Serial Killers and Society
Serial Killers and SocietyThe nineteen-seventies was an incredible decade. It was a
decade of change, one of freedom, a time for great music. It was also
an incredible decade for shock, fear and serial killers. John Wayne
Gacy, an amateur clown, was a pedophiliac homosexual. He tortured and
killed thirty three little boys and stored their remains under his
house. David Berkowitz, a.k.a. the Son of Sam, stalked New York City
from nineteen-sixty-seven to nineteen-seventy-seven. He claimed to
have been following a voice from his dog that told him when and where
to kill. Ted Bundy, who is believed to have killed at least
thirty-four people, was charged for only three under his own defense-
and in fact, he was commended by the judge for his own defense. He was
put to death.
With the combination of a very powerful media and a society
fascinated with gruesome, sadistic crimes, modern serial killers have
been put in the spotlight. We are enraptured with serial killers so
much, that we pay seven dollars to go see a movie where everyone
except the bad guys gets strangled, mutilated, or shot- and enjoy it
in some sick way. The media goes out of its way to glamorize murder
and terrify the public. We support killers like Charles Manson on
Death Row with our tax dollars. In fact, we support them with more
than that. About two months ago there was an art show in California
entitled: The Death Row Art Show III. Pieces sold for thousands of
dollars regardless of their aesthetic appeal, because of the identity
of the artists. Serial killers are becoming as popular as rock stars.
Serial killers are a development of the industrial world; they
really didn't "come about" until the late eighteen-hundreds when
society was becoming modernized and the threat of the new age sort of
displaced some individuals so much they felt they had to kill to get
their point across to society. Jack the Ripper is probably the most
notorious killer in history because he established the serial killer
profile. Ripper set up a pattern for the new line of mass murderers
who would follow in the tradition of a truly organized killer. He had
a sexual obsession with prostitutes that led him to target complete
strangers for a days work. When he was done, he...
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