Amy Hankins
LE300 capstone: serial killers as heroes in popular culture
Final Project

The Evolution of serial killers and societies fascination

A serial killer is someone who is known as a friend, father, co-worker, politician, in fact a serial killer can be anybody. For centuries stories about serial killers have graced the covers of newspapers and magazines. Many famous stories have influenced a lot of films that have been produced and continue to be produced. There is an endless amount of questions as to how serial killers become serial killers, which falls under nature vs. nurture. “The causes of psychopaths remain a mystery. We don’t even have a satisfactory answer to the question of whether psychopath is a product of Mother Nature or a feature of upbringing (Brogaard & Marlow, 2012).” Nevertheless, due to the many serial killers that plague this country, they have come from a very unstable background mostly during the childhood years. Within this essay I would like to discuss not only what has been learned throughout the semester but also bring to light the possible reasons as to why serial killers kill and why society has such an enormous fascination with them. According to the dictionary a serial killers is a person who commits two or more murders at different times. Serial killers are extremely intelligent and some have most likely obtained a degree of some sort. This sort of intelligence is evident in Mr. Brooks, Dexter, silence of the lamb and perfume. All of the main characters in both the films and novels are very intelligent. They can also be well-respected individuals like Hannibal Lecter who was a psychologist, and Mr. Brooks who was a businessman with a family. They are difficult to detect and that is the purpose, they blend in with society. We all know the many serial killers now, but why? Why did they become serial killers? Many serial killers suffer from a mental illness, addiction, or have had a traumatic childhood experience. Shirley Lynn Scott states that “research shows many serial killers suffered abuse, incest or neglect as children and develop poor self images”. Serial killers often come from an absence of a nurturing relationship. Which is definitely shown with the character Grenouille, whom was left, to die in a pile of fish guts and later sold and beaten, he then became obsessed with finding a way to capture scent. Grenouille wanted to be noticed, he wanted to be somebody of significance. He realized he had no scent, no self-esteem, which ultimately provoked him to kill woman. It is not this way for all serial killers, some may have had a normal childhood and simply suffer from an addiction that was developed. There are many reasons as to why serial killers kill, which can result from sadness, anger and many other emotions that build up and cause this outrage of behavior. While researching I came across an article stating that “It [was] worth noting that a large number of the most gruesome crimes were committed by psychotics, not psychopaths (Brogaard & marlow, 2012)”. I found this interesting mainly because it is rare when an individual knows the difference between psychosis and psychopaths. Psychosis is a loss of ones sense of reality while psychopath is a personality disorder (Brogaard & Marlow, 2012). The disorder in children can be detected at an early age but that does not suggest that they will become serial killers. There is much speculation whether or not it is genetic, there are so many studies that are conducted to determine a “kill gene” but unfortunately I believe it is impossible to have such a gene. For instance, Dexter’s father teaches him this moral code, which enables him to believe that killing is a way of life. If you don’t give a child candy, the child will not get cavities. Mr. Brooks seems like a man who was well rounded with a great family but has this addiction that he knows is wrong but cannot stop. That is very similar to a person who is addicted to cocaine, they understand the difference between right and wrong but it is difficult to stop. Although we are still unaware of the actual reason as why serial killers develop into killers, we can only continue to study the backgrounds of serial killers. To help better understand here are a few real life serial killers that lived amongst society for many years. Ted Bundy was attractive, smart and was a man that had a future in politics. He had a fairly normal life, went to high school, college and seemed to be a normal individual (Montaldo). Unfortunately, in 1994 young woman began missing form college campuses between Washington and Oregon (Montaldo). Around this time hikers found a graveyard of bones in the Washington forest, which were later identified as the young woman who had gone missing. Ted Bundy was a “callous, exploitive individual with blunted emotions, impulsive inclinations and a [man with the] inability to feel guilt or remorse (Brogaard & Marlow, 2012)”. Not to mention Ted bluntly states “I don't feel guilty for anything. I feel sorry for people who feel guilt”. He was later found guilty for 3 counts of murder but investigator believe he killed approximately 30 woman (Montaldo). Dennis Radar is another serial killer born on March 9, 1945; he lived in Kansas, Wichita for most of his life. Dennis was a normal boy, who was the average all-American boy with an all-American family. To many he was known as a quiet polite guy and his friends described him “as utterly lacking a sense of humor, but tending to be studious and focused (BTK killer Bio)”. Except for the fact that he was a killer, gruesome, horrific, and beyond belief killer. He mentioned that “he developed fantasies about bondage, control and torture from an early age, while still in grade school (BTK killer Bio)”. This is scary to think a child in grade school has thoughts, to torture and sexually abuse woman is beyond me. Although he never acted on his sexual fantasies as a teenager and young adult, he did later on in life when he found himself in a slope, unhappy and decided he would like to know what it felt like to strangle someone to death (BTK killer Bio). Its insane to think that these two men were intelligent, married, successful men who decided to act on their abnormal feelings. This is only two people and to think that there is hundreds maybe even thousands of individuals like this. Lets not forget how society seems to find amusement in the horror, gruesome murders. American culture gives unconventional emphasis to TV shows like Dexter, The Walking Dead and movies like Perfume, silence of the Lamb, and Mr. Brooks. Hollywood has changed the dynamics of the entertainment business. The shows and movies that are displayed today are viewed as surreal works of entertainment and “do not influence the audience to turn to violence (Bonn, 2012). I remember reading that silence of the Lamb caused an enormous debate throughout the nation due to the horror that was displayed, of course this was back in the 19 hundreds. This only goes to show that today we continue to see much more movies and shows that display nothing but horror and extremely graphic killings. Yet society has no problem paying nine dollars to go watch these movies and spending hours a year catching up with the latest episodes. Society complains that this world is breaking apart; the amount of violence that is seen today is outrages, yet nobody bothers to investigate what the cause is. I am not a saint by any means, I go pay money to watch horror movies because they are entertaining. Needless to say I do believe it plays a big part in the violence and crimes that are committed today. For instance, I would have never thought to do the things that Mr. Brooks and Grenouille do to kill their victims. This is only providing those psychotic minds knowledge of how to do things. One can argue that they are fiction, and they are only used to entertain society, nevertheless they are not only fiction. The Walking Dead may be considered fiction because the chances of zombies infecting the world is not very likely, but the everyday killings like Mr. Brooks, Perfume, and so many others can be realistic. Which is frightening on so many levels. Serial killers are antagonist; they become the hero, not like a superhero but a media hero. Their names are flashed around the world, everyone knows them, and everyone wants to know how and why they did what they did. They become just as popular in the media as celebrities. Society is fascinated with anticipation, what will happen next, how these victims will be killed; we enjoy living in the mind of that serial killer. That is the simple thrill we get while watching the TV shows, the films, and the news. It is saddening but very true. After reviewing all the research presented and the discussion we have had in the course, I concluded with the knowledge that a particular group of characteristics could not possibly explain why a serial killer kills. A person may turn to committing multiple murders after something terrible has happened in their lives, they may be acting out in anger for a particular reason or seeking revenge on the world in general, or they are and always have been psychologically damaged. There is no end to the list of reasons that somebody turns to a life of crime. As a society we have put serial killers on a pedestal, putting them down in history, producing films of their life. Many directors may have a different approach as to why they make films about the life of a serial killer as if they were some historical figure. They may want to show the world what is to come with the way we are living our lives now, or they might actually find some amusement in the horrifying killings. As a major in business, no matter where I decide to take my degree, I know what is entertaining to society. I know how to attract attention based on what I have learned throughout this course, pertaining to my degree. If I choose to have my business in film directing, my goal would be to attract a large amount of an audience, which will result in scary, horror, and investigation films. Nevertheless, I have gained the knowledge of analyzing films, novel, and television series. Trying to determine what is purpose of each character, why the director chose to send a certain message and to discover the mindset of the serial killers. As long as we live, we'll be fascinated by those who seem to be invincible from death like serial killers, it is almost as is we like to see the act of death itself, over and over, to observe the exact moment- or what it is that puts us over that incredible edge between life and death.

Bibliography
Brogaard, B., & Marlow, K. (December 7, 2012) The making of a serial killer. The SuperHuman Mind. Retrieved May 27, 2014, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201212/the-making-serial-killer

Scott, S. L. (). What makes serial killers tick?. Criminal Minds and Methods. http://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-newspaper

Montaldo, C. (n.d.). Ted Bundy: Profile of a Serial Killer. About.com Crime. Retrieved May 28, 2014, from http://crime.about.com/od/serial/p/tedbundy.htm

Dennis Rader - BTK Killer - a Biography. (n.d.). Dennis Rader - BTK Killer a Biography. Retrieved June 2, 2014, from http://dennisraderbtk.blogspot.com/

Bonn, D. S. (2012, January 1). Serial Killer Expert. Dr. Scott A. Bonn, PhD. Retrieved June 2, 2014, from http://www.docbonn.com/serial-killer-expert.html