"Good" serial killers, "good" demons, and other oxymorons
Have you caught Dexter on CBS?
The hero- appropriately enough, named "Dexter-" is a serial killer. Yes, that's what I said. Not to fear, though. He's a good serial killer.
It seems that his adoptive father realized his...er, tendencies... and encouraged him to channel his urges into killing people who needed it (in theory, other serial killers, mob hit-men, drug dealers, rapists and other such individuals who could not, for some reason, be successfully prosecuted. I say "in theory" because sometimes it isn't clear that anybody- Dexter included- ever made an effort in that direction).
Originally a Showtime series, Dexter is quite controversial. It should be- even though segments in which Dexter dismembers living victims are handled more tastefully in the CBS version than on Showtime.
Somehow, this reminds me of Hellboy, the "good" demon rescued from Nazi warlocks by Allied forces and enlisted in the cause of goodness, on one hand- and both Dark Horse Comics and Columbia Pictures, on the other.
That we have become a culture capable of being entertained by "good" serial killers and "good" demons seems to me to be an ominous sign. To even conceive of such creatures it's necessary, after all, to be rather unclear on the concepts "serial killer" and "demon."
What we have here, essentially, is moral relativism run amok, in Dexter's case. In Hellboy's, I'm not even sure what we have- except people unclear on the concept.
The hero- appropriately enough, named "Dexter-" is a serial killer. Yes, that's what I said. Not to fear, though. He's a good serial killer.
It seems that his adoptive father realized his...er, tendencies... and encouraged him to channel his urges into killing people who needed it (in theory, other serial killers, mob hit-men, drug dealers, rapists and other such individuals who could not, for some reason, be successfully prosecuted. I say "in theory" because sometimes it isn't clear that anybody- Dexter included- ever made an effort in that direction).
Originally a Showtime series, Dexter is quite controversial. It should be- even though segments in which Dexter dismembers living victims are handled more tastefully in the CBS version than on Showtime.
Somehow, this reminds me of Hellboy, the "good" demon rescued from Nazi warlocks by Allied forces and enlisted in the cause of goodness, on one hand- and both Dark Horse Comics and Columbia Pictures, on the other.
That we have become a culture capable of being entertained by "good" serial killers and "good" demons seems to me to be an ominous sign. To even conceive of such creatures it's necessary, after all, to be rather unclear on the concepts "serial killer" and "demon."
What we have here, essentially, is moral relativism run amok, in Dexter's case. In Hellboy's, I'm not even sure what we have- except people unclear on the concept.
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