Here Comes Treble: A Question of Morals?
...Are Leon and I and the other fans of ‘Dexter’ world-wide, crossing a line in morality, ourselves, or is it the writers who have crossed this line? The series is cleverly-written. We find ourselves holding our breaths when this ‘loveable psychopath’ is about to be caught in the act of monstrous murder, hoping beyond hope that somehow he will fool the cops...
Isabel Bradley questions the morality of producing and viewing some popular American TV shows.
...Are Leon and I and the other fans of ‘Dexter’ world-wide, crossing a line in morality, ourselves, or is it the writers who have crossed this line? The series is cleverly-written. We find ourselves holding our breaths when this ‘loveable psychopath’ is about to be caught in the act of monstrous murder, hoping beyond hope that somehow he will fool the cops...
Isabel Bradley questions the morality of producing and viewing some popular American TV shows.
Leon and I sometimes watch American television series on DVD, on our wide computer screen:
We find ourselves thoroughly involved with the gore and gossip of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, a series about a hospital and its young doctors, set in Seattle. There’s no murder or deliberate mayhem in the blood and guts shown, it all results from motor accidents, surgery and other far more unlikely scenarios. The fascinating and often questionable relationships between the doctors keep us on the edge of our seats, episode after episode. The fact that all of these men and women are wonderful to look at is part of the magic. There are times when their behaviour is morally questionable, but, well, that makes it all the more fascinating. Will they be caught having an affair, or won’t they? And if they are, what happens next? We never feel guilty about watching ‘Grey’s Anatomy’.
The series ‘24’, explores the violent side of the fight against terrorism. Jack is a good man, a hero in this continuous battle. Due to dire personal experiences related to his work, however, he’s inclined to cross the moral line between good and bad, taking risks with his own life, leading others to their deaths, and causing stress, tension and dissension all around – including raising the blood pressure of his viewers. The series is irresistible, but now and then, our whole-hearted support of Jack wavers, and we hope someone will stop him before he does more harm than good, even with the best intentions.
‘Dexter’ is the subject of our favourite series. He has a unique interpretation of morality, sometimes making us wonder about ourselves. Like all self-respecting psychopathic serial killers, he admits to having no emotions at all other than a desire for self-preservation. In search of his own safety, he blends into life as if he’s a normal human being. Only Dexter and the viewers know the monster within.
He works, appropriately, as a blood-spatter forensic specialist in the Miami Metro Police Department, alongside his overly-emotional sister. She is a marvellous cop with ambitions to be a detective, who tries hard but fails abominably to hide her emotions from those around her. Dexter has a blond girlfriend, who also isn’t quite as she appears. He’s a marvel with her two children, who adore him. After all, why wouldn’t they, he never hurts children. This mercy toward children is part of his unbreakable code: ‘Only kill really evil people who continually escape the justice system.’ Dexter specialises in hunting down other psychopathic killers, those who work under the radar of the police and other law-enforcement units. Once he has them in his clutches, he explains to them why they have to die, then relishes killing them slowly and painfully. He butchers the bodies and disposes of them where he, along with his viewers, hopes no-one will ever find them.
Are Leon and I and the other fans of ‘Dexter’ world-wide, crossing a line in morality, ourselves, or is it the writers who have crossed this line? The series is cleverly-written. We find ourselves holding our breaths when this ‘loveable psychopath’ is about to be caught in the act of monstrous murder, hoping beyond hope that somehow he will fool the cops, the district attorney and anyone else who may do him harm. We lean forward in encouragement as he stalks his prey, ties them, naked, to a table in a hermetically sealed room with sheets of plastic, and watch with glee as he takes a blood sample as a trophy, thus beginning his ritual.
How is it possible that an evil killer, admittedly of even more evil men that himself, can be such an empathetic character? It’s one thing to wait for doctors and nurses to make a fatal error in surgery, or be caught with the wrong partner in the scrub room. We feel reasonably comfortable, watching Jack in ‘24’ teetering off the rails, then somehow redeeming himself. But to want a psychopath to continue his murderous vengeance, even on behalf of society, is surely immoral. Or is it? It’s certainly excellent characterisation and brilliant writing that persuades us to this strange state of mind.
Leon and I will continue avidly watching all our favourite series as the studios produce them, in the hopes of discovering the answer to our moral dilemma. Or maybe we’ll just watch with enormous enjoyment and leave the moralising to someone else…
Until next time… ‘here comes Treble!’
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By Isabel Bradley
To read more of Iabel's columns please visit http://www.openwriting.com/archives/here_comes_treble/
