Dexter

I find the show 'Dexter' rather interesting from an educational standpoint, as it is a show depicting a 'good' serial killer. I never really got into the show too much, but I know many people that did.
There were a couple things that stood out to me right away re-watching the first episode: First, that there were three serial killers just in the first episode, indicating that serial killers are highly prominent, and Dexter would have an incredibly large pool to draw from. Second, that they are extremely easy to find, outside of the justice system. This indicates that our laws are holding us back from finding so many serial killers, and indicates that they should be changed to protect us. Thirdly, this show describes a psychopathic serial killer, and later they indicate that the entire reason he is a serial killer is because of the tragic event that happened when he was a toddler. This would indicate that it was never his fault, but rather something that happened to him.
This show tends to show quite a bit of 'would culture' (Schmid, 5), letting us view scenes of violence without having to publicly loiter around a crime scene. As a species, we tend to have a fascination with violence, or violent accidents. Dexter allows one to not only view these scenes without having to be there, it allows us to condemn the person that is being murdered, rather than the murderer. This is part of what leads to Dexter's popularity, allowing us to view such wounds in the privacy of our own home.
As Schmid discusses, we often view serial killers through a gothic lens (Schmid, 6). We have had fairy tales for as long as stories have existed, with monsters that do terrible things. Whether the point of the story is to be careful, to be kind, or to follow instructions, if one doesn't do what they are supposed to, they will be attacked by monsters in a ferocious way. Even Dexter calls himself a monster, acknowledging that he is killing other monsters as well. Being able to create a fairy tale with Dexter as the monster, attacking you if you attack others, creates a story that most people enjoy. It allows us to enter a world where we can do forbidden things, and not only feel good about doing them, but also be able to come back to reality an hour later.
Accoding to Schmid, for most serial killers, they are more infamous than celebrities, indicating that there are requirements for celebrities, but for fame, you just need to be known (Schmid, 9). Obviously, for a TV show, it is both. Dexter the serial killer is infamous, but Dexter the actor is both famous and a celebrity.
Overall, I would say that Schmid would be interested in both Dexter's popularity, and the people who watch it. How did Dexter become so well liked? He allows us to become our own monsters, killing for good, enacting monstrous scenes, and giving us a fairy tale to follow along with. This show tells us that serial killers are extremely common, and that it is relatively easy to spot them. That the law can almost never catch them. That the law even prevents us from catching them, and that one only need search a building without a warrant, see a website, and find a serial rapist and killer by a very unique tattoo that is placed in an easy way to see.