I believe that we are surrounded by evil people, and it is within those whom we may least expect. There is a degree of evil in which people cannot control, they are simply natured that way. Take Dexter, (from this video clip) for example. He is driven by a unique sense of evil, because he claims to kill for the better of society. He kills people who have not yet been captured by the police, and more importantly, people who have committed horrific acts of crime themselves (murder, rape, etc.). After watching every season of this amazing series, it has come to my realization that evil is not always visible to us, and looks can be deceiving. The question after watching this show really becomes whether or not it is acceptable to kill others who potentially "deserve it." It's like fighting fire with fire, but I believe that Dexter isn't doing anything wrong. What's your thoughts on this controversy?
Rachel, I have Season 1 of Dexter at home and this post has encouraged me to finally start watching it, especially since I have just finished The Wire (which is the best series ever).
The beginning of your post chilled me, because I don't like thinking that we are surrounded by evil people. I wonder if Dexter can be compared to Omar from The Wire? Omar only kills people who are part of "the game". It is part of his moral code.
I think that it is a slippery slope to decide who "deserves" to be killed. How does one decide what crime is deserving of death? Who gets to make that decision? While I know that our justice system has difficulties, I trust it to properly punish people for their actions. I also strongly believe that punishment shouldn't be the only purpose of justice. I think rehabilitation is incredibly important and needs to be a larger focus when dealing with "evil."
I also believe that some people have it imbedded inside themselves to do evil things and it's not always in their control to stop it. I think the way Dexter was nurtured, as you said, affected him because his adopted father's lessons on only killing those who "deserved it" prevented Dexter from becoming a full on serial killer with no moral convictions at all. I agree with Mrs. Le that we shouldn’t decide ourselves who should or should not be punished and that those choices should be left to the justice system.
I loved how you said that you didn’t think Dexter was doing anything wrong because it shows us just how much the movie and TV industry affects how we perceive the people we watch. One example I’m always reminded of for some reason is the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. In those movies we cheer for the pirates who seem to us like the “good” guys. In reality pirates weren’t the best people to be around and mostly did bad things, but because of the way the movie portrays them to us we think that what they are doing is okay. Movies and TV also give us an inside look into the main character’s thoughts, which I think is one of the reasons we are more understanding to their problems because we get to see the reasons behind their actions. I also think that if you heard of Dexter actions in a real life setting, you would probably be harsher on him.
Rachel, I have Season 1 of Dexter at home and this post has encouraged me to finally start watching it, especially since I have just finished The Wire (which is the best series ever).
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of your post chilled me, because I don't like thinking that we are surrounded by evil people. I wonder if Dexter can be compared to Omar from The Wire? Omar only kills people who are part of "the game". It is part of his moral code.
I think that it is a slippery slope to decide who "deserves" to be killed. How does one decide what crime is deserving of death? Who gets to make that decision? While I know that our justice system has difficulties, I trust it to properly punish people for their actions. I also strongly believe that punishment shouldn't be the only purpose of justice. I think rehabilitation is incredibly important and needs to be a larger focus when dealing with "evil."
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ReplyDeleteI also believe that some people have it imbedded inside themselves to do evil things and it's not always in their control to stop it. I think the way Dexter was nurtured, as you said, affected him because his adopted father's lessons on only killing those who "deserved it" prevented Dexter from becoming a full on serial killer with no moral convictions at all. I agree with Mrs. Le that we shouldn’t decide ourselves who should or should not be punished and that those choices should be left to the justice system.
DeleteI loved how you said that you didn’t think Dexter was doing anything wrong because it shows us just how much the movie and TV industry affects how we perceive the people we watch. One example I’m always reminded of for some reason is the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. In those movies we cheer for the pirates who seem to us like the “good” guys. In reality pirates weren’t the best people to be around and mostly did bad things, but because of the way the movie portrays them to us we think that what they are doing is okay. Movies and TV also give us an inside look into the main character’s thoughts, which I think is one of the reasons we are more understanding to their problems because we get to see the reasons behind their actions. I also think that if you heard of Dexter actions in a real life setting, you would probably be harsher on him.