Crime Fighters II - Dexter

5/13/2012

Crime Fighters II - Dexter

This show was recommended to me so many times that I felt compelled to watch it. Now I have to be honest. I don't think I even reached the middle of the second season and it was such a disappointment to me. So, if you are a huge fan of Dexter, you might reconsider reading this post. Otherwise, enjoy!

As always, here are some basics about the show itself. It debuted on 1, October, 2006 on CBS and as of now, it was renewed for a seventh season. It is an adaptation of a book series written by Jeff Lindsay which first piece was titled as The Darkly Dreaming Dexter. While for me the storyline itself was alluring enough to watch, it left me with conflicting feelings.

During the day, Dexter Morgan is a jovial employee in the Miami Metropolitan Police Department's crime lab, but his meticulously crafted life masks his true nature. In reality Dexter is a disciplined and murderous psychopath (a self-admitted "monster"), and he slakes his blood lust at night by carefully killing the serial killers he tracks down during the day. Based on the novels (Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dearly Devoted Dexter and Dexter in the Dark) by Jeff Lindsay.  imdb.com

Thus, we have a serial killer/crime fighter in one person. While the thought is not that original, the realization of it certainly is.  Dexter is the antihero, he is doing a "good thing" to prevent himself from committing "bad things" - he feels compelled to kill and instead of killing in a random manner, his, let's say attention, is solely focused on criminals.

However, he can be kind. He is gentle with children, protective and loyal to his sister and his partner, and he has friends. On the other hand, he is a self-diagnosed sociopath, which, in his case means that he "suffers from" (a paradoxical term in Dexter's case as he enjoys the disorder that his mind is) antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy.  Self-diagnose, because while some people suspected that something was wrong with him, he still managed to deceive everyone, including the Miami Police Department he works for as a bloodstain pattern analyst, and he had never been hospitalized because of his... little problems. Or put behind bars, whichever one would prefer.

That was as far as I got with  the show. When I learned that he got married and reproduced, I decided against ever continuing to follow the series. A person, who is incapable of feelings such as love, empathy, and kindness turns into a family man while happily keeps on committing brutal murders at night. A police department that has no idea that their wanted serial killer is right under their nose. A sister, who is also a cop, unable to see what her brother really is. A cop father that accepts a psychopathic son and teaches him how to commit the so far impossible perfect crime. Unreal much? I do not even want to go into more details.

Thus, for one who is as interested in psychology as I am, this show is an insult. While I admit it is somewhat entertaining, the message and the portrayal are nothing but nonsense. However, for those who do not care for any of these facts in the face of a blood-promising forty minutes, good bye common sense, welcome Dexter.

Crime Fighters I - Criminal Minds

5/06/2012

Crime Fighters I - Criminal Minds

Oh, my. Before I do anything, I have to state that this show is one of my all time favorites. I do believe that it brought something new and unique into the genre with its focus on giving insight into the minds of serial killers instead of concentrating on the crimes themselves.

An elite squad of FBI profilers analyzes the country's most-twisted criminal minds, anticipating the perpetrators' next moves before they can strike again. Each member of the "mind hunter" team brings his or her expertise to the table to pinpoint predators' motivations and identify emotional triggers in order to stop them.  Tv.MSN.com

Criminal Minds is a police procedural television program which is produce by the Mark Gordon Company, an associate of CBS Television Studios and ABC Studios. The show had first aired on September 21, 2005 on CBS and due to its popularity and huge fan base, they even created a spin-off from it, titled as Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior. Though the spin-off was canceled only after thirteen episodes as it failed to live up to expectations, the original series is still very much on air and has been renewed for an eighth season.

The profilers in Criminal Minds are based on real  profilers, as the creators of the show often consult  with  the FBI's Behavior Analysis Unit. Their purpose  is to create an accurate profile which helps the local  law enforcement in catching serial offenders after  dissecting the crimes and the crime scenes, looking  through the victimology, and analyzing the criminal's  MO (modus operandi) .

Every person has his/her own fingerprint; similarly  every serial killer has its distinct signature, which, for  these trained agents, is as important as the fingerprint  itself - they can even distinguish between serial  offenders and their copycats.

So far, we can establish the Criminal Minds was based on real facts. However, after I finished this first part of my research, I started to wonder about the characters themselves: are they realistic enough to represent real FBI agents. My question was: could these seven people realistically represent profilers? 

While I am not a psychologist and I have never taken any course on behavior analysis during my university years, I like to think that I can pinpoint whether a certain character from a book could be placed in real life. For example, even though I loved the Harry Potter series, I think J.K. Rowling failed to see that if a child goes through neglect and abuse from birth then constantly experiences one trauma after another, he would not become a hero just to live his happily ever after. He would turn into an outsider, a recluse, or worse, a psychopath, and more than possibly, a criminal.

However, I truly think that the characters in Criminal Minds are realistic and lifelike. While they remain highly proficient and professional, it is clear that they are humans above all else; therefore, they make mistakes and experience intense emotions associated both with their work and their personal lives. I cannot, but declare that the writers were spot on. It is no wonder I love this show so much.

Finally, I have to mention the one thing I found really unrealistic. And it is of course the horrifyingly high rates of crimes in the US. I thought that the situation must not be as bad as it is depicted in the show - as in if a serial killer set his/her eyes upon you, you are dead no matter what, of course, except if the BAU has your back. However, I am aware, just like anybody else, that the government, the FBI and other departments of the US law enforcement sweep many of the crimes under the rug each year to avoid mass panic and paranoia. Therefore, I conducted my own research and I found this article among the many that speculates on serial killers and the number of possible murders.

Serial killers may be responsible for up to 10 times as many U.S. deaths as previously estimated, according to an analysis by a criminologist at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Kenna Quinet, associate professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI, makes the case for the higher death figures in an article titled, "The Missing Missing: Toward a Quantification of Serial Murder Victimization in the United States." It was published recently in the journal Homicide Studies.  newswise.com

She also estimates, that  as there is no reliable data on those who live on the peripheries of society, such as prostitutes,  run-aways, and the homeless, there is no real way to know the actual number on how many of them had fallen victims to serial killers. That said, she made an estimate. And the estimate is bad.

Recent academic estimates of the average number of serial killer victims each year range from 67 to 180. Quinet's analysis, based on conservative extrapolations from existing data, would add at least 182 and possibly as many 1,832 victims.

Where I expected to find unrealistic portrayal, I found disconcerting data on uncertain numbers. This post started out as a great fun to me and now I feel that the results of my own research left me breathless with possibilities. Criminal Minds is turning out to be far too real at this point. To me, only one question remains unanswered: how many?