Hollywood has been obsessed with serial killers for over a decade now. Pretty much since Silence of the Lambs. It's been done to death (pardon the pun) and it's simple ground that has been trod very flat. I understand the need to make the villain intelligent, even a genius to make the film better and the killer thing adds the twinge of fear and the ultimate crime. The problem is the utter depravity depicted over and over and over. Is there a point? Half or more of these movies wouldn't have suffered in the least if the criminal was a serial art thief, bank robber or what have you. That said, actual serial killers are far less glamorous albiet usually intelligent. They are also severely disordered people and in many cases abjectly evil. The infamous BTK killer was one. He killed many many people (over 50?) during his "career" and suddenly vanished. Some investigators were convinced he had died. He hadn't. He simply stopped. How? Well, one expert believes it has to do with going to Church. In the article What If Rader Never Went To Church? the writer believes that the very behaviors that compelled him in one direction (murder) may well have resulted in him going exactly the opposite way (Church). I have no basis to determine the validity of such a claim but it is fascinating. Can a person who can commit such depravities on another human being find a kernel of remorse and use it as a building block to turn away from the darkness? Maybe so. I don't think it was a need for noteriety or fame that drove Rader to write the letters that got him caught. I think it was guilt. In the end, he knew he needed to be punished and he was too weak to turn himself in. Evil, in the end, is a coward.
Quarantine 2008 has ended
Fair warning: possibly graphic post and not for the squeamish. So it all started Friday night. Wife and I had a long day (as usual) and had finally finished with dishes, laundry and the rest of the normal daily grind. The baby had been fussy most of the day and had spit up here and there. Mostly we thought it had been switching from formula to milk which can sometimes cause this type of thing. By the time kid #4 rolls around you tend to let these things slide. If this were #1 we'd have called in a medivac at the first sign of vomiting in a 1 year old. He finally calmed down and we got him off to sleep. We watched a bit of The Wire and retired (very) late. About 10 minutes later #2 wakes up crying complaining of a stomach ache. I ask if he has to go to the bathroom and he says no, it's not that. His stomach really hurts. OK, into my bed and I'll get the heating pad for a bit. We get him settled and he calms down. Knowing that he tends towards the dramatic, I s...
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