The Fall is a criminal, psychological suspense thriller that focuses on Det. Superintendent Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) and serial killer Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan). The series takes place in Belfast and focuses on how Stella and Paul operate in their own professional and personal lives. Stella Gibson is brought in from London to Belfast to do a review (reviewing all information by the police on a specific murder case, Alice Monroe) to find if the police department made any error in investigating the Alice Monroe case. Paul Spector work as a grief counselor in Belfast, living with his wife and two children. In his off time, Paul is a serial killer. Paul’s first victim, Sarah Kay, is a single solicitor (Lawyer) in her early thirties with …show more content…
273). Serial Killers are fascinating to the general public for a few reasons: 1) They’re uncommon and abnormal (despite the UCR saying that at any given time there are 50-100 active serial killers), 2) Media mythologized: Serial Killers are often portrayed as being attractive or disgusting, possessing genius level intellect (Hannibal Lecter), and being completely chaotic. The Fall balances the line between these stereotypes and realism better than most shows on the subject of serial killers. Spector meticulously chooses his victims based on a physical profile (Source about how most serial killers have a specific type). In my opinion, Spector would be classified as a “Thrill Killer.” “Thrill” also known as Hedonist, kill for pleasure. This pleasure is often sexual and gives the killer adrenaline through which the killer uses to get a kind of high (Notes and Siegel pg. 273). I would also venture to say that Spector exhibits traits of power/control killers who enjoy having power and being extremely dominant over their victims. These labels fit Spector in his in his murder of Sarah Kay. He ties her up, forces himself on her, and frequently physically strangles her. According to the FBI, NCAVC (National Center For the Analysis of Violent Crime) reviewed serial murders and found that “Strangulation (42.5%) includes manual and ligature strangulation, suffocation, …show more content…
Yes and no. Sociology and Criminology have one thing in common: There are no black and white answers. It is unrealistic to think that all crime can be explained in logical terms. Television and media are created to entertain first and educate second. Serial Killers are not necessarily charming, highly intelligent, and proficient at strangling and killing someone in ten seconds. There are mistakes made by criminals in their actions and mistakes by the police in their investigation that lead the investigation to some uncertain conclusions. The Fall manages to show the political and social influences on police procedural work. But it also shows the lead investigator, Stella Gibson as a promiscuous, alcoholic, psychologically scared workaholic. The Fall shows Spector as a man who is able to shield himself from his children and spouse, but he manages to do this thousands of times (not realistic). The Fall shows us how the backgrounds of individuals influence and impact their current state of mind; but positions one brilliant individual as the only threat to another brilliant, sadistic person. Being amused by a media form is different from analyzing one. The best crime shows are not factual, they’re contradictory. Crime is not simple or logical. People are not simple or logical. Many crime shows inculcate viewers to frame
Each serial killer can be classified as a specific type. The four main types of serial killers are thrill seekers, mission-oriented, visionary, and power and control. Thrill seekers kill for the sole purpose to entertain themselves. They also want attention from the media. Thrill seekers send messages and keep a record of their killings. Mission-orientated serial killers have a reason to be killing the type of person they are. They think that by getting rid of a certain group; for example, prostitutes, then they are doing a favor for the society. Their crime scenes are organized. Visionary serial killers have another personality, this is known as dissociative identity disorder. They tend to think that God or the demon has told them to do this. Power and control serial killers kill because it gives them power. They like to watch their victims suffer and scream. The tend to be abused when they are
As I was completing this assignment, I was watching the infamous Netflix documentary entitled Making a Murderer. The documentary follows the story of Steven Avery, who is currently in prison for the death of a woman, Teresa Halbach, in 2005. Steven Avery has been denying any involvement in the murder of Teresa Halbach for the past eleven years. In the middle of the reading, the documentary was exploring and analyzing Steven Avery’s deviant behavior as a young man (Making). As I observed what was being discussed about Steven Avery, I was able to build the connection between how society, and the community from which he came from, perceived Steven Avery and what Kai Erikson discussed in the first couple pages of the book with regards to deviance and its relation with regards to society.
A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a "cooling off" period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification. Most people do not understand what can make a person want to kill multiple people for no reason other than own satisfactional gain. In actuality serial killers have been studied for over hundreds of years, and the information that has been documented continues to grow. The research that I have gathered about serial killers focuses on their childhood development, the differences and similarities between men and female serial kills, and finally general information on how their brains operate and their motives for committing such harmful acts.
A serial killer is defined in Webster's Dictionary as someone who murders more than three victims one at a time in a relatively short period of time. There is no one generic profile to identify a serial killer. They usually are people seeking for a sensation, a lack of guilt or remorse, a need for control, impulsivity, and predatory behavior. These traits make up a psychopathic personality disorder. Psychopathy is a disorder manifested in people who use a mixture of charm, manipulation, manipulation, and occasional violence to control others, in order to satisfy their own wants and needs. There are four main types of serial killers; thrill seekers, mission-oriented, visionary serial killers, and power and control killers. There may be other
A serial killer is a person who has killed three or more people over a month apart. Their motivation for killing is usually based on psychological issue.(Sanmartín,2001) In the U.S, the most reported serial killers are lower middle class white males, usually in their late twenties to early thirties (Skrapec,2001). Serial killers, often, are liars. They have no sense of remorse or guilt. Most of the time they are not in serious relationship or have any emotional obsession to any one person, besides their victims. Most of the well-known serial killers are: Robert Pickton, Charles Manson, Anthony Sowell, Ted Bundy, The Zodiac Killer, The Green River Killer, and The BTK murderer. (Sanmartín,2001). Often, women were never seen as even a suspect
Almost all people know who serial killers are, but what exactly defines a serial killer. The FBI defines serial murder as “a minimum of three to four victims with a ‘cooling off’ period between, the killer is usually a stranger to the victim, the murders reflect a need to sadistically dominate the victim, and the murder is rarely for profit.” (Vronsky, 2004, p.36) Serial killers are usually a white male from a lower-to-middle-class background typically in his twenties or thirties. Also, 85% of the world’s serial killers live in America, with at least twenty to fifty unidentified active serial killers plotting another one of their killings. On average, every person has seen or met at least 37 serial killers in their lifespan.
I first read The Fall in college and thought it one of the best explorations of a single character I have ever or will ever read. Unfortunately, my paper on the work was less well received. In fact, it was given a mark of "C" with the advice that I pay closer attention to the story. To this day I consider The Fall an incredible character study in search of a story. Why does one need a perfect story, anyway? It remains my bias... the professor did not appreciate what Camus accomplished and overstated what Camus did not. (The preceding opinions are my own.)
A serial killer is traditionally defined as the separate killings of three or more people by an individual over a certain period of time, usually with breaks between the murders. (Angela Pilson, p. 2, 2011) This definition has been accepted by both the police and academics and therefore provides a useful frame of reference (Kevin Haggerty, p.1, 2009). The paper will seek to provide the readers with an explanation of how serial killers came to be and how they are portrayed in the media. Several serial killers have a definitive and common personality profile.
Serial killers have many frightening facets. The most frightening thing about them is that experts still do not know what makes a human become a serial killer. Many experts believe serial killers become what they are because they have a genetic disposition or brain abnormality while other experts believe that a serial killer is created by childhood abuse; and some other experts believe that it is a combination of both brain abnormalities and abusive childhood experiences that creates a serial killer. A murderer is considered a serial killer when they “murder three or more persons in at least three separate events with a “cooling off period” between kills” (Mitchell and Aamodt 40). When defining a serial killer, their background, genes, and brain are not mentioned; perhaps one day those aspects of the serial killer can be included.
While profiling serial killers we must look into their psychological and sociological characteristics in order to see if there is a pattern in which criminologist are able to pin point traits that can be related to other serial killers. By having this information criminologist are able to make determinations to what social approach problems a serial killer might posse. While serial killers only represent a small fraction of criminals in the United States, their crime contributes to only a small number of crimes (O’Reilly-Fleming, 1996). O’Reilly-Fleming (1996) suggests that there is an estimated ten serial killers in the United States at one time, however, the FBI estimates that there are between twenty-five and fifty serial killers operating throughout the U.S. at any given time ().
'Serial murder'; has long been a term used to describe those human beings that repeatedly commit heinous crimes. It is rare that the average person probes the mind of a serial killer without bias. However, what lies behind the eyes of a serial killer deserves more than the cold hard look that society so often gives (Aaronson, Inter...
Serial killers are everywhere! Well, perhaps not in our neighborhood, but on our television screens, at the movie theaters, and in rows and rows of books at our local Borders or Barnes and Nobles Booksellers” (Brown). When people think of serial killers, names such as Dahmer, Gacy, Bundy, and Gein are cited. During the time Jack the Ripper was executing his victims in London, Holmes began his gruesome career in Chicago (America’s Serial Killers). “Despite being America’s first serial killer, Holmes is hardly a familiar name and until now we haven’t had any popular visual record of his crimes: (Spikol). Why is it that people only think of the more popular killers with higher known profiles? They are all very similar to one another because they share characteristics. H.H. Holmes was a successful serial killer because he was well educated, cunning and charming. Those are just a few traits Holmes ...
This all shows how different things in and around us can influence or cause us to behave in a certain manner. Whether it be, domestic violence or another criminal act. The sociological concept allows for blame to be taken away from some individuals, victims and or perpetrators and have it placed on society. This is a good thing as it allows us to look into ourselves, and see where we can be responsible for some of the evils of the world. It forces us to take some of the blame instead of always pointing fingers on the other person. Though not all criminal behavior follow along with this concept, many do, and it is therefore important for everyone to be familiar with it and be able to put it to use.
The term “serial killer” was created in the mid-1970s by a man named Robert Ressler, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program. “He chose "serial" because the police in England called these types of murders "crimes in a series" and because of the serial films that he grew up watching.”(Freeman). Before this term was created these murders were known as mass murders crimes. Serial killers can be act-focused, who kill quickly or process-focused, who kill slowly and torture their victims.
In the 1970’s, Robert Ressler, who was the previous director of Violent Criminal Apprehension Program with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), coined the term “serial killer”. He did so because when he was a child, the police in England used to refer to murders such as this as “crimes in a...