Dexter: Gratuitous violence or the vicarious experience of justice? Perceptions of selected South African viewers

Abstract

Audiences are increasingly presented with shows on television that challenge previously established boundaries of morality and propriety. Dexter is one such show. The character of Dexter works for the police as a blood spatter analyst by day, and he hunts and kills serial killers by night, taking great pains when killing them to remind them how they tortured their victims and why they deserve to die. He exerts his own form of justice of the ‘eye-for-an-eye’ variety. ‘A prime motivation behind audience reception studies has been that of making visible and validating the otherwise taken-for-granted, neglected or misunderstood experiences of ordinary people in relation to popular culture’ (Livingstone et al. 2001, 168). With this assertion in mind, the article explores how selected, white, Afrikaans-speaking viewers in Gauteng, relate to Dexter. Reception theory, with a specific focus on Carolyn Michelle's (2007) multi-dimensional model of modes of audience reception, was applied to the analysis of findings in this article.

Keywords:

• Afrikaans viewers
• audience
• Dexter
• ethnography
• qualitative audience research
• reception theory

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michele Tager

Michele Tager is senior lecturer in Film and Television Studies in the Department of Journalism, Film and Television in the School of Communication at the University of Johannesburg. Email: [email protected]

Heidi Matthee

Heidi Matthee is affiliated to the Department of Journalism, Film and Television in the School of Communication at the University of Johannesburg. Email: [email protected]