This gift probably benefitted me more than Angelo and has since become fodder for my obsessive mind. It is rare that a show follows me the way this one has. In recent time, only LOST has really had the ability to make the lens of my perception switch gears and pick up on patterns related to the show. Perhaps I think too much, or perhaps I am open to digesting other artist's messages. Some may disagree, but I see Dexter as a piece of art. I have only watched the first two seasons (in a crazy two day marathon...sickness), yet I was so moved by:
-the cinematography!! This is best exemplified in the opening sequence of each episode. I marvel over the bleached out colors mixed with poignant exaggerated hues, like being in a technicolor sandstorm. Then there are the 'punny' visual references between Dexter's daily routine and the actions of a killer. The close-ups are stunning, eerie, and intensified by...
-the music!! The themes run through my head day and night...a Cuban and Orchestral fusion that draws (almost literally) at your heart strings one instant and makes you want to deviously grin and swagger the next.
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-the characters! There are definitely corny moments, but these characters grow on you because they are somewhat ordinary, caricatures at times--which plays nicely off of the personality of Dexter, the boy-next-door serial killer...come on Dexter fans, didn't you love Angel's 'Oprah' moments throughout season 2?
-the convergent plot lines-- mystery, murder, humor, love, the origin of a special breed of killer....may sound sick, but the thing I love the most about Dexter, (besides the acting chops of Michael C. Hall) is:
-WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN-- the driving question behind this show...the concept that has lured me into moments of squinting and contemplating...is it okay to feel like you relate to a serial killer being depicted on t.v.? (My opinion is, no, this is not a problem..but I am certain that there must be people that would detest the show because they wouldn't be able to handle that...how could you, gasp, actually like a person who is a 'killer'.) This show makes the viewer deal with many complicated feelings about identity, the affect of one's past, the way people handle relationships, the psychology of a 'human'.
THE POINT OF THIS...besides my obsession with a show that keeps me guessing, laughing, and thinking...what has struck me most about Dexter is the character's struggles with his inner desires and humanity. He often claims he isn't human (which I did as a kid) in order to help him explain not only his actions, but his detachment and general emptiness. It is in this that Dexter's humanity is revealed...in many ways the character is an exaggerated archetype for all of the outcasts in society who aren't really evil as much as in touch with their darkness, or perhaps the primal part of their humanity that is really just another animal species--or maybe just those of us who don't fully understand status quo or weren't nurtured properly as kids....who knows, that's for Freud to figure out...LOL. Now, I am not glorifying a fictional murderer as much as the writers of the show who have made me look closer at my own humanity and the forces that drive me in life, the battles I have inside, and the intricate layers of the human psyche. I look forward to watching the way Dexter handles his own psychology and the relationships around him, the discovery of those universal human ties that so many people choose to avoid, and some great eye-candy to distract me from other work I should be doing!! HAHA!!
P.S. If you read this and have seen Season 3, don't tell me anything yet!!
P.P.S. I love the art-deco style evident in the show's design and must admit to Michael C. Hall's eerie sexiness....
Happy New Year to you and your dark passengers...just remember who is driving!!
well written! i´m looking forward to season 2..! thanks for visiting. i´ll be back. cheers.
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