Media Glamorization of Serial Killers - Research Paper Example

Media Glamorization of Serial Killers Acts of violence and murder are constantly condemned by the society. Serial killers are among the criminals that are highly despised by the society, people even think of them as animals and demons and threats them that way (Roy 16). Serial Killers are usually motivated in four ways, namely: visionary, mission-oriented, hedonistic, and power of control (24). These different categories will help develop a clear understanding of the psychological condition of the killers. Several recursive cases of murder that happened in the United States were done by serial killers, some of them already caught by the authorities and a few were still out in open and free to do whatever they want. The irony becomes evident when the responses of society are examined regarding criminals that commit serial murders. People deem these criminals as bad individual that deserves to be punished yet people tend to have more interest with the serial killer and cannot even recognize their victims (16). The main reason for this is because serial killers are glamorized by the media, which develops interest among people that make people more concerned about the identity and background of the criminal rather than taking time in knowing the victims that have suffered in the arms of those killers. This paper explores five articles that depict how the media plays a role in the glamorization of serial killers. The articles that will be featured in the paper will present several views that will provide a broader understanding of the glamorization of serial killers. Jennifer Copley (2008) had written an article entitled “Media Glamorization of the Psychopath” this focuses on the premise that movies, games, other forms of media support a sociopathic hero. The article tackles on the subject that North American media glamorizes the psychopath as a “brave war hero, fearless police officer, the dynamic villain, or the misunderstood hero” (Copley 1). The article on “Sex Workers in the Shadows” by Allison Burch (2002) basically describes the scenario among sex workers or prostitutes. These sex workers are often maltreated by their clients and abused, with high vulnerability to attacks from serial killers as well as from law enforcement officers. Two articles were also chosen that contains various inputs on how the movies have been used to glamorize the serial killers. Georgia Custer (2008), wrote about the TV series Dexter, entitled “CBS shouldn’t Glamorize serial killer on Dexter” where the article focuses mainly on the effect of the series among children and teenagers. Dexter is a series that presents the life of a serial killer that uses his acquired skills from the training given to him by his father to kill other serial kills that are out of control. The article also raises its concern regarding the broadcast of the series in national television, with the fear of exposing children and teenagers to images that are highly violent and can influence the behavior of the viewers to be less sensitive of explicit content. Ceren Akdeniz (2007) wrote about the Hannibal Lecter movie anthology. The film is good example of glamorizing serial killers, it depicts the character of Hannibal Lecter, the killer, as a very smart man with a high level of education and cognitive skills. The characteristics given to the character of Hannibal Lecter made the viewers more interested in his creative ways of killing his victims. Hannibal became a serial killer due to a brutal incident during his childhood. He came from a rich family but several events pushed them to stay in the forest to avoid getting hurt from the on going war. Unfortunately, soldiers saw their house in the woods and they murdered Hannibal’s parents. Food became scarce and the soldiers have decided that the only way for them to survive is to eat the little sister of Hannibal. This traumatic experience had triggered the condition of Hannibal Lecter to become a serial killer. The final article that will be featured in the paper is written by Sam Vaknin (2003) which is titled “Serial Killers as a Cultural Construct”. Some examples of serial killers were discussed in the article together with the analysis on what influenced the individuals to become criminals. The author suggests that serial killers are not a product of media glamorization but highly influenced of their personal circumstances and the genes (1). According to Jennifer Copley (2008), one way of glamorizing psychopaths is by attributing them with war hero capabilities, like in the movie Dirty Dozen. However, this heroic potential is very unlikely to occur among psychopaths since they cannot work well with groups and they tend to do things on their own. Portrayal as cops is also most likely not to be true. Another media source that offers glamorization of psychopaths is through computer games, such as Grand Theft Auto (GTA). In this game a violent criminal is the hero, allowing the players to engage in murder and mayhem (1). According to the FBI, about 70 percent of the 1,398 victims of serial killers are women (Burtch 1).Sex workers have been the number one source of serial killer victims since there was little protection for them. An event was even recorded that a distress call from the parents of a prostitute that went missing was ignored by a police department. This incident has raised several concerns regarding the protection of women. Without the protection from the law enforcement agency, sex workers became the target of several serial killers. In 2003, Gary Leon Ridgway confessed that he killed 48 sex workers over the past few years. The problem became even worse when reports came that the policemen themselves were also involved in cases of violence. The people are not even aware of these incidents because the media chooses to glamorize the killers and not the victims (1). The Hannibal Lecter and Dexter series are similar in its mode of glamorizing serial killers. This may be a marketing move in order to gain more interest from viewers since people are not aware that they are also somehow practicing violence in their own ways, it may not be as severe as murdering someone but the mere fact that violence is innate to an individual, the urge and desire to watch movies that features a protagonist which is a serial killer is higher. The explicit scenes that pertain to sexual actions also add up to the interests of viewers and have a great potential of corrupting young minds (Custer 1). Based on the analysis of Akdeniz (2007), the etiology of disorder that caused the condition of Hannibal of becoming a cannibalistic serial killer is due to his personal witnessing of the cannibalistic murder of his little sister at the hands of the Russian soldiers during the war. The same goes with the condition of Dexter, during his childhood, he and his brother have witnessed the gruesome death of their mother. They were soaked with their mother’s blood in a container truck for several days before they were found by the police. According to Vaknin (2003), serial killers posses a condition called malignant narcissism. Every serial killer has their own unique choice of the following, The choice of weapons, the identity and range of the victims, the methodology of murder, the disposal of the bodies, the geography, the sexual perversions and paraphilias . . . all are informed and inspired by the killers environment, upbringing, community, socialization, education, peer group, sexual orientation, religious convictions, and personal narrative. (Vaknin 1) The process of capturing the victim before the killing provides the serial killer the feeling that he aspires, a feeling of freezing the time when his victim is defenseless (1). The article of Copley (2008) supports the idea of the extensive glamorization of serial killers in the movie industry. Among the long list of movies that depicts killers as protagonist, Dexter and Hannibal Lecter was discussed and the analysis of the cause of their condition was examined. It can be inferred that the factor that triggered the cannibalistic murdering of Hannibal and the mutilation method of Dexter was influenced by their own personal experiences in the past and an effect of a tragic event in their life. The authors are also parallel in their stand that glamorization of serial killers tends to divert the attention of the society with the victims and instead the increased publicity of the criminal results in giving him a celebrity status. Glamorization of serial killers and any type of violence should be controlled by the media and other outlets. The continuous exposure of younger generation to media that depict violence would tend to reduce their sensitivity to it and they will have the tendency to engage in violence as well. Serial killers are indeed not born but created, several factors play a vital role in shaping up an individual. With proper guidance and a controlled environment, violence can be reduced. Works Cited Akdeniz, Ceren. “Hannibal Lecter Movies”. 2007. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. Burtch, Allison. “Sex Workers in the Shadows.” The Independent. 2002. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. Copley, Jennifer. “Media Glamorization of the Psychopath.” 2008. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. Custer, Georgia. “CBS shouldn’t glamorize serial killer on Dexter.” 2008. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. Roy, Jody. M. Love to Hate: America’s Obsession With Hatred and Violence. New York: Columbia Universiy Press, 2002. Print. Vaknin, Sam. “Serial Killers as a Cultural Construct.” 2004. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. Read More