Glamorisation of Serial Killers in Popular Culture Kerrie Rose

What is Popular Culture Popular culture is the accumulation of cultural products such as music, art, literature, fashion, dance, cinema, cyberculture, television and radio that are consumed by the majority of the population of a society.

Academic Literature I will be looking particularly at the glamorisation of serial killers in contemporary film. For this, I will be looking at two main pieces of Academic Literature: Serial Murder: An Exploration and Evaluation of Theories and Perspectives – By the American International Journal of Contemporary Research. Serial Killers and the Ethics of Representation – By Maggie O’Neil, and Lizzie Seal.

Literature People like serial killers - at least according to Scott Bonn, professor of criminology and author of "Why We Love Serial Killers: The Curious Call of the Worst Murderers in the World". This book will be one piece of literature that I will be using to research into serial killers in pop-culture.

Literature Katherine Ramsland, a forensic psychologist; "Inside the Minds of Serial Killers: Why They Kill.” Manisha Sharma. "A Case Study of Serial Killers.“ Davis, Jeff. "Zoe's Reprise." Criminal Minds (US TV show)

What will I be looking at? According to a Hollywood Reporter, in 2013, there were 20 television shows on serial killers. In the real world, however, Professor Bonn says that serial killers are extremely rare and are responsible for only 1% of all murders. Why are serial killers so prominent in pop-culture, when the reality is the complete opposite? Do we glamorise serial killers in Contemporary Media, specifically film? Is this having any adverse affect on the audience? How? Why?

Why? Serial killers have become major players on the public scene and in the media since the 1970s. The high prevalence of serial killers in popular culture indicates that I am not alone in my fascination with them. But why are we fascinated with them? Serial killers are transformed into celebrities of larger-than-life folk through the combined efforts of law enforcement, news and entertainment media and the public's appetite for the macabre.

Contemporary Films/TV Contemporary Films/TV are modern productions that relate to the present time. Film Theory or Film Studies is an academic discipline that aims to explore the essence of cinema and provides theoretical structures for understanding the film's relationship to reality, other arts, individual viewers, and society as a whole.

Main Themes What is Film Theory? The glamorisation of serial killers The public’s/audience’s obsession with serial killers Over-exaggeration of serial killers compared to reality What makes a serial killer? The Media’s fascination with profiting from serial killers (Refer to next slide) Relating to my own film production

Serial Killers on Multiple Platforms

The Portrayal of Serial Killers Sensationalised Glamorised Crime attracts vast attention and arguably captivates the interest of many people (Roberts, 1992). In modern society, crime is represented by many forms of media. Books of fiction and real crime, board games and virtual reality, movies, newspapers and documentaries are just a few examples of mass-media that represent crime.

Theory and my Film I am creating a Documentary based on the true story of a serial killer in Blackpool. I will be using my theory research to help reflect onto my film production, and visa-versa. Using what I learn from my research for my film production, I will then apply this to my academic writing and how my own film may or may not follow the film theory of serial killers. A question I will ask myself for my own reflection is: Am I glamorising Serial Killers, too? How? Why? Was it purposeful?

Literature to Film: Examples Comparing Academic Literature to my findings in films, I will then reflect this in my own writings. Following are some examples of Literature I have read, and how I’ve applied it to contemporary films. Crime is considered a problem of “evil and pathological individuals" (Doyle 1998: 97) with a shortfall of human contact. The media and society easily assign criminals to a group of people far from the family and peer group; therefore, a categorization of "them" and "us" can be indicated as a common practice.

Examples Seltzer (1997) argues that murderers and serial killers have their own place in public culture. Schmid (2005) also pointed out that serial killers are vast becoming famous. Various authors, such as Seltzer and Schmid, have introduced concepts that contribute to the study of our fascination with these dangerous individuals.

Examples In contemporary society, crime is represented by many media platforms. Books of fiction and real crime, board games and virtual reality, movies, newspapers and documentaries are just a few examples of mass-media that represent crime. Seltzer (1997: 12) noted that through various media, such as movies and novels, ‘trauma and virtual reality have become two ways of saying the same thing’.

Examples Although serial killings are quite rare, they draw in most of societies attention (Hickey, 2010). Hickey (2010) postulated that serial killing is sensationalistic in modern crime literature, probably because of its terrifying and fascinating nature. According to Hickey, much of what we think we know about serial killing is based on misinformation and the construction of myths, fed to us mostly by contemporary films.

Contemporary Film Myths Looking at Hickey’s idea of contemporary films and the media feeding us myths on serial killers, I have put together a small list of myths given by the media, vs facts. Myth # 1: All serial killers are men. Reality: This is just not true, but it is understandable that the public holds this mistaken belief. In 1998, a former FBI profiler said there were “no female serial killers”. The news and entertainment media also perpetuate the stereotypes that all serial offenders are men and that women do not commit horrific acts of violence.

Contemporary Film Myths When the lethality of a female is presented in a book or film, it is most often presented as the manipulated victim of a dominant man. This popular but stereotyped media image is in line with traditional societal myths that boys are aggressive by nature while girls are passive. In fact, aggression and passivity can be learned through socialisation and are not gender specific.

Contemporary Film Myths Myth # 2: All serial killers are either mentally ill or evil geniuses. Reality: The images in the news and entertainment media suggest that serial killers have either a debilitating mental illness such as psychosis, or brilliant but demented geniuses like Dr. Hannibal Lecter. None of these two stereotypes is accurate, though. Instead, serial killers are much more likely to have antisocial personality disorders such as sociopathy or psychopathy.

Contemporary Film Myths Serial Killers like to keep trophies. Of course, some killers DO like to keep souvenirs, but it's the movie-version of this phenomena that's exaggerated its likelihood. Like taunting the police or killing frequently, most killers just don't dare to leave such incriminating evidence around them for the cops to find.

Conclusion Overall I will be looking at the main discussions on Serial Killers and apply them to Contemporary Film Theory I will then evaluate whether or not this theory has been reflected in the making of my film, how, where, and why?