A Response to: “Dexter: A Murderous Angel?”

This is a response to Gianni B’s post. It can be found at:
http://livintechnico.blogspot.com/2012/02/dexter-murderous-angel.html

I really wanted to respond to Gianni’s blog post this week for two reasons:

(1)    I needed an excuse to praise his great taste in television shows. True Blood, Entourage, and Dexter? Each one different completely different yet all equally as awesome. And if people cannot admit to tuning in every Thursday night to the guidos of Jersey Shore than they have a slight problem telling the truth.

(2)    But on a more serious note, I wanted to respond to his discussion of Christianity on television which he placed in the context of the sixth season of Dexter.

To borrow the pun in his post, I have to say that there are only a few shows “I watch religiously”. So when I heard that the sixth season of Dexter would be heavily focused on religious themes, like Gianni, I was also a little suspicious and hesitant. I really questioned how well the show’s writers would be able to integrate these Christian overtones to the already super gruesome and explicit storyline. There is no doubt that from a Christian perspective Dexter’s “pastime” was morally wrong. As Gianni also saw, I was surprised and really intrigued by how skillfully the discussion of religion was incorporated into Dexter’s struggle to define the “good”.

 (I thought this was a funny clip to include for all those who are fans of both The Simpsons and Dexter)

 This season of Dexter was able to accomplish what shows like The Simpsons attempt to do through parody. The Flander’s provide a commentary on what it means to be Christian. Through different means, Dexter was also able use different characters to initiate a season-long debate about religion, faith and the good. This was really apparent in the juxtaposition of Brother Sam (the career criminal turned preacher) and Travis Marshall (the devout Catholic serial killer who uses the Bible to justify his horrible murders). The use of both characters this season showed a tension between how religion and faith can be used and what it means to the individual person. Dexter is left contemplating this as well as how his own religion fits into this context.

I agree with Gianni when he says that this was a helpful example of how Christianity is still closely connected to most forms of popular culture. He argues that incorporating religion helps to open the mind of viewers who are reluctant see Christianity used in popular culture. While this is a good point, I think the use of Christianity in television serves a more interpretative and functional role. Using Christianity in this form of pop culture helps to create a form of debate. Like this season of Dexter, he was able to question his notions of the “good” and “right” in different ways (religiously and in his own serial-killer-ly way). In general, Christianity in television helps to frame various everyday and moral questions in the context of a discussion where different perspective can be explored.