Free Serial Killers

Angela Baik

Professor Angela Allen

Writing 1: Monsters

11 Dec. 2015

America: Land of the Free… Killers?

Murder. The word itself is taboo while committing the actual act is considered immoral. While creating a life involves a long process consisting of nine months before it can even begin, taking a life away can take less than a second. We are taught to cherish life and to live it to the fullest- to respect life and the many people that we meet. But why is it though, that this very society that preaches of life and its beauty, promote the very thing that is condemned? Beginning with the Jack the Ripper murders in 1888, the media’s unnatural fascination with serial killers hasn’t waned. Our films, television shows, and even music seem to focus

on serial killers and murder in general. This phenomena known as serial killer culture has been, and is still very present within American media. The presence of serial killer culture resides in every aspect of our society because of psychological and outside influences that continue to feed our morbid curiosity.
As a society becoming more and more immersed within social media, the way in which news is presented to the actual public has become a problem. The actual content can be manipulated so that people may believe things in a way they want them to believe. This is especially a problem when it comes to serial killers and their murders, because the media tends to focus exclusively on an appeal to their emotions when relaying the news. This is also commented upon by an Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico, Dirk C. Gibson, who writes of how the media tends to focus on killers and their actions, highlighting their deeds in order to gain more public attention. He analyzes cases of serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer and several others, stating how each case was affected by media interaction whether they were negative or positive. Gibson stresses the fact that the media relied on this psychological appeal to pathos in order to create sympathy. Media plays such a big role in our society, but it is not always utilized in the most proper ways. When it comes to reporting on a serial killer or their case, the media usually follows the case until it is resolved, or if people seem to lose interest.
It is true that media coverage of a possible serial killer/killer on the loose may prove to be helpful [i.e.

Media coverage of Ted Bundy’s escape from prison and first arrest allowed for him to be caught (Murderpedia)]. However, the media should know its boundaries when it comes to where they can report and where they can not. More often times than not, the media interferes with actual police investigations and make it more difficult to either catch the perpetrator or to go through the process of arresting them. In regards to serial killers and serial killer cases, it is common for the media to directly distract law enforcement so that they are unable to do their work properly. Media coverage of serial killers may instead, be motivation for them to commit their crimes in the first place- as they wish to be recognized. In addition, the fact that so many people will be exposed to this information allows for individuals to try and do drastic things such as emulating the crime, or being influenced to commit their own. The media may be motivation for serial killers to commit their crimes, and can act to be a disturbance during serial killer cases. Reporting of such cases can also influence audience members so that they may also be “inspire” to either commit copycat crimes or create work that embodies the act. This creation of a serial killer culture stems from the media reporting of serial killers in a way that may create sympathy or pity. By giving them exposure to the rest of

society, their names and deeds become known to the world, and people desire to know more about these killers in an attempt to understand them.
Social media has become so huge that it in turn influences the rest of our media in the form of film, television, music and so much more.

The movie Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960, was based on the novel of the same name in 1959 by Robert Bloch. An early example of the slasher film genre, this film followed a psychologically unstable man named Norman, who murdered his mother and her lover out of jealousy ten years prior. After feeling guilt, he adopts his deceased mother’s persona and exhumes her corpse, killing any woman he feels sexually attracted to because he hears his mother telling him to. This film is now considered one of the greatest films of all time, and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the US Library of Congress- deeming it culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. The fact that such a violent film has been considered significant to the history of the United States and therefore preserved proves a lot about our bloodthirsty society. Hitchcock’s film also inspired the television show Bates Motel, which is currently shooting its fourth season. The inspiration for all of this was a man by the name of Ed Gein, an American killer who not only killed, but exhumed corpses from local graveyards and fashioned trophies out of them. Another example, the popular television show, Hannibal, was inspired by the popular film Silence of the Lambs, in which an F.B.I. agent relies on an incarcerated killer in order to catch

another serial killer. Though neither were explicitly stated to have been inspired by a real life serial killer, the premise of the show Hannibal involve a psychiatrist who happens to also be a cannibalistic serial killer who eats his victims. The “star status” given to serial killers is present in several American films (Shmidt). Silence of the Lambs in specifics, portrays its villain Hannibal Lecter by emphasizing his charming eccentricity rather than his cannibalism and crimes, or even by making his cannibalism into a charming eccentricity. Following this pattern come more shows such as Bates Motel and Dexter, and even the present craze with vampires. America is clearly in love with serial killers. These are complicated, compelling questions. But here, at the outer boundaries of the human condition, are realities that resist our understanding. Another television show that faced much criticism and controversy yet succeeded was Showtime’s Dexter. Dexter follows a main character of the same name, who leads a secret life as a serial killer, hunting down murderers who have slipped through the cracks of the justice system. The moral dilemma of whether his actions were justified troubled several audience members. This show inspired several “real life crimes”, including the strangulation of a ten-year old brother, the murder of a father, and several other murders in which the perpetrators explicitly stated that they were influenced by the show Dexter. This was proven in court, as several of them mimicked the way Dexter would execute his victims- tied with plastic wrap in a room also wrapped, and sliced, and hacked into pieces. The creation of fictional serial killers has been, and still is influencing normal members into society to either become or admire murderers. This is highly troubling, as something as simple as entertainment can produce a killer.
The existence of serial killer culture is also prevalent within our music. Katy Perry, a rather famous, American pop singer, references the infamous, American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in one of her songs, Dark Horse. In the rap verse, the lyrics go, “She’s a beast, I call her Karma, She eats your heart out like Jeffrey Dahmer” (Perry). He is also referenced in another pop song by the American singer, Kesha. She sings in her song Cannibal, “Whenever you tell me I’m pretty, that’s when hunger really hits me. Your little heart goes pitter patter. I want your liver on a platter. Use your finger to stir my tea, and for dessert I’ll suck your teeth. Be too sweet and you’ll be a goner. Yep, I’ll pull a Jeffrey Dahmer” (Kesha). These tasteless references were used in such pop songs even though it has been twenty years after the crimes were committed because they still remain relevant today. Jeffrey Dahmer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, was an American serial killer and sex offender who committed the rape, murder, necrophilia, and cannibalism of his victims (Murderpedia). These are popular songs that have been, and are still sung by people everywhere. Teens, adults, and even children mindlessly sing along to lyrics that reference a mass, serial murderer. Regardless of whether they know about this specific reference, this should prove to be highly disturbing. Serial killer culture is real, and we are the ones who keep it alive.