Analysis of the TV show Dexter
Word Count: 2,262
Examining Different Hues of Blood Dexter, the ideal killer, the perfect psychopath. The Showtime hit T.V. series Dexter has been much more of a success then its producers could have ever hoped for. With over eight seasons and six million viewers, it has been nominated for twenty-five Primetime Emmy Awards winning four, and ten Golden Globe Awards winning two. The success of this show is a great example of how much the American culture is attracted to two types of heroes embodied in the show, the outlaw hero and the official hero. While the outlaw hero questions society, the official hero celebrates it. "The functioning American, as the heir of a history of extreme contrast and abrupt changes, bases his final ego identity on some tentative combination of dynamic polarities" (Ray 378), in this case the outlaw and the official hero. Still for a show to be so popular and on air for eight seasons it needs to contain more than just a dynamic relationship between the outlaw and the official hero. Giving people a chance to glance through a mind of a serial killer, the TV show Dexter embodies many characteristics such as the healing myth, the outlaw hero, and the official hero increasing the amount of things people can relate to. However developed the myth is it still needs its archetypes in order for the story to feel more complete. To help Dexter along his quest the TV show contains the wise old man and the good mother archetypes. At a very early age Dexter witnessed the brutal death of his mother, cut up with a chainsaw she died a slow and painful death. While Dexter and his brother lay in a pool of her blood, trapped in a shipping container for two days until Harry finally found them. Harry ended up adopting Dexter but could not adopt his brother Brian because he was too old at the time and Harry feared that the event had scarred him too deeply. Just like in the healing myth, Dexter is presented as broken or psychologically scarred, this event is
Examining Different Hues of Blood Dexter, the ideal killer, the perfect psychopath. The Showtime hit T.V. series Dexter has been much more of a success then its producers could have ever hoped for. With over eight seasons and six million viewers, it has been nominated for twenty-five Primetime Emmy Awards winning four, and ten Golden Globe Awards winning two. The success of this show is a great example of how much the American culture is attracted to two types of heroes embodied in the show, the outlaw hero and the official hero. While the outlaw hero questions society, the official hero celebrates it. "The functioning American, as the heir of a history of extreme contrast and abrupt changes, bases his final ego identity on some tentative combination of dynamic polarities" (Ray 378), in this case the outlaw and the official hero. Still for a show to be so popular and on air for eight seasons it needs to contain more than just a dynamic relationship between the outlaw and the official hero. Giving people a chance to glance through a mind of a serial killer, the TV show Dexter embodies many characteristics such as the healing myth, the outlaw hero, and the official hero increasing the amount of things people can relate to. However developed the myth is it still needs its archetypes in order for the story to feel more complete. To help Dexter along his quest the TV show contains the wise old man and the good mother archetypes. At a very early age Dexter witnessed the brutal death of his mother, cut up with a chainsaw she died a slow and painful death. While Dexter and his brother lay in a pool of her blood, trapped in a shipping container for two days until Harry finally found them. Harry ended up adopting Dexter but could not adopt his brother Brian because he was too old at the time and Harry feared that the event had scarred him too deeply. Just like in the healing myth, Dexter is presented as broken or psychologically scarred, this event is
Cited: "Dexter (TV Series)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Jan. 2013. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. . "Smokey and the Bandit." Dexter: The Complete Series Collection. Writ. Paramount Studios, 2013. DVD. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Signs of Life in the U.S.A. Boston, New York: Bedford/St.Martin 's, 2012. Print.