Chelsea Cain has supposedly just written the first fictional portrayal of a female serial killer. The main character of this opus is Gretchen Lowell, who USA Today describes as brilliant, blond and beautiful. How come every fictional serial killer is so brilliant?
Since when do brilliant people look out at the possibilities that life offers and decide that killing a bunch of people seems like the best choice? Why aren’t these brilliant people starting internet companies and vacationing in the South of France? Jeffrey Dahmer, David Berkowitz, these people never struck me as brilliant.
How about a book about a really stupid serial killer, one who botches their first hit and winds up getting shanked in the shower at San Quentin? There are plenty of people out people out there who deserve to be killed for valid, sane reasons. Can we stop glorifying these butchers of randomness?
There are novels about stupid serial killers. The ones who are glorified are the ones who are brilliant. I mean who would like to pay attention to someone so stupid? I wouldn’t.
And if you try to study serial killers, you have to understand that they don’t a have a cure.
There are no literature or statistics that literally said that the psychopathology of serial killers can be cured but it was theorized that with strict supervision, discipline and other stern treatments can surely help them to become better people to do things for the greater number of people.
It is in a person’s nature to glorify people who can do great things bad or good.