In response to Edward's mention in a previous post about finding some new reading material, I suggested a book entitled Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates. The main character is closely based off of the infamous serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer. Ed and I were talking about good ole' Jeffrey the other day and voiced our opinions on his sentence once he was convicted over 25 years ago. Edward said he felt a sort of sympathy for Jeffrey once he watched some interviews with him on YouTube, many stated him as being "an intelligent, soft spoken man". At the time, I couldn't really understand this logic even though so many people do, in fact, sympathize and even idolize serial killers. Anyway, as a receptionist for a landscaping company, every now and then my job can get a bit stressful (and by every now and then i mean never), i still manage to find the time to sit here for hours and google search everything i can on Jeffrey Dahmer. I'm talking biographies, time lines of the murders committed, how and what he did to his victims in gruesome detail, charming snapshots taken from prisons and courtrooms, etc. , etc. I then did some research on Ted Bundy, who while in prison, received an abundance of love letters from women who were literally enamoured of him and his actions, which happened to include murdering and raping up to 40 women. Um, awesome!? I'm not so sure....But, on a serious note, what is the fascination and admiration associated with these men about?? I have to admit, even i felt it, a moment of awe at what they could do and did over and over. I could not stop reading about how Jeffrey Dauhmer would drill holes into the brains of young men he kidnapped and raped to try to create his own "zombie". I continued on to find out how he also decapitated and literally ATE some of his other victims. All i could think was give me more!! In conclusion to this random and somewhat wildly inappropriate post, these are some of the things i stew over at the office on a daily basis and i wanted to share my thoughts. I will end this post with two fun facts:
1)Jeffrey would dismember his victims and keep their heads and genitalia as trophies, biceps and other muscles were frozen for future consumption. He was once quoted as saying that human flesh "tasted like beef". Yummy!
2)Once convicted, he was sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences, which would equal out to a minimum of 936 years! In 1994, Jeffy was beaten to death with a broom by a fellow inmate.
Let the fascination commence.
I think you are perhaps overstating my sympathy for him. I just said in the interview he didn't seem like a bad guy. Obviously he IS about as bad a guy as you can be.
ReplyDeleteIf you are into serial killers, which you seem to be, you should read the book "American Psycho." Obviously, everyone and their mother has seen the movie, but the book is A) a lot funnier and B) way, way, way more graphic in its sexual violence. I am suggesting reading it just because so much of Patrick Bateman's violence is clearly inspired by Dahmer and other serial killers. Ellis obviously did a lot of research. I'm pretty sure at one point in the book Bateman drills into someone's head. Although it should be noted that Bateman is different from Dahmer, in that he is A) homophobic and B) seems to get off on killing people. Dahmer said he didn't really get off on killing people, but instead this was a means to an end. He just liked having complete control over the dead bodies, and I guess the only way he could do that was through killing people. Take that as you will, but obviously he had a thing for having complete control over someone (hence the attempt at making people into zombie slaves...did he really think this would work? If so, I'm sure someone would've done it by now).
I have read it but, thank you for trying to contribute to my unquenched thirst for psycho murder literature! Would this post have come off as less crazy if i added a preface stating "i'm stoned."???
ReplyDeleteWas the book not a lot better than the movie? And I own the movie.
ReplyDeleteI think that the article below is certainly worth reading, espeically as a female fan of BEE. I'll also quote my friend who showed it to me because I find it interesting as well...
ReplyDelete"congratulations, bret, you read laura mulvey! with that, you join the illustrious ranks of...anyone who's ever taken a college-level film theory class.
honestly, i find this pretty upsetting. maybe because when i saw him and talked to him in real life, i was really, really excited about it. now that i know that when he looked at me, he saw someone whose gender automatically precluded me from being capable of making the kinds of films scorcese or hitchcock made? what an ignorant prick.
and besides, i think almost everyone agrees the movie was better than the book anyway. just saying."
http://www.movieline.com/2010/05/bret-easton-ellis-on-american-psycho-christian-bale-and-his-problem-with-women-directors.php?page=all
Haha, let me go on the record saying that I liked the book better than the movie! And yeah, I'm pretty sure I read that "gaze" article by Mulvey in college film. I'm curious if females are as attracted to the visuals aspects of film as guys are...and I'm curious also if it's true that males are more stimulated by visuals than females.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the sex scene was hotter in both the video in the article and in the book (basically pornography in the book). That have something to do with Mary Harron directing the movie? Haha. No, but I have watched the movie commentary and she talks about how she made the sex scene "realistic," in that in real life it would be really awkward having sex with two prostitutes. This makes sense, because the book takes place inside in Bateman's head, so of course he's going to...exaggerate things.
ReplyDeleteEmily, what other books by him have you read? I've always wanted to read more after AP, but never got around to it....
I've only ever read Less Than Zero which is about super rich kids growing up around sex and drugs in LA. I read it a long time ago and I think I liked it. I remember it being a quick read, I think.
ReplyDeleteWas that his first book? I feel like it was. He wrote it when he was a freshman in college or something and I believe his professor pushed for him to publish. I feel like a lot of his books are loosely autobiographical and are about rich kids having sex and doing drugs. "American Psycho" to me is perfect at capturing the narcissism that made the '80s the '80s. Was that the "Me Decade" or was that another one? I fowwggeett.
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