The Changing Portrayals of Serial Killers in Popular Culture. How 'My Friend Dahmer' and 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile' Invite to Sympathy for Serial Killers

Abstract

The biographical films 'My Friend Dahmer' (2017) and 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile' (2019) have both been praised for their unique approaches to the serial murder subgenre yet have also been criticized for seemingly downplaying the severity of the crimes of the serial killer protagonists; they were especially critiqued for encouraging the spectators to sympathize with Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy, whom the films’ protagonists are based on. Through close textual analysis, this thesis examines how the films’ narrative structure and cinematic techniques are utilized to facilitate a sympathetic, pro-, attitude for characters who are adaptations of two of the most recognized names in American serial killer history. A premise for the thesis is therefore that sympathy is elicited from the spectators towards the characters, and it explores the affective relationship between the spectators and the characters from the perspective of cognitive film theory. Cinematic representations of factual serial killers have a long history of being portrayed as monstrous and evil, while fictional representations have become pop-cultural antiheroes; all of which have resulted in a serial killer celebrity culture. The thesis examines how the two films in question manage to distinguish themselves from the plethora of serial killer representations in popular culture. It argues that the dehumanization of the protagonists is removed, and that they are re-introduced with recognizable, relatable, human, qualities. In addition to a humanization of the serial killers, it argues that the films exclude a disavowal for the spectators, which results in the films functioning as a starting point for contemplation of the long history of serial killer celebrity culture and the ethics of this evolution.