The Psychopath Among Us: The Show Dexter

In sum, scholarship reveals three major ways that psychopaths can be viewed as. There are psychopathic experts that consider psychopaths to be violent, those who consider them usually non-violent and high-functioning, and others who believe they are non-violent, but do take the opportunity to take advantage of unsuspecting people in criminal ways. Psychopaths are for the most part non-violent and high-functioning, but do have a tendency to use people for their own benefits in ways that society does not consider legal or moral. However, the show Dexter perpetuates a problematic cultural myth that all psychopaths are relentless violent criminals. In reality, there are much more non-violent and high-functioning psychopaths that exist in our global society than most would assume after viewing Dexter.

Within Dexter, the show provides countless examples of how popular culture perpetuates the cultural myth that psychopaths are violent and have the ability to instill fear in society. One example of this perpetuated myth in the show Dexter is seen through Dexter’s brother, Brian Moser. Moser, who also is known as the Ice Truck Killer, is introduced as a complex individual who is able to mimic the norms of society while also killing the innocent. When Dexter finally discovers his connection between him and the Ice Truck Killer who he is hunting, he finally realizes the reasons behind Moser’s ruthless dismembering of individuals because he too witnessed their mother being brutally dismembered. The exception was that Moser was older and did not have the help of Dexter’s adoptive father to help him cope with his previous trauma. The series truly emphasizes how well Moser can be deceptive to the people around him. For example, to get closer to...

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