Dexter Morgan. A Moral Murderer?

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Aesthetical Analysis
2.1 Viewer Identification
Emotions and Relationships
Self-Reflection
2.2 (Dramatic) Irony and Humor as Mitigating Devices
Ironic Comments
Ambiguity in Statements

3. Ethical Approaches
3.1 Utilitarianism
3.2 Kantian Ethics
3.3 Dexter Morgan - A (Moral) Person, Just Like Us?

Introduction

In most crime series, the criminal or villain robbing or murdering innocent citizens is depicted as evil and, thus, mostly despised and mistrusted by the audience. Showtimes’ Dexter1 is an unusual example of a crime series because the viewer is made to sympathize with the protagonist and hopes that he will not be caught by the police from the first episode. How is it possible to like a serial killer and to support him in realizing his morally doubtful goals? Previous research has concentrated on how anti-hero narratives are enjoyed compared to classical hero narratives (Shafer and Raney 2012; Janicke and Raney 2015), on the influence of motivation and outcome on character liking and moral disengagement (Krakowiak and Tsay-Vogel 2013), and, specifically regarding Dexter on the fascination with the psychopath and the romanticisation of this notion (Bentham 2012). As the latter one deals with the books by Jeff Lindsay (Bentham 7), I considered it useful to focus my analysis on the TV series. Inspired by the article Why Do We Love Dexter Morgan?: The Morality of Dexter Through the Lenses of Utilitarianism (John), I decided to take up the author’s comparison of a utilitarian and a deontological justification of Dexter’s activities to investigate this question on the basis of a selection of scenes from the series. Furthermore, I decided to augment this philosophical approach by investigating the influence of the aesthetical make-up of the series on the viewer’s willingness to offer Dexter moral amnesty. This bachelor thesis aims to answer the following research question: Is it possible to morally absolve Dexter not only from a utilitarian and a Kantian point of view, but are there also aesthetical aspects influencing and reinforcing the viewer ’s attitude? As the question consists of two parts, the analysis will correspondingly be carried out in two steps. The first part will investigate if the viewer is enabled to morally justify Dexter’s behavior by positively identifying with him, and if this dynamic is supported and reinforced by stylistic devices such as framing and mise-en-scène. The second part will investigate Dexter’s “activities” on the basis of the two abovementioned ethical theories and apply these to a selection of scenes from various seasons of the series. Unlike the article from dexterdaily.com, which suggests that Dexter may be morally absolved by both utilitarianism and Kant’s ethical theory, a preliminary assumption of 1 Dexter is used when referring to the series, and Dexter when referring to the character this thesis is that Dexter might be offered moral amnesty by utilitarianism, rather than by Kant.

2. Aesthetical Analysis

The antihero narrative has been steadily gaining popularity in recent times (Janicke and Raney 485). As the question, if Dexter’s behavior may be regarded as acceptable from the perspective of moral philosophy will be discussed in section 3, the following part will examine if the series presents Dexter in a positive light by using various stylistic devices in order to manipulate the viewer to like him and, as a consequence, morally absolve him. In other words, the question to be answered is: Is there an aesthetic explanation for the viewer’s positive attitude towards Dexter, regardless of his morally questionable actions, that can be explained by the manipulation of the viewer due to the use of stylistic elements and techniques?

Before approaching the above formulated question, it is important to determine how it is possible for the viewer “to develop an affiliation with antiheroes” (Janicke and Raney 493) without basing one’s judgement in the first place on philosophical considerations. The affective disposition theory (ADT), elaborated by Zillmann, states that viewers develop a positive disposition towards a fictional character depending on the moral correctness of her behavior (Zillmann 205). Character liking, thus, is closely connected to moral considerations (Zillmann 205). Shafer and Raney found that the ADT is applicable not only to heroes, but also to antiheroes. According to them, “viewers identify intended character roles within narratives [and] understand that, despite their morally questionable actions, antiheroes serve as the protagonist seeking to overcome some enemy” (1031).

Thus, viewers recognize the antihero’s “moral qualities” and, accordingly, develop a positive emotional attitude towards her. However, Janicke and Raney suggest that the process of developing a positive attachment to a fictional character differs with antiheroes (493). Narratives offer moral disengagement cues (Hartmann and Vorderer 99) that “guide [the viewer’s] information processing” (Shafer and Raney 1038) and, in this way, influence whether the latter develops a positive or negative disposition towards a character, and, consequently, her willingness to morally justify the character’s behavior (Krakowiak and Tsay-Vogel 181; Shafer and Raney 1042). Moral disengagement cues (Hartmann and Vorderer 99) may occur in several forms - e.g. “dialog, innuendo, allusions” (Shafer and Raney 1038).

Another theory that might explain why viewers offer antiheroes moral amnesty focuses on the “perspective” (Carroll 232) of a narrative. “Perspective” denotes ”the work’s evaluative attitude toward diegetic elements” (Eaton 282). In other words, if a narrative presents a diegetic element, e.g. an immoral action, in a positive light, this, according to Carroll, influences the viewer and shapes his attitude towards the immorally acting character in a positive way (Carroll 232).

The following sections will examine if moral disengagement cues (Hartmann and Vorderer 99) and the perspective of Dexter contribute to manipulating the viewer to identify and solidarize with Dexter, and how this is conveyed by stylistic devices and techniques.

2.1 Viewer Identification

When watching a film or a TV series, viewers become immersed in the plot and perceive the events as if they were experiencing these themselves (Cohen 245). This process of identification with one or more fictional characters happens by forgetting about one’s own identity and figuratively adopting the identity of the character and seeing the ongoing action through her eyes (Cohen 248). The viewer begins to adopt the character’s goals and, subsequently, the emotions that are respectively connected with those goals (Oatley, Taxonomy 66). Identification may be triggered by stylistic devices (Wilson qtd. in Cohen 252), such as the use of specific camera angles (Benjamin 228), or through perceived similarities with the character (Maccoby and Wilson 86). Consequently, the viewer psychologically merges with the character which then results in feeling empathy towards the character and adopting his perspective and his goals (Oatley, Meetings 445). The following two sections will investigate three aspects - Dexter’s emotions (or lack thereof), social relations, and capacity of self-reflection - that are frequently presented throughout the series and may qualify as triggers of viewer identification.

Emotions and Relationships

As pointed out above, identification is, inter alia, based on perceived similarities with a fictional character (Maccoby and Wilson 86). Dexter is frequently presented as a person suffering from antisocial personality disorder who lacks the capability of feeling emotions (Epright and Worth 128). However, over the course of the series he begins to show emotions and a sense of attachment to people who are close to him (Houwen 37). According to the DSM-5 (revised version April 2012), among the criteria for antisocial personality disorder (psychopathy) are “[e]go-centrism”, “self-esteem derived from personal gain, power, or pleasure”, “absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful or culturally normative ethical behavior”, a “[l]ack of concern for feelings, needs, or suffering of others”, “lack of remorse after hurting or mistreating another as well as the [i]ncapacity for mutually intimate relationships” (American Psychiatric Association).

Many scenes reveal, however, that Dexter is not a typical psychopath, which might contribute to the viewer’s willingness to side with him, or even identify with and morally absolve him. One example is a selection of scenes that deal with his relationship with his sister Debra.

First, Dexter’s concern for Debra and his feeling of attachment to and responsibility for her becomes apparent in Season 1, Episode 9, (07:44-08:15)¹, when Debra tries to convince him to get to know her new boyfriend Rudy. Dexter does not hide his skepticism towards her new relationship when he states that he “just wanna make sure this bond’s gonna stick” (08:02-08:05). Such a reaction gives the viewer the impression that he is a caring brother who does not want his sister to be disappointed by someone who does not take the relationship with her seriously. Primed with the “knowledge” that Dexter is an alleged psychopath, one might interpret his reaction as pure ignorance and disinterest in his sister’s life. However, in several scenes that follow throughout the series, for instance, in Season 1, Episode 10, (38:19-40:19), stylistic techniques such as mise-en-scène as well as certain aspects of framing such as camera distance, manipulate the viewer to interpret such scenes in a positive way. Thus, the viewer is manipulated to understand Dexter’s reaction as motivated by concern about his sister. In Season 1, Episode 10 (39:17), Debra accuses Dexter of maintaining a distance from her and tells him that she misses the feeling of closeness that normally exists among siblings. The conversation between them is depicted in medium close-ups, which stresses the emotionality of the situation. A striking aspect of the mise-en-scène is the second plane, which shows the blood-spattered wall of Dexter’s laboratory that literally surrounds them. On a symbolical level, this might stand for the background or the reason why they are unable to be close to each other, namely, Dexter’s dark passenger. When Dexter replies “Deb, it’s hard for me, you know that” (40:04) he is filmed in a close-up, which allows the viewer to recognize emotions on his face (Bordwell and Thompson 262). The despair that the viewer may read in his facial expression enables her to identify with Dexter, who seems to be desperate and disappointed in himself because he cannot be the brother that Debra needs. His despair, helplessness and disappointment is again stressed when Debra leaves the room and he is framed from the back in a medium close-up, with the blood-spattered wall visible on the second plane, which now symbolically separates him from Debra (40:13), and also in the following shot, where he turns around, looking down and sighing (40:19). This suggests to the viewer that Dexter empathizes with Debra, and on the inside has an idea of what she needs and how she feels, but due to his psychological “impairment,” he cannot get out of his own skin, which is cinematographically realized by the blood-spattered wall as a symbol of his separation from Debra. The viewer, thus, does not hesitate to identify with Dexter because, as Garcia-Fanlo states, “We want ambiguous characters, ironic or disenchanted who have uncertainties and contradictions [...]” (6). In other words, we want characters who are similar to us and who sometimes stand in their own way. As mentioned above, over the seasons, Dexter develops more and more emotional attachment to others. The scene where Debra cries for Frank Lundy at the parking lot (Season 4, Episode 5, 36:50-39:42) where he had been shot a short time before reveals more about Dexter’s emotional and empathetic capacities. The sequence begins with several medium close-ups, switching the camera perspective between them during their conversation, stressing the tense and desperate state that Debra is in. When she starts to cry bitterly, the camera keeps filming her and Dexter steps into the frame and embraces Debra to comfort her. His desperate and compassionate facial expressions before Debra starts to cry (38:40, 39:05), and his subsequent decision to embrace her suggests to the viewer that he is indeed capable of feeling empathy with others. Subsequently, the camera changes to a long shot that stresses their unity. The setting, an empty parking lot, where they are standing still in an embrace creates a feeling of despair and loneliness, and, thus, stresses the loss that Debra has experienced. This is underlined by the backlighting (Bordwell and Thompson 192), and the use of the limited palette principle (Bordwell and Thompson 210), which lets them almost disappear in the dark shadow in front of the building and reveals only their silhouettes. Framing and mise-en-scène set darkness and despair in contrast to Dexter’s and Debra’s attachment and closeness expressed through their embrace at the same time. However, most convincingly the scene conveys Dexter’s empathy by way of his thoughts, which are presented by voice-over in the background: “My sister doesn’t deserve to be in this kind of pain. But I know who does” (39:36-39:41). This creates the impression that Dexter feels so strongly with Debra that this leads him to plan revenge for Lundy’s death. As Houwen states, the typical serial killer “struggles with ‘normal’ human interaction. Yet, the [she] remains an other, an outsider with an unfamiliar mind-set, and with abject impulses.” (35). If this is true, and viewers associate serial killers mostly with “abject impulses”, then Dexter does not qualify as a typical serial killer, because, as pointed out above, he shows a wealth of cues that enable viewers to identify and empathize with him. According to Garcia Fanlo, although Dexter “cannot recognize [his emotions] as such it is difficult for the viewer not to recognize them in his relationship with Rita and her children” (6). This statement is in line with what is conveyed by the scene in which Dexter is bound to a table and waits to be murdered by the skinner (Season 3, Episode 12, 38:18-40:05). There he has an imaginative conversation with Harry where he realizes that he does not want to die and wants to be there for his son to “raise him with Rita, watch him grow up to protect him” (39:4039:46). He even cries, although he has never cried before. This scene is rich in symbolism. First of all, at the beginning, it depicts Harry and Dexter in a close-up, Harry from a low angle and Dexter from a high angle, which stresses Dexter’s despair and helplessness. When Harry starts to cry, and tells Dexter that the tears are his, the camera films Dexter and zooms out to a medium close-up and in the next shot even to a medium long shot from a high angle that stresses the distance Dexter feels towards his own emotions. Harry, apparently, as part of Dexter’s personality fulfills the function of a mirror or a medium for Dexter’s emotions. The moment when he realizes through Harry that the reason for these new emotions is the birth of his son, the camera frames him again in a close-up. The top-lighting not only gives the whole sequence a surreal character, but also lets his facial traits and eyes appear smooth, vulnerable and emotional. In sum, Dexter’s utterances made in this scene, which present him as being concerned about his family and the thought of never seeing them again even makes him cry, are supported especially by various aspects of framing, which function as moral disengagement cues (Hartmann and Vorderer 99), as they stress his vulnerability and raise compassion and empathy in the viewer. This is also possible, because Dexter’s reaction is fairly understandable and, thus, enables the viewer to identify with him.

Apart from scenes focusing on Debra or Dexter’s children, in which Dexter’s ability to feel emotions, to bond and empathize with other characters is depicted, there is a third type of scene where it becomes apparent that he is not the typical psychopathic serial killer. These scenes provide an external characterization of Dexter, where other characters who interact with him make judgements about his capacity of feeling, empathizing or bonding with others. One example is Dexter’s conversation with Sergeant Doakes, who has been captured by Dexter and sits in a cage in a remote cabin somewhere in the swamp, trying to manipulate Dexter to free him by proposing to tell him a secret about Harry Morgan’s past (Season 2, Episode 10, 34:12-37:01). Dexter warns him not to “play on his emotions, because [he does not] have any” (36:48-36:51). During this utterance the camera frames him in a close-up, filmed from a low angle, which gives him an eerie and terrifying look. Only his face is illuminated in a warm yellow light, leaving the rest of his body entirely in the dark, which stresses the unpredictability and the disturbing power that radiates from him. Doakes replies with an unperturbed “Oh, really? And who’s lying now?” (36:54-36:57), which on the literal level reveals his ability to read his character. On the stylistic level this is supported by filming him in a close-up from a slightly high angle, which on the one hand stresses his inferiority as Dexter’s captive, but on the other hand, this impression is relativized by the top-lighting, which only slightly illuminates the top of his head, and some parts of his body, leaving his face almost completely in the shadow. His dark, almost invisible face, where merely sometimes the sclera of his eyes threateningly flare up, emphasize the fact that Doakes poses an incalculable threat to Dexter, as he knows something about his father, which Dexter does not know and, much worse, because he has learned the truth about him. The next shot frames Dexter still in the same position, in a close-up, with the same lighting, filmed from a low angle, but his facial expression has slightly changed. The viewer cannot overlook the trace of surprise, and the fear of having been disarmed in his face (36:59-37:01). Although in this scene Dexter does not react highly emotionally, Doakes’ statement represents a cue for the viewer, to see emotions in, or at least interpret them into, Dexter’s face in the following shot. Furthermore, such statements by other characters of the series generally trigger the viewer to ascribe Dexter the capacity to feel, empathize with and become attached to others.

Self-Reflection

As elaborated in the previous section, Dexter does not possess the typical traits of a psychopathic serial killer, as he seems to be capable of having emotions and feeling concern for others, which enables the viewer to identify with him. Apart from this, Dexter shows one more capacity, which is relatively unusual in psychopaths, namely the ability to critically reflect upon himself and his behavior (American Psychiatric Association). One scene where his critical self-reflection becomes apparent is through a voice-over in Season 2, Episode 3, when he has an argument with Rita about leaving the session of the support group for drug addicted people too early. When Rita asks him if the children and her are important for him, he remains silent. His thoughts about her question become accessible only to the viewer by voice-over. First, the camera frames Rita and the children in the sparsely illuminated living-room. The children are watching TV, and Rita turns her back on Dexter so that none of them turns to him. They are framed in a long shot, emphasizing the distance that the foregoing argument created between Rita and Dexter, which appears as a point-of-view-shot, because Dexter’s thoughts, which are audible in the background, suggest to the viewer that she sees the shot through Dexter’s eyes. Afterwards, when Dexter gives the answer to his question, “How important are they?” (06:06-06:07), the camera switches back to Dexter and frames him in a close-up. The backlighting leaves a shadow all over his face and his shoulders, which on a symbolic level, reflects his lack of awareness of how to interact with other people and understand their emotional needs. Furthermore, the darkness might imply that he is still dominated by the dark passenger and is still far away from recognizing his slowly emerging “humanity.” The fact that he describes himself as a person without a heart conveys to the viewer that he is aware that he is different from others. In other words, he recognizes that he is lacking something. The close-up after the POV-shot symbolically separates him from the others and places him “on the dark side,” which may lead the viewer to the interpretation that Dexter in fact accuses himself of lacking the important traits necessary to be a good partner to Rita and stepfather to her children. As a result, the viewer both sides with and empathizes with him because there is neither a trace of indifference in his facial expression nor in his voice which is what would be expected from a psychopath (American Psychiatric Association). Instead, there is self-criticism and regret, which is a reaction that is easy to identify with. Regret and self-criticism become apparent in another scene in Season 2, Episode 6, when Dexter has just left Lila’s house after he has slept with her, and Rita calls him on his cell phone. After the phone call, he sits in the car and comments on the situation as follows: “Apparently, my new life involves a love-triangle. I’m that guy.” (35:44-35:48). He criticizes himself for cheating on Rita, which suggests to the viewer that he feels guilty and regrets his behavior. This is again not typical for a psychopath, as people with antisocial personality disorder do not feel any guilt or remorse (American Psychiatric Association). This scene reveals that Dexter, although he always claims to be a monster without feelings (Season 2, Episode 10, 36:48-36:51), has a sense of right and wrong and that his infidelity and dishonesty would hurt Rita, Cody and Astor. On a stylistic level, the scene does not carry much symbolism. Dexter is framed in a medium close-up, which emphasizes that the situation deeply affects him. On the second plane of the shot there is rain running down the car window. The shot uses backlighting, which again depicts Dexter’s face in a shadow and the background builds a contrast to the dark shadows in light grey and brown tones. The mise-en-scène, thus, stresses Dexter’s despair and helplessness, depicting him in a dark shadow, surrounded by the rain outside. The rain might foreshadow the conflict with Rita, which was already the topic of their phone call. His self-criticism, expressed through his thoughts, which is underlined by his desperate face and the sigh he utters before starting the car engine, arouses feelings of compassion and empathy in the viewer. Because he reacts this way and not with arrogance, indifference towards Rita’s feelings or maybe even pride in his own cleverness for being able to have two women at the same time, the viewer sympathizes with him and, is even willing to excuse Dexter’s murderous activities. The viewer may sympathize with or excuse Dexter because the viewer recognizes that he has a good character on the inside, even if he is not aware of it, himself. His urge to kill seems to be an unavoidable consequence of a psychological impairment for which Dexter deserves pity rather than condemnation. A similar situation occurs in Season 3, Episode 2, (42:22-42:29) where Dexter has just been told by Rita that she has decided to keep the baby. He reflects on “what kind of father [he would be] after all”, because he kills people (42:25-42:29). This critical comment on his “activities” is a further moral disengagement cue (Hartmann and Vorderer 99), implying that he indeed has a sense of what is (morally) right and wrong and that being a serial killer is certainly not an ideal precondition for being a father and role model for a child. This utterance is in line with the viewer’s “real- life” moral conviction that killing is to be morally condemned, and, as a consequence, the viewer may again easily identify with that part of Dexter and morally absolve him because the underlying “morally right attitude” serves as an excuse and mitigation of Dexter’s murderous urge. Stylistically, the scene is filmed in three shots and interestingly illustrates the contrast between the two worlds in which Dexter lives. While pondering the possibility of becoming a father, he drives to Freebo’s house, a murderer he wants to kill. The first and the third shots frame his right profile in a close-up. The lighting uses the limited palette principle (Bordwell and Thompson 210) with dark blueish and greenish colors that emphasize the atmosphere of the dark passenger’s dark world. Dexter’s face is sparsely illuminated in a slightly green tone, which gives him an inhuman look. On the outside, this scene represents the monster, the serial killer who is on his way to the next killing. His thoughts, presented in voice-over, strikingly contrast this darkness because they express a certain kind of psychological sensitivity of the protagonist.

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¹ Timecodes are based on the English version of Dexter available on Amazon, https://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb sb ss i 6 6? mk de DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3% 95%C3%91&url=search-alias%3Daps&field- kevwords=dexter+staffel+1&sprefix=dexter%2Caps%2C278&crid=3THSUO2KETWYF&rh=i%3A aps%2Ck%3Adexter+staffel+1