Posted: Dec 08, 2016 8:15 pm
All good questions Metatron.
What "control" do we have in society? There is no real control only the illusion of it... and societal sanctioned consequences, should you violate a codified law.
Dexter (and yes, he's the protagonist), struggles with his "need to kill" rather than wrath. The internal conflict is essential to the show. Additionally, he struggles with the morality of it all. Since he lives on the gray area between good and bad, the show is able to explore this concept. In one episode, he does kill someone he THINKS is a bad person, but finds out later they aren't. In every other way he's actually a good person, good father and husband (all things he struggles with to become).
Dexter is a "blood spatter" expert working for Miami homicide. It gives him a perfect viewpoint to know where the bad guys are and which ones walk. His ethics are compromised eventually when he begins withholding evidence and ensuring certain killers go free... so he can do the deed himself. Generally, before he kills the intended target, he surveils them, even breaking into their homes for evidence. This is his "due diligence".
Of course society doesn't "want" vigilantism, but people always do what people do, regardless of society's wants. Part of the variation of evolution, no?
I'm still watching the show and hope I'm not spoiling it for anyone. I have a suspicion, but cannot identify much foundation of foreshadow or suggestion to confirm this so I think I may just be imagining it... I think Dexter's dad is an idealist who becomes frustrated by a legal system where murderers get off on technicalities. I have wondered a few times if he doesn't cultivate the sociopath in Dexter to achieve his own brand of justice. An interesting device they use is Dexter's sister. She's biological daughter to Dexter's dad and the only sibling he knows. She also becomes a detective working in the same homicide department where Dexter works. Since both their parents die just as the kids reach adulthood, all they have is each other. They're common father/adoptive father make them a "control" for testing whether or not the sociopathy is due to Dexter's trauma or the father's parenting. It contrasts one with the other.
I think it's an illusion that we can "keep society safe." A false sense of security at best. We write laws, punish those who break them and develop technologies and investigative practices to catch people who break the laws. Beyond that I start getting real uncomfortable with my beloved government "ensuring my safety." I have visions of big Orwellian television monitors watching every sleeping moment.
Ultimately Dexter saves lives, and is lauded as a hero by some, to a small degree. Most of the people he kills are serial killers themselves. This is where suspension of disbelief is most difficult for me, but surmountable... Every season, there is essentially a new serial killer in Miami. It gives the impression that they're more common than they actually are.
What "control" do we have in society? There is no real control only the illusion of it... and societal sanctioned consequences, should you violate a codified law.
Dexter (and yes, he's the protagonist), struggles with his "need to kill" rather than wrath. The internal conflict is essential to the show. Additionally, he struggles with the morality of it all. Since he lives on the gray area between good and bad, the show is able to explore this concept. In one episode, he does kill someone he THINKS is a bad person, but finds out later they aren't. In every other way he's actually a good person, good father and husband (all things he struggles with to become).
Dexter is a "blood spatter" expert working for Miami homicide. It gives him a perfect viewpoint to know where the bad guys are and which ones walk. His ethics are compromised eventually when he begins withholding evidence and ensuring certain killers go free... so he can do the deed himself. Generally, before he kills the intended target, he surveils them, even breaking into their homes for evidence. This is his "due diligence".
Of course society doesn't "want" vigilantism, but people always do what people do, regardless of society's wants. Part of the variation of evolution, no?
I'm still watching the show and hope I'm not spoiling it for anyone. I have a suspicion, but cannot identify much foundation of foreshadow or suggestion to confirm this so I think I may just be imagining it... I think Dexter's dad is an idealist who becomes frustrated by a legal system where murderers get off on technicalities. I have wondered a few times if he doesn't cultivate the sociopath in Dexter to achieve his own brand of justice. An interesting device they use is Dexter's sister. She's biological daughter to Dexter's dad and the only sibling he knows. She also becomes a detective working in the same homicide department where Dexter works. Since both their parents die just as the kids reach adulthood, all they have is each other. They're common father/adoptive father make them a "control" for testing whether or not the sociopathy is due to Dexter's trauma or the father's parenting. It contrasts one with the other.
I think it's an illusion that we can "keep society safe." A false sense of security at best. We write laws, punish those who break them and develop technologies and investigative practices to catch people who break the laws. Beyond that I start getting real uncomfortable with my beloved government "ensuring my safety." I have visions of big Orwellian television monitors watching every sleeping moment.
Ultimately Dexter saves lives, and is lauded as a hero by some, to a small degree. Most of the people he kills are serial killers themselves. This is where suspension of disbelief is most difficult for me, but surmountable... Every season, there is essentially a new serial killer in Miami. It gives the impression that they're more common than they actually are.