Peter Foley's Influence In The Film 'Copycat'

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In the film Copycat, the main focus is on Peter Foley, the copycat serial killer. While Daryll Lee Cullum is the original serial killer, and provides some of Foley’s motive, Foley takes his killings to another degree. There are various motives for Foley’s killings. The main motives that he demonstrated include power and control, the hedonistic subtype of thrill, and lastly fame. While fame is not an official motive, it was a driving force in Foley’s actions and originated from his other motives. First, Foley’s motive of power and control is evident through the way he acts towards his victims. The motive of power and control is defined by the main objective of the killer desiring to gain and exert power over their victim. Killers who possess …show more content…

Although it is not a previously defined motive, fame was central to why Foley committed his various murders. The motive of fame consists of key components from other motives such as viewing people as expendable and killing for the thrill of it. Foley was ultimately trying to become famous through copying other serial killers and ending with the murder of Dr. Helen Hudson, which was supposed to replicate the previous attempt on her life. While preparing to torture Hudson in the final scenes, Foley says to her that he wants to make her the world’s most famous victim which would ultimately make him the world’s most famous killer. He reaches this conclusion based upon the fact that he is going to video her murder and that more books were written about Jack the Ripper than Abraham Lincoln. Foley wanted to be famous, to be remembered for his atrocious actions as the copycat killer and the murderer of Dr. Helen Hudson. Killing Dr. Hudson would make him famous because, as she states in the movie, she is the pin up girl for the serial killers of that time since she assisted in their convictions. Foley portrayed his motive of fame through the way he stated it to Dr. Hudson, the way he copied the most atrocious crimes of serial killers that she stated in her lecture, and the way that he did not try to hide his

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