2) He has a “secret lair.” This is a bit of stretch, but bear with me. Even his alter ego has a justice seeking air about it, like many super heroes. There is the Dexter who pretends to be human, with a job as a blood spatter specialist, and you have Dexter the serial killer.
Well, you’ve got Dexter Morgan, and well, just plain old Dexter. 1) He has an “alter ego.” You know Bruce Banner and Hulk. A lot of comic books like the dark hero, the hero that wants to clean the “scum” from the streets, wants to act as a vigilante, uses any means necessary, and is, at times, not above killing. Ever heard of the Punisher? If you discount their methods, the Punisher’s glaring antisocial killing tendencies would seem to make their characters quite similar. Dexter’s basic MO (vigalante killer) isn’t exactly new. Hence, since child killers who aren’t brought to justice are perhaps the lowest dreggs of society, anyone who cleans that up has to be a good guy, right? I’ve been thinking about this whole Dexter thing for some time, and something odd occurred to me. He does it by killing and dismembering them, of course, but he only will kill murderers, and preferably those who have killed innocent children or women. Dexter’s noble mission is to clean up society by being the instrument of justice to those who have escaped the justice of our legal system. Linsday allows his readers the freedom to let Dexter be our vicarious vigilante.
Dexter, of course, does not fit the typical perception of a “serial killer”, as you might expect. Shocking, really, and it almost makes me feel ashamed. In fact, it is this distinction that I find the most fascinating, and certainly remarkable the fact that Dexter seems even more loveable in his more exposed and vulnerable state. While the Showtime series’ first season attempts to keep Dexter as the hero by not allowing you to focus soley on him, but on the complex maze of relationships in his life, Lindsay makes no such attempt.
Jeff Lindsay isn’t the first author to try and allow the bad guy to be the hero, but like his predecessors, you have to admire his boldness.
0 kommentar(er)
