The Psychology of Dexter (Psychology of Popular Culture) by Bella DePaulo PhD
Psychology of Dexter is an edited book of essays, showing that the first four seasons of Dexter use real life psychology to draw us in, and relate to the characters. It also explores the characters, asking questions such as what if Dexter isn't a psychopath but rather suffering from childhood PTSD? (The answer is that he very well might have been, and not been destined to kill as Harry has told him; in that case, his foster father, although well intentioned, may have in fact turned Dexter into a psychopath.)
Each essay is well thought out, well presented, and all but one ask these type of questions, and really made me think about the show. There was one essay - The Psychology of Dexter's Kills by Marisa Mauro - that I felt fell flat because it was just 'this is what serial killers do, and this is how Dexter fits the role of a serial killer'. Excuse me, but yawn, I know he's a serial killer, I knew enough about trophies to realize that he took them, and while I learned a little more about the trophies, it wasn't enough to keep me hooked. However, this is one out of seventeen essays, and the others kept me reading non-stop; seriously, in line at the grocery store? Hey, it's like one or two minutes, and I needed to know what this book said.
And to be fair to Marisa, she wrote another essay further along in the book called It's All About Harry - which quite frankly makes Harry seem less well intentioned than most of the essays, but was backed up with a lot of quotes, and scenes from the show, and made sense when given the layman's terms, and the proof - and which held my interest far, far more than her first essay. In fact, only going over the list of essays did I realize they were written by the same person.
The thing that I really liked about this essay is that I didn't feel bogged down by Psychology jargon; the writers explain what the jargon is as quickly as possible, so a layman can relate, and then use that to explain how real life psychology effects Dexter and his world, or the way we as an audience relate to Dexter. I read a lot of psychology texts that my mom has lying around the house, so I know a little more than the average person, and I was still fascinated. However, I feel that not knowing psychology in depth, that I was able to keep up with the jargon because it was explained in simple terms - without making me feel stupid, which was a bonus.
So in the end, must read, highly recommended, but you pretty much have to have seen the first four seasons of Dexter to really be interested in this book.
