CBS: Selling Serial Killers to Kids
by Christopher
Gildemeister
"Some people
express a sense of guilt that they are drawn to the show. Maybe the guilt is
more intense because they find themselves identifying with and liking the guy."
– Dexter star Michael C. Hall (USA Today, December 10, 2006)
The PTC has brought
to public attention the fact that the CBS network, by showing the adult drama
Dexter on prime-time broadcast television, is exposing children to extreme
graphic violence and dark, disturbing themes. But now, not only is CBS making a
hero of a psychotic serial killer on TV – they are marketing toys and video
games of him as well.
According to
Nielsen Media Research, during its first season on the Showtime premium cable
network, Dexter’s largest audience of 2-to-11-year-olds consisted of
17,000 children. During its first week on CBS, Dexter drew an audience of
156,000 2-to-11-year-olds…and on the February 24th airing, the
audience increased to 206,000 2-to-11-year-olds. By choosing to put Dexter on
prime-time broadcast television, CBS has increased young children’s exposure to
the series’ gruesome content by over 1000%.
In its relentless
campaign to absolve itself of any responsibility for the programming it chooses
to put on the public airwaves, CBS tells parents to use the V-Chip to block
children from seeing Dexter. This advice is undercut by the fact that CBS
has rated the program TV-14…even though, on Showtime, it was rated TV-MA for
mature audiences only. CBS’ motive for this change in rating is purely one
cynical self-interest; were Dexter rated accurately, CBS would find it
well-nigh impossible to attract advertisers.
Of course CBS
claims that, for the broadcast version, it has edited out everything that could
conceivably be harmful to children. Yet this promise is belied both by the
actual content of the program, and by the words of the president of the Showtime
network in his discussion of the CBS “repurposing” of Dexter :
“CBS never asked us to reduce the number of killings or to change the psychology
[of Dexter]…Aside from some cosmetic changes, you’ll see virtually the
same show.” – Showtime Entertainment President Robert Greenblatt (Entertainment
Weekly, February 1, 2008)
But exposing
children to Dexter‘s graphic gore and deeply disturbing themes is just
the beginning. For decades, heroes from TV shows have been “spun off” into toys
and games, from the mania for Davy Crockett merchandise in the 1950s to the
innumerable TV/toy franchises of today. Now, CBS plans to do the same with its
“heroic” serial killer.
On February 27th,
Worldscreen.com announced that Showtime has awarded a
licensing contract to toy manufacturer Bif Bang Pow! to make “collectable”
bobble heads and action figures based on the characters in Dexter. “Dexter
falls right in line with what Bif Bang Pow! is trying to achieve… It’s an
exciting show and we plan to create equally exciting collectibles to compliment
it,” enthused Jason Lenzi, Bif Bang Pow!’s CEO. The bobblehead doll is already
available for purchase on Showtime’s Dexter website, along with other
merchandise like T-shirts spattered with fake blood. One can just imagine CBS
executives enthralled at the prospect of children clamoring for their very own
Dexter action figures.
And those children too old to play with Dexter
dolls need not despair – for Showtime has also partnered with Marc Ecko
Entertainment to create a video game based on the program. Ecko’s Vice President
of Entertainment Marc Fernandez is thrilled at the prospect of creating a video
game around the character of a brutal serial killer. "Our game designers,
writers, and artists are going to give Dexter's morally complex world the
kind of interactivity that gamers will love," he said. Ecko also stated that it
will work closely with Showtime to be certain that the Dexter video game
is as faithful to the television program as possible. If the game actually is
faithful to the TV program Dexter, it will be rated AO (for Adults Only),
inasmuch as the original rating of the Showtime television program was TV-MA
DLSV. However, given the video game industry’s track record of misrating their
games (both Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Manhunt 2 contained
hidden explicit sexual content, but were initially rated M instead of
Adults-Only), whether the Dexter game will be rated accurately remains to
be seen.
Once, television offered children positive role models – from Davy Crockett and
the Lone Ranger up through Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Offering such heroes
helped to shape children’s worldview. But today, CBS is proud to offer a
psychotic who dismembers and eviscerates others as one of its chief prime-time
exemplars.
Popular culture does have an influence – especially on children.
The youngsters who read graphically violent horror comics like The Vault of
Horror and The Haunt of Fear in the 1950s grew up to make TV shows
and movies like Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt. The children
who grew up watching the Friday the 13th movie series in the
1980s are now making “torture porn” films like Saw, Hostel and
Captivity, replete with sadism, mutilation and misogyny. Is it merely a
coincidence that as popular culture has glorified ever-more explicit violence to
our children – on TV, in movies, in music and in video games -- the epidemic of
violence in society (particularly in youth-centered areas like schools and
colleges) has increased?
By
choosing to make a serial killer a hero for children on prime-time TV, in toys
and in video games, CBS’ executives have demonstrated their contempt and lack of
concern for our children, our culture and our future – for everything, in fact,
other than the almighty dollar.
"Dexter contains all the elements of violence that would make it
particularly detrimental for children to watch. The violence is perpetrated by
someone who is portrayed as a hero doing good for society. The violence is
graphic, explicit, and brutal. The hero shows no remorse or concern about his
violence. The hero is rewarded for his violent behavior. All of these factors
are likely to maximize the influence it would have in stimulating violent
behavior in the children and adolescents who watch the program regularly.
Parents should not allow children or adolescents to watch it. CBS should not
present it at a time when children are likely to see it, and CBS should not
promote it for children and adolescents.” -- L Rowell Huesmann, Professor of
Communication Studies & Psychology Director, Research Center for Group Dynamics
Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan
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