Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Serial Killers Are Lame



When I was younger, I was fascinated with serial killers. I wasn't obsessed with the killing, I was obsessed with the minds of serial killers. During my formative years there was a plethora of television shows and movies that depicted serial killers as these reclusive diabolical geniuses. Every move a serial killer would make was thought out in advance with contingencies put in place in case anything went wrong. They were always 5 moves ahead of the cops and the only time they ever got caught was if they turned themselves in.


I could identify with the killers in movies and TV because I hated people for the same reasons they hated people. The people they killed were mean, stupid, abhorrent individuals. Further, the serial killer had thought provoking ideas on the way the world should be, but he faced limitations that didn't allow him to implement his revolutionary plans. Real serial killers don't compare to the generous way that they are portrayed on television. When they say serial killers are of above average intelligence, that doesn't mean that they are geniuses, that just means that most of them, if they tried could probably achieve a college degree.




The reason serial killers kill is not because the world has overlooked their inherent specialness, they kill because they are mentally ill. If they aren't sick, then the reason they kill is simply because they are good at nothing else. Why do you think some men get good at bowling, pool or darts? It's because they have little to no athletic ability but their desire to compete and achieve pushes them into an arena where they can succeed. Many killers I imagine come to the same crossroad in life. They realize that what they are passionate about they are no good at. By accident or out of rage/frustration they make their first kill. From killing they get a feeling of power and success, one they never had before. The power that they feel is fleeting because after the kill subsides they are reintroduced into the real world, a harsh and apathetic place. In order to feel special and powerful, they must kill again and so they plot their next move. 


Charles Manson didn't become the next Bob Dylan because he sucked as musician, not because people didn't get his music. Sure, the Zodiac killer used symbol substitution but his methods nor his messages were very complex. Dahmer? a sex deprived homosexual who didn't have enough pick up lines to get guys into bed so he bludgeoned them instead. Gacy buried the bodies of his victims underneath his own house, what kind of genius plants evidence on himself?




There is no serial killer who has made any true contributions to the scientific or artistic worlds before going on a killing spree. The reason serial killers kill is because they want, love, fame or recognition but they don't have the skills necessary to earn it, so they kill people instead.

9 comments:

  1. You didn't tell us if you had or still have a favorite serial killer.

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  2. i've always wondered where i would dump a body if i had to.

    just saying.

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  3. On the contrary, their intelligence, methodical compulsion for precision and logic, the pathology of their ego, and much more, have always been the favorite discourse of Criminal Psychiatry. There are copycats, but I am talking about the sociopaths with compulsion to kill who suffer no remorse. The study of their criminal mind has helped a lot of people in the field of Forensics and investigation.
    I don't think music is in their realm of talents and abilities.
    Some of them kill because of what you have mentioned, "the power" of the kill. Some kill to be recognized to feed their infantile needy egos. some kill to be caught. They do make good study, not because they have positively contributed to the progress of the world; however it helps get a good grasp of their "mind" to at least eliminate predisposing factors that may contribute to more serial killers to be roaming the world.

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  4. Valid point. I do think that the study of serial killers is worthwhile/important. My argument however is really limited to how serial killers themselves would otherwise go unnoticed as people if they did not kill. That part I believe is valid.

    @Coltin, I don't like serial killers anymore Unless we're talking about Socrates and they way he used to slay his audiences with intellect.

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  5. I'm a serial weed killer. They'll never catch me.

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  6. @rafa: caught ya!

    @drone: serial killers thought processes amaze me. i can barely even kill a bug without feeling bad!

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  7. Psycho; So, serial killers are useful because they help people to better understand serial killers?

    That's not useful. That's like saying viruses are useful because we can study them to better understand and prevent viral outbreaks.

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  8. I'm going to admit it. I am addicted to murder mystery shows. I, too, love trying to figure out why serial killers kill.

    Funny story, actually, my mom went to high school with the first victim of the Zodiac Killer. Okay, you can stop laughing now.

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  9. cool. funny story, my mother grew up without flush toilets until about the age of 15. This has nothing to do with serial killers it's just a strange true thing.

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