• Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Pretty much every crime documentary or series based on a true crime story, I’m just yelling at the tv cause it’s always the cops and their complete lack of giving a fuck that lets the killers continue on. Especially if the victims are sex workers or gay men. Gay man gets brutally murdered by a serial killer, cops are like “probably a gay thing”.

  • MataVatnik@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I hate people who are “fascinated” by serial killers. They are just emotionally stunted morons who get off to violating the social contract. There is nothing special about them.

    • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I am fascinated by what causes a person to become that way. But I agree, I once read up on Manson cause you hear so much about him. Manson was a moron and a jackass, just a complete waste of a person, an utter loser, yet people talk about him like he’s a genius. He’s honestly so ordinary and unimpressive.

      • MataVatnik@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Yeah that’s what I mean, whenever I get to know the personality of a serial killer they are not that different than all the narcissists I met throughout my life. Socially aloof, spiteful, childishly manipulative, ill tempered, and emotionally stunted. The only difference is that serial killers kill people, which to me all that indicates is that the person is missing some sort of social intelligence. So when I say they are not that special I’m saying that they are just your run of the mill narcissist who are extra stunted. All the same flavor of shitty human.

        • idiomaddict@feddit.de
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          3 months ago

          Killing people as an indicator of missing social intelligence might be my favorite understatement

          • MataVatnik@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Lol you’re welcome. I say that because most of the time these people think they are more intelligent because they are not bound by social norms and so they see themselves as superior predators to exploit the fools who follow the system. But in reality they are just incapable of forming connections with human beings and don’t understand the social landscape that well, or dont understand why social structures exist in the first place even if some norms are silly. Most humans are capable of murder, we just aren’t dumb.

      • kadu@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        What causes a person to become a serial killer is brain damage, nothing more complicated than that.

        It can be an issue during embryological development, the result of physical injury, or the result of extreme psychological distress. But at the end of the day, it’s just brain damage.

    • chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 months ago

      I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be interested in people who act in really unusual ways that cause problems; exceptions are interesting, and threats to your survival are interesting. What bothers me is more the mystique and cool factor that gets applied to them. Interest is warranted, respect isn’t.

      • MataVatnik@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Yeah my issue is that it often comes packed together. I go to these serial killer documentaries and I see comments praising the serial killers intellect or something stupid. And to your point, it’s the mysticism that bothers me the most, these people are not that different than that shitty narcissist you personally know and hate, its just that they took up killing as a hobby. And here is my point, killing doesn’t make them special, most people are capable of killing and governments normalize it all the time. It’s shocking to us, sure, but for me it’s no different than the narcissist that spends time screwing over people in other ways. In my eyes it’s the same basic psychological mechanism at play.

        • Globeparasite@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          i myself find specifically unsufferable the people who describes them as those like unstoppable force of nature like they are some apex predatores, a tough fighter.

          My brother in christ, the overarching tendency of all the victims of serial killer is that they tend to be small framed women and fucking children. They always take the easiest victims in the whole area

          • MataVatnik@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Yeah, they should take up cross-stiching or something, at least they still get to stab something.

    • agent_flounder@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I am rather disturbed by people who are serial killer stans. I think that’s the kind of people you’re talking about.

      And horrified by serial killers. But I am interested in understanding what factors create them and why they do what they do.

      There is something special only in the sense that few people become so horrifically violent. But, obviously, they are severely fucked up monsters.

      I primarily engage with the world by trying to understand as much as I can about how things work. For me, understanding and knowledge eliminate fear.

    • Katana314@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I’m still waiting for a good corollary to movies like American Psycho, that instead of playing up any awesome feeling of these tilted psychos, exposes how pathetic and illogical they are.

      No Country for Old Men came close when the woman rejected the coin toss.

      • NielsBohron@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Except that was the whole point of American Psycho. People miss the subtext (not that it’s subtle) and think it’s about glorifying Patrick Bateman, but the whole point is that he’s pathetic and overestimates his own importance on every possible level.

        I agree that people that see obviously evil protagonists as antiheros need to be given a reality check, but American Psycho is a weird film to use as an example of “glorifying psychos.” Joker would have been a better example, IMHO.

        • PrinceWith999Enemies@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          I agree. I think that filmmakers should have an understanding of how their work may be interpreted. American Psycho is a great example.

          My go to examples are Fight Club, in which the protagonist is seen as a hero, and American History X, which is seen by the white power community as a justification of their viewpoint. In the former case, the misinterpretation is possibly more common than the intended portrayal of mental illness. In the latter case, it’s more of a phenomenon restricted to the already converted. The film Wall Street is another one.

          I’m really on the fence about this. On the one hand, I love and respect art and how it reflects society. On the other hand, if A Modest Proposal actually resulted in people eating Irish babies, that would have been horrible.

          Where’s the dividing line between something like that and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion? Is it the intent of the author, or is it the consequences of the publication? If Fight Club resulted in an increase in misogyny and inceldom, does the creator bear some responsibility? I find that the fanbase spoils a movie like Fight Club for me, at least a bit. AHX, though, is so blatant in its message that I find it hard to reject.

        • Katana314@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          I actually agree with you, and yet I still see so much merchandising and celebration around Patrick Bateman. I think visually, they didn’t quite land that impact they wanted on audience impressions.

          Kind of like how Pyramid Head has somehow outlived his role as James Sunderland’s fractured psyche for the sake of stardom.

      • Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Javier Bardem’s role as Anton Chigurh is often cited as the best portrayal of as the most realistic move psychopathic killer in films. The extremely uncaring way Chigurh is shown is one of the defining features. Along with how he has no need for validation, he never does anything he doesn’t have to and never lets anything distract him be it pretty girls or injury.

        • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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          3 months ago

          One of my favorite serial killer movies is Serial Mom.

          I love how it’s all goofy except for one moment in the movie where it’s serious and horrifying, then goes back to goofy.

    • kemsat@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I wouldn’t say they are part of the social contract in the first place. I don’t think they are like a regular person who gets naughty feelings when they do something bad, like running a red light at a dead intersection at 3:00 am. They just don’t think like regular people at all, so to place the same motives onto them as normal people is kind of missing the point. They don’t even see the social contract, and don’t have awareness that they are violating it.

      • MataVatnik@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        In a lot of interviews with these people they mention about how others are ‘weak’ or ‘bound by social rules’ or something along those lines, and flaunting these taboos is what make them feel special or ‘superior’ because their minds are free. It’s always some variation of that. They know the social contract is there and they actively violate it. I’ve met plenty of people in real life that think like this (criminals), they think people are suckers, fools, or sheep and they deserve to be exploited.

        • kemsat@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Right, to them there is no social contract. They recognize us normal people have & adhere to a social contract, but for them the social contract is like God to an atheist. Nonexistent, fabricated, an illusion, a delusion, etc.

        • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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          3 months ago

          I was friends with a psychopath for a long time (ended the friendship when I finally admitted to myself what he was).

          This definitely matches how he saw himself. Big time self identity as having transcended the social contract. But also, not in any way ignorant of the social contract. Understands it better than most people actually, made a serious study of history, philosophy, and sociology when he was still struggling with his own psychopathy.

          He tried really hard to find a reason to be good.

          A friend of his died in suspicious circumstances, and it matched an “idle thought”/what-if scenario he used to talk to me about. I suspect he killed that guy, and my gut tells me he hasn’t stopped.

  • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    If Fargo has taught me anything it’s that the police departments of small towns in Minnesota always have at least one officer who is an absolute genius at finding serial killers.

    • SuperDuper@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Yeah but then you’ve got Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman/Gene Takovic believing everything the serial killer says at face value.

  • RegalPotoo@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Conversely, dramas where:

    • Multiple murders happen in a small town with barely any police
    • Suspect is gasp the police chief’s son!
    • Lots of intrigue very drama! How will we catch this killer? We are just small town cops!

    Call the fucking FBI - that’s their whole thing. I get rugged individualism but it’s 2024, you’ve got phones, nearest field office is probably a few hours drive away, I’m sure they’d be happy to come help. It’s not the 1840s anymore.

      • sheogorath@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        After watching a video on how local police officers wrongfully arrested FBI agents and/or breaking undercover agents cover, I totally understood why they’re stereotyped as having so much disdain to the local police force in the movies and TV series.

  • Nougat@fedia.io
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    3 months ago

    If there’s anything true crime podcasts have taught me, it’s that police imcompetence is not constrained to small towns.

      • BlanketsWithSmallpox@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Sadly nobody ever wants to fund any of it… It would be nice if we could send DNA evidence to somewhere that doesn’t have a 20 month backlog for felonious convictions 5 states away.

        Say you want more money for LEO Diversion programs or behind the scenes stuff all you want, nobody just wants to pay taxes cause the vast majority of everyone is too poor already with swaths of them who refuse to do the one thing they could to help, which is vote lol.

        • dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          And yet. Try growing some weed or better yet, saw your rifle down to 15.95" instead of 16" and guess who suddenly has the time, manpower, and equipment to come kick in your door.

    • agent_flounder@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I just saw a post about someone rejected for the police force for being too smart. I often wonder if we would catch a lot more criminals if cities hired much smarter people as detectives versus promoting from within the ranks.

        • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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          3 months ago

          They successfully argued that the drudgery of police work isn’t suited to people with high intelligence.

          • KombatWombat@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            IIRC, the hiring people said they worried candidates scoring too much higher than average would be more likely to show turnover from finding more prestigious jobs later or would not fit in well with their colleagues. Whether or not you agree with the decision, those are reasonable concerns to have when hiring and were applied to everyone, so he lost the discrimination suit.

        • lath@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          I’ve read the story a few times over the years and it’s kinda a myth, so feel free to be skeptical.

          Apparently there was a program going some 40-50 years ago. Train the best and brightest, deck them with the best equipment available and send them out there as the elite. It failed horribly leading to the highest death count the police force had seen. With what little money was left, the opposite was done afterwards. Send in the dumbest hicks around and give them free reign.

          It worked brilliantly. Crime rates were down, death count for the police force was down, costs were down and the bosses were happy.

          Everyone else suffered, but who gave a fuck? And so, the modern police force was born.

          • Globeparasite@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            yes, that is a very beautiful pile of bullshit. First who was running this program what is the “police force” because that doesn’t exist in the US. there is a different police force for every county or city

            • lath@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              How should I know? Which part of “I’ve read the story” didn’t you understand? It shows me as a reader of a story other people wrote. If you want reports, wait for someone who has them and if no one shows up, then consider it as if there aren’t any and it’s just a story randos on the internet passed it on.

              Jeez, the nerve of some people these days! Wanting corroborated facts and written documentation for everything! Whatever happened to trust? To faith in your fellow humans? Oh yeah, we broke it repeatedly. Oh well…

              • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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                3 months ago

                Yeah so you can’t backup what you are saying and are probably lying or misremembering. Why would I believe something you have heard from someone else 50 years ago and have no direct proof or evidence of?

                Might have well have started with: my great grandpa once told me…

      • Globeparasite@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        i am certain bro was absolutely honest about why he got rejected “smart” can mean so many things it doesn’t actually mean anything

  • madcaesar@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    This just made me rage at the Dexter reboot… Greatest serial killer of all time… Evades Miami police force, FBI for decades… And is taken down by some noname bumfuck cop in butthole nowhere…

    • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      It was an unfamiliar environment, and he wasn’t used to destruction as a body disposal method.

      People who are excellent at what they do can still be thrown off by doing something in a new context.

      When he was an actual beginner, he had beginner mind and was wracking his brain to think of everything. He unconsciously modeled that furnace as functionally equivalent to the ocean, which it wasn’t.

      • teamevil@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        That’s why you start on animals to make sure the new location and disposal method works. Keep those stakes low for the time being

    • Gork@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      In the context of serial killers, this is taken quite literally.

    • YaksDC@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      I think you’re referring to Konerak Sinthasomphone, who was a victim of Jeffrey Dahmer who escaped. He was found by some people who called the police. Jeffrey Dahmer showed up gave them a story about him being his lover and convince them that Konerak was 19 years old. The homophobic police released the 14 year old boy back to Jeffrey.

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer#1991_murders

    • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      Dhamer. One of his victims, a 14 year old boy, had escaped to the street bleeding and still drugged where he passed out. Neighbors called the cops for help. Dhamer came out and explained it away, and the 3 cops laughed at the gay guys having a spat. The cops and Dhamer took him back inside and after they left, dhamer killed him.

      The witnesses kept telling them something was wrong, but they were all black. The cops and dhamer were all white and because he was courteous to the cops, they disregarded the witnesses, even when one of them called back days later when she saw the victims “missing” notice in the paper.

      He went on to kill 5 more men before he was finally caught.