I often ask people that question if I’m trying to get a read on them. I think your response actually says a lot about you. I am always surprised at the number of people who either have an answer right away or who take a minute to ponder it. These are my people. You know who are not my people? People who get offended by this question. I know it’s not like asking who your favorite band is or who your favorite actor is, but honestly the answers to those questions reveal very little about you. I may learn that you prefer blondes or that you are one of those people who like Coldplay (which also tells me that you are not my people). But I don’t learn anything about your true nature just because you like Beyonce or Zac Efron…ok, I do learn something about you if you like Zac Efron and you’re over the age of 12, but that’s a separate issue. After I ask people who their favorite serial killer is, I immediately ask them “Why?” And the answer to that question is what tells me a little bit about you. I never judge. I’m not a big fan of John Wayne Gacy, but if you say that you are, there are no judgments from me as long as you have a reason. Your reason can be anything – “I liked his style,” or “He seemed like the kind of guy I’d hang out with, except for the killing people part.” The only time I get upset is when people say Charles Manson, simply because he is not a serial killer. I will accept mass murderers as answers, but not master manipulators, which is what Manson really is.
I have several favorite serial killers, but the one I always go back to is Ted Bundy. Damn! That guy had skills. He seemed totally normal on the outside, but was one of the most brutal killers. The term “serial killer” was first used in reference to Bundy. He claimed to have killed 30 women, but it’s believed that he killed as many as 100. Here was this good looking guy who had a degree in psychology (the preferred major of all crazy people); he was involved in politics and friends with many police officers. He was intelligent, charismatic and well respected. At a certain point, the police had so much information on the suspect they were chasing that they knew exactly what kind of car he drove and that his name was Ted and they never suspected their good friend Bundy. Crazy, right?? You have to respect that. He escaped from police custody twice. Now that’s impressive. I also favor Bundy because I think he was compulsive rather than insane. I believe that he had to kill in the same way that other compulsive people have to turn the lights on and off five times or wash their hands fifty times a day. A kind of OCD, if you will. I’m not justifying his actions. But I do think that incredible accomplishments, no matter what their nature, should be recognized.
So what does this say about me? I choose to believe that it expresses how I hold intelligence to be the most important quality that I look for in people, and I respect those that possess it. I like cleverness. It could also mean that I’m a misogynist. That may be true. The important thing to note is that I have an answer and a reason for having that answer. That’s why I can be friends with me.
Please feel free to post a comment about who your favorite serial killer is. I’m always fascinated by the answers I get.
I have also researched Ted Bundy, extensively, but I wouldn’t say that he’s my “favorite” serial killer. I do find him very interesting because he was quite coherent, despite the neurotic need for murder that drove him. In fact, he is one of the few that lived long enough to tell people what he saw. I’m sure it was still pretty maddening to hear him talk so casually though.
I once saw a movie called, “Citizen X” where the Russian Goverment was dealing with serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, and they said that serial murder was a product of American Decandance. NOt sure I would agree with that. There are serial killers in many places. Sometimes, one doesn’t even notice they’re there.
Literature also creates these killers, with Sweeney Todd, and the like. I recently published a novel about two serial killers, myself. I called the piece, “Can I Stop Now?”
Here’s the rundown:Mina Thorne loses her beloved older brother to an abusive father. Then the reader meets the boy, Ryan Sandler, who has troubles of his own, but he also has a brother that looks out for him, as well as an abusive father. It begins to focus on his life, and the people around him, people that he’ll come to meet on his path towards growing up. We meet Ian Fanning, having to deal with a flaky wife, he takes it upon himself to raise her daughter as his own. He loses her. Then we meet Lester Quartz, the Serial killer, whose father is not much better. Lt. Harry Quartz is the worst kind of human being there is, and he’s a figure of authority. His son goes on a rampage throughout the country while he tries to figure out how to cover his son’s acts. Ryan’s soon-to-be girlfriend, Becca remembers what her life used to be like before she met Ryan. She remembers surviving her own encounter with Lester.. She holds close to Ryan as parts of her old life try to pull her back into a place she doesn’t want to be. All the while, Mina has managed to liberate herself of her father, and has come to the town where Ryan is. She can’t decide if she can actually trusts what she feels about him, or if she should just categorize him as she would her father. The cross-conflicts and character relationships thicken. Ties are made stronger. Rivalries become bitter, and one man drives along the great big nowhere, taking lives.
Comment by Cesar Acosta — December 26, 2008 @ 3:06 pm |