Dexter: The True Mask of a Serial Killer

A phenomenon of serial killer is, when embraced by popular culture, usually presented from the point of view of investigators, detectives or FBI agents. Showtime’s Dexter on the contrary shows this problem from the point of view of a serial killer himself. In the text we analyze the main character as vicious killer and Avenger at the same time (as he only kills the killers). The result of this mixture is very ambiguous. More precisely, we can analyze the series within three fields. The first, the field of ethics addresses the status the Harry’s Code, set of rules and commandments of Dexter’s foster father by which Dexter lives. Another field, which is not separated from the ethical issues, is the one of artistic sublimation. Here we will deal with questions of sublimation and the beauty of murder. Dealing with the first two questions we will rely on certain insights of Ethics of Psychoanalysis by Jacques Lacan. The last problem field concerns the ontological dichotomy between mask and the true face. Here we will take upon consideration Nietzsche’s criticism of this metaphysical division. The series through its plot and through its formal procedures also questions strict separation between the two.

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