Life at all costs?

Dexter, poster from IMDb

The series is summarized as follows on Wikipedia:

The series centers on Dexter Morgan, a bloodstain blood analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer.

I’ve just finished watching the 5th season of Dexter and thoroughly enjoyed it. This series is unusual, featuring a likable anti-hero. There’s a lot of ‘goodness’ in this series which features convincing acting, tight scripting, and meaningfully conclusive story arcs. Views and conversations are, however, polarized depending on where we place the emphasis.

• Show hater Lucy Mangan shares her critique in Cable Girl: There’s something wrong with Dexter the serial killer
• Show lover Ben Marshall writes In defense of Dexter in response to Lucy and cites ten excellent reasons why the show is so good and is loved by so many
• On Metacritic Slant Magazine succinctly states:

When it’s at the top of its game, Dexter brings True Blood to mind, subverting conventions of horror and violence to mock the various accoutrements of “normal” suburban life.

Though written way back in 2007 the sentiments remain the same along the lines of show haters and lovers: There is something deeply wrong with Dexter — he is a disturbed serial killer! However, aside from being really well done, there is a lot about the character that viewers can relate to.

• The series is not a slash fest like a popular movie series I simply can’t stand and won’t name here. This is not gruesome upon gruesome. Dexter comes across more as art and commentary.
• Though Michael C Hall (the actor who plays Dexter) is in incredible physical shape he is not the macho man. You know what I mean? The more ‘manly man’ is the gym junkie, the muscular hunk, the brute — the Chuck Norris. Dexter, however, is someone more of us can relate to. In terms of personality he is more soft spoken and polite than arrogant and controlling. In terms of role at work he’s not the take charge boss, he’s the specialized and nerdy underling.
• The handling of the classic ‘good overcoming evil’ theme is more accurately portrayed. By this I mean the hope that justice will be meaningfully fulfilled ensuring that those who’re truly evil ‘get it’ in the end.
• Dexter is capable of violence and vengeance, something the majority of humans are not. However, we have that desire within us. Dexter is able to violently enforce justice mimicking a court theme where the crimes of his victims are displayed to them. He does so without malevolence on our behalf to ensure our continued safety and as a just recompense for the acts they’ve performed against their helpless victims.
• One of the deeper and most consistent themes in Dexter, resonating with the self of many of us and connected with intimacy is that of acceptance/rejection/understanding. Deep down most of us struggle to reveal who we are, even trying to do so is experienced as unsafe. We tell our selves that “No one really understands me, or truly sees me, and if they do they’ll reject me.” Starting in childhood with communication being difficult and our parents and caregivers not fully understanding us is followed by a series of failed relationships. We’re rejected by others we’ve opened up to but we also reject others who’ve truly opened up to us.
• And finally, from my perspective, it stands as a good challenge to our interpretation of the biblical motif “don’t kill” and “don’t commit murder”. In the OT because human life was sacred, i.e. the life of the victims, meant that the life of those who cannot be rehabilitated was to be taken too. This stands in contrast to our interpretation that serial killers, rapists and child molesters ought to be allowed on to the street again. It is debatable whether the slow death of incarceration, at great cost to society, is more humane than quickly putting someone down. Nevertheless, neat philosophical and theological concerns aside Dexter satisfies our visceral response to the crimes of his victims. As such Dexter stands as a challenge to our notion of preserving life at all costs, including lives taken or destroyed by the lives we choose to preserve.

Love to hear your thoughts!

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• dexter
• ethics
• morality
• philosophy