idolizes those wealthy men and does everything possible to resemble rich men. For example, he asks the best tailor in America to make a suit for him. In sum, he becomes addicted to social prestige since he believes that happiness lies in it.