Okay, so I haven't been writing for a while. More on that to come soon. But for now, I have to talk about Dexter.
I don't know how many of you know about or watch Dexter, the Showtime show about a forensics worker who kills murderers in his spare time. My understanding has been that it has met with fair critical acclaim. I have also heard incredibly positive things about it from friends and coworkers. So here I am borrowing the first season. So far, I find myself intrigued but still on the fence. I have been quite disappointed so far. The story itself is interesting but the presentation falls flat for me. The actors portray characterizations rather than characters. You've got the sociopath, the sexually abused but redemptive, and therefore pure, white woman, the hyper-aggressive and hyper-masculine black man, the stupid hot chick playing at being a cop but still needing to turn to the brilliant white man to solve her cases, the latin lover, and the hypersexual black woman.
It is this last character that I find the most bothersome. While she is not necessarily a major character, my sensitivity to such issues distracts me from the rest of the show. I know the majority of people who read this so I feel I don't need to explain the thing to death. Suffice it to say that the black female sergeant is the modern incarnation of the Hottentot Venus. Despite her position of power, every moment she spends on screen is inundated with sexuality. The story line is that the sergeant is infatuated with Dexter, our main character (who we're supposed to like? not like?). There is never anything subtle or nuanced in her winks and stares at Dexter, nor in her numerous excuses for bodily contact which seem just downright desperate. Her attraction is even described by the narrator (Dexter) as "creepy".
In a show completely entrenched in one-dimensional and often offensive characters, can an interesting story line be at all redemptive? Is there a chance that the writer/director is going for the (at least at one point) highly regarded "satire" of Desperate Housewives (I haven't seen it, so I can't speak to that charge)?
I have no idea. Maybe I just haven't given the show enough of a chance to develop yet.
