Lucia Grosaru 
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Photo©Christian Weber/Showtime
There must be (logical) reasons why the world fell in love with the character of Dexter Morgan as portrayed in Showtime’s series “Dexter”. How do we come to empathize with a blood-spatter analyst by day turned serial killer by night? I’ve selected 10 reasons why I believe Dexter’s such a sweetheart in our minds.
1. The “Normality” factor
Dexter Morgan is not portrayed as a monster. He is not some middle-aged guy that keeps disected animals in his house and dead bodies in the cellar or in the backyard. He is not the classical killer marked by visible deviant behavior. He is the guy next door with a dirty secret.
2. We understand addiction and compulsion
One extra chocolate, cigarettes for every mood, checking locks for the tenth time, color-coordinated wardrobe, just one more drop of wine and, why not, a killing impulse that needs to be fed. When seen from the perspective of compulsions and addictions, Dexter’s situation is completely out of his control. “He can’t help it.” The viewer feels sorry for the character, for he is not always the top-dog , he becomes helpless, just like any of us confronted with inner deamons. Detxer becomes easy to identify with.
3.The troubled childhood
Something of these proportions – the multiple killings – officially can’t be justified. But when you find out about the traumatic event little Dexter’s been through – that of watching his mother beeing killed and staying for a long time in her blood until he and his brother are finally found by the police- the whole story makes sense. It is expected that a man with a troubled childhood to develop anti-social behavior. Whew, so it’s not him. Again, he is a nice guy forced by traumatic events to develop in “a bit” of a deviant sense.
4. Dexter rationalizes, therefore you rationalize
Reasons, he has them. Socially, nothing justifies murder. However, the whole story behind Dexter’s behavior seems to hold water and somehow naturally leads him towards this form of catharsis. He (the viewer also) seems to be pleased with the idea of killing bad people because they deserve it, because they’ve managed to escape the judicial system, because this is how Dexter deals with his compulsions, because this is how bits of evil actions are gradually stopped.
5. Meet SuperDexter
Actually there aren’t that many differences between Dex and Superman or any other superhero. They all have a secret identity, they all appear out of the blue in critical moments and use their un-common/un-natural/super-natural features to make things right (or at least change the expected course of events).
6. Reformulating
When we watch Dexter, we teach our brain the following little trick: “Dear brain, Dexter is not doing anything bad, no-no. He is making the world a better and safer place by taking out these bad-bad men”. And ta-daaa, your brain likes Dex and enables you to empathize with the character.
7. Anti-social behavior, but great social skills
Nice but not so valid contrast. Aside the killing aspect, Dexter managed to be (or at least pass as) a good husband and father, caring brother, team-player and friend. Way to go for a psychopath.
8. Everybody else likes him
The other characters rely on Dexter and have a good relationship with him. That is what validates your feelings regarding him too. Of course you don’t care for those that don’t quite like him and almost uncover his secret. Now these guys only nose around and almost become the negative characters. Hm, isn’t that funny…
9. He’s so human
Isn’t he? Dexter Morgan, without the Dark Passenger, is just an average guy that struggles to have a normal life, be part of a normal family and have a nice couple life, trying to deal with all the drama in his past and actual life and plays an overall positive social role.
10. Yes, Michael C. Hall
The role fits him like a glove. His appearance and acting skills allow you to project about everything on him and his actions in the movie. You can love or hate him at times, think that he is selfish or generous, caring or lacking empathy, playful or with no sense of humour etc. He is the whole package and watching the show takes you on an emotional rollercoaster. And for five seasons so far, we’ve all enjoyed the ride.
I suggest that your analysis has missed a key point. I enjoy Dexter as a show, and I enjoy most aspects of the character. I have spoken with other people who enjoy the program and a reason given most often is that in a society that officially values process over results, Dexter is administering justice in a very results-oriented manner. True, there are creepy elements about the ritual, but on balance, he is doing what the legal system refuses to do; achieve results against some of the most appalling criminals imaginable. In a way, watching Dexter is like enjoying a tasty sausage; the process of making the sausage might not be palatable, but the end result is something one enjoys.
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The reason that you mention is actually a rationalization, through which one finds a reason that somehow justify an action, thought or behavior that is actually „not right”. Why wasn’t this included among the reasons we like Dexter? Because the exact same result could have been achieved in a way that is socially accepted and moral (Turning them in).
However, the somewhat positive aspect of Dexter’s actions is mentioned in the 5th reason of my blog entry.
All the best,
Lucia Grosaru
I was asking myself this question the other day. One of the big things I noted is that you have this character who hides from the world but the audience is of course exposed to what he really thinks and feels. I think its his private dialogue that reflects how he really deals with problems that we respect and that adds to his likability. In some case he does justify and chaulks things up to the “code of Harry” which detract from his likability for me personally. But in many other cases he searches for truth and I believe he goes after this truth relentlessly in order to progress as a human being (not as a serial killer). There is humanity and even a certain nobility to that approach which I believe is another reason we like him.
Great thread! One thing that I always have in the back of my head is.. “Why doesn’t he just become a detective”. With his canny ability to track down these criminals. He would catch everyone and justice would be done. But that would defeat the purpose of the show. His dark passenger wouldn’t be satisfied and he does a lot of his detective work by breaking the law. Breaking and entering, that sort of thing. Just a thought.
he makes the bad guys drop like flys *swooon*
I think we like Dexter because we also have a dark passenger in our souls. Everyone has a dark side. Some people can control their dark passenger, but some can’t. Dexter had a difficult childhood, “he was born in blood”, and then he started to kill. But he has a Code. He doesn’t kill everyone, only guilty people, but not innocent. He is a serial killer, of cource, but he is a killer with cause.I think that he is not a monster. He does his own justice. Of cource, he is not a God, he has no right to do this justice and kill people, but he has not another choise – he became a serial killer because he had a psyhological trauma in childhood. I think that we can understand him.
All in all, I like Dexter because it’s very psychological and dramatical show. When we watch Dexter, we understand, that everyone has a dark passenger and dark secrets, but we must control our dark side, if we don’t want to hurt our close people.
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Where you’re wrong is when you said “the same result could have been achieved in a way that is socially accepted and moral (Turning them in).”
What draws me into this show is that the same result is not achieved, and these criminals are typically kept alive for long periods of time in the prison system. What you call rationalization by saying that murder is never acceptable, I call BS. Why would it be unacceptable in the way that Dexter delivers it, but acceptable if done by injection by the judicial system? Because by your own argument you call the same result “death of the criminal” moral when the state carries it out, but imply that it is immoral when Dexter does this. Contradictory? Yes, in this case immorality would have to apply to both parties or none if murder were wrong, but the fact the those who are being killed are in fact guilty, to me is not just acceptable, but desirable. Call it rationalization if you will, but there is no internal struggle to rationalize to be, it was what I wanted from the beginning…
This comment is so biased, I don’t know where to begin. So I’ll just say this: please read again the article and the comment you’ve quoted and pay attention to the fact that I mentioned what “the same result” means for me – in brackets – and it refers to turning the criminals in and it has nothing to do with the death penalty or any sort of method to kill somebody as a result of judicial processes.
Considering the fact that yo do not comment on somethng I actually said, but rather on your own interpretation of what I might’ve said, of course things don’t add up (and that’s where the BS characteristic may come from).
I do encourage everybody to comment and share their opinions on topics included on this blog, but I’d appreciate it if people would consider an unbiased starting point when making such interventions.