I read on tvguide.com today that Parents Television Council has asked CBS not to air episodes of Showtime’s series, Dexter (based on the books by Jeff Lindsay), because of their violent nature. Apparently they have some issues over the fact that Dexter, the show’s protagonist, is a serial killer. To that I say, “WHO CARES???!” Can’t the PTC take comfort in the fact that Dexter only kills those people who have commited horrific murders? Yes, he does have the urge to slice and dice normal people on occasion, but he suppresses those urges! That has to count for something! I am reminded of an excerpt I read in the book What Would Socrates Say? about doing something because you know it’s the right thing to do (even though you might have some severe discomfort doing so)and just happening to do the right thing naturally (with no effort). It’s more work (and thus more admirable) to do the right thing when faced with extreme adversity than to do the right thing just because you are naturally inclined to do so. This is not to say that those who do the right thing naturally are not good and moral people, it’s just that they’re not really engaging in any character building activities. Anyway, my very muddled point is that Dexter could conceivably be seen as a role model. More than that, I am reminded of Cher Horowitz’s words on violence in the media. “Even if you took out all the violent shows, you could still see the news. So until mankind is peaceful enough not to have violence in the news, there’s no point in taking it out of shows that need it for entertainment value.”
**Note to the PTC, you might want to start by asking the networks not to air the local news which comes on 3 TIMES A DAY (noon, 6PM, and 11PM).
