Dexter in Love Submitted to the Faculty Of

Dexter in Love Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies University of Regina By Brett Andrew Bernard Robinson Regina, Saskatchewan April, 2013 Copyright 2013: B. Robinson UNIVERSITY OF REGINA FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH SUPERVISORY AND EXAMINING COMMITTEE Brett Andrew Bernard Robinson, candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies, has presented a thesis titled, Dexter in Love, in an oral examination held on April 16, 2013. The following committee members have found the thesis acceptable in form and content, and that the candidate demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the subject material. External Examiner: *Dr. Lisa Arellano, Colby College Co-Supervisor: Dr. Christine Ramsay, Media Production and Studies Co-Supervisor: Dr. Randal Rogers, Visual Arts Committee Member: Dr. Charity Marsh, Media Production and Studies Committee Member: Dr. Christina Stojanova, Media Production and Studies Chair of Defense: Prof. Wes Pearce, Theatre Department *via teleconference i ABSTRACT Showtime’s Dexter (2006-) is a television series about a serial killer named Dexter Morgan that has become a cult-hit in the landscape of popular North American television. The series’ narrative follows Dexter’s life as he struggles to manage his identity as a killer with his growing desire to evolve as a human being capable of experiencing love. In this thesis, I will offer an interpretation of Dexter that varies from most of what has been written on the series by focusing on the theme of love and its role in shaping Dexter’s developing sense of self. To consider the influence of love in the evolution of Dexter Morgan I will evaluate the significance of the figures of the Mother, the Father, and the Other throughout his life. Thus, I will be examining Dexter to explore the question: What is the significance of love in relation to the self? Dexter indicates that love is essential to the evolution of self. However, it also reveals the complex and contradictory nature of love as an experience that people rely on for personal fulfillment. The series has shown that Dexter’s efforts in love are often ill-fated. Yet, in spite of this he continues to be compelled to experience love. Evaluating the influence of Eros (the part of the psyche associated with love) on the self, it can be argued that love shapes the self on a fundamental level. As an element of the psyche, Eros is susceptible to a number of forces that structure it. So if Eros is defined based on one’s capacity for love, then love is a determining factor in regards to one’s psychological construction. With this in mind, I argue that love can be understood within the framework of psychopathy and, in this respect, a discussion of love is key to understanding how Dexter creatively shifts the typical popular representation of the serial killer as the archetype of a ii psychopath. My critical analysis in this thesis on the influence of love in the life of Dexter’s serial killer protagonist will illustrate that love is a form of psychopathy necessary for the existence of the self. Contemporary theories relating to subjectivity, selfhood, and love are critical to understanding and evaluating questions relating to the self. As such, a selection of these theories provided by Judith Butler, Adolf Guggenbuhl-Craig, and Jessica Benjamin will be utilized to interpret key scenes and sequences in Dexter that support my claim that the series indicates love is essential to Dexter Morgan’s self-development. Additionally, I will be examining the aesthetic construction of the series, specifically its use of voice- over narration, to interpret how this relates to Dexter’s evolution into a person capable of experiencing love. This thesis will demonstrate that, in significant ways, Dexter’s sense of self comes to exist through his relationships with other people because they allow him to experience love. With this, ironically, Dexter asks us to recognize that love is a fundamental element in regards to the evolution of self by demonstrating its significance in the self- development of a figure that is not traditionally associated with love: the serial killer. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr. Randal Rogers and Dr. Christine Ramsay, for helping me complete this thesis and offering me access to their expansive knowledge and fascinating insights that will deeply influence my future academic work. My extreme gratitude is given to Dr. Rogers for all of his efforts since my entry into graduate studies in guiding me to develop my potential as an academic. I would also like to thank him for assisting me to pursue a degree in the rewarding field of Interdisciplinary Studies and for his shared interest in Dexter. I offer my profound appreciation to Dr. Ramsay for the influence she has had not only in my graduate studies, but throughout my entire academic career. I thank her for the essential role she played in helping me find my passion in media and cultural studies. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Christina Stojanova for the invaluable time I have had as her teaching assistant and research assistant and for the deeply rewarding experience of engaging with her in discourse throughout my studies. I would next like to thank Dr. Charity Marsh for introducing me to television studies and showing me that research in popular culture is an exciting field with major implications in the study of cultures. I would like to acknowledge The Faculty of Fine Arts and thank Dr. Sheila Petty for support during my graduate studies. I also would like to offer my deep gratitude to Sheila Hamilton and Wendy Hollinger. I thank The Department of Media Production and Studies and especially extend my appreciation to Andrea Stachowich for all of the work she does that makes life much easier for countless students. Lastly, I would like to thank The Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research and The Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Regina for financial support of my research while completing this thesis. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... iv 1. INTRODUCTION: THE PSYCHOPATHY OF LOVE.................................................1 2. MOTHER ......................................................................................................................22 2.1 Born in Blood ..........................................................................................................22 2.2 The Trauma of Self .................................................................................................29 2.3 Blood Relatives .......................................................................................................33 3. FATHER .......................................................................................................................39 3.1 When Harry Met Dexter ..........................................................................................39 3.2 The Sins of The Father ............................................................................................42 3.3 A Moral Monster? ...................................................................................................49 4. OTHER .........................................................................................................................57 4.1 Loving/Killing .........................................................................................................57 4.2 Sex and The Self .....................................................................................................65 4.3 “True” Love .............................................................................................................73 5. CONCLUSION: LOVE, DEATH, AND BEING.........................................................84 NOTES ...............................................................................................................................88 WORKS CITED ................................................................................................................90 1 DEXTER IN LOVE 1. INTRODUCTION: THE PSYCHOPATHY OF LOVE Showtime’s Dexter (2006-) is a television series about a serial killer named Dexter Morgan based on the 2004 novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter written by Jeff Lindsay. In the series, Dexter is played by Michael C. Hall, who won a Golden Globe in 2010 for his performance of the character. Dexter showcases a signature sense of dramatic irony and dark humor in its story of a serial killer who by day poses as a family man and works as a blood-spatter analyst with the Miami Metro Police Department, but by night hunts down criminals who have escaped the law—bringing them to justice in a perverse fashion by strapping them to a table then grotesquely executing and dismembering them. Against this macabre content, the series explores Dexter Morgan’s life and how he balances being a serial killer with his relationships with other people— whether as a boyfriend, a husband, a father, a brother, a friend, a co-worker, or a son. For this reason, in “Spatter Pattern” (2008), J.M. Tyree refers

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