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Dec. 18th, 2007 03:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityvixenIt has been brought to my attention that, if the WGA strike persists much longer, CBS has decided it will show edited versions of the first season of Dexter.
If you have any interest in seeing this absolutely phenomenal bit of television, take my advice and DO NOT WATCH THE CBS VERSION.
Look, I want you all to watch and like Dexter. It's beautiful, well-acted, well-written, and a total mindfuck. When it comes to making you react to what you're seeing in ways that aren't always comfortable, this is the best show on the planet, hands down. There are some folk who might be tempted by tamed version of the show, which will allow them to see the fabulosity without the gore. I've got news for those people: an edited version WILL NOT MAKE THE BAD STUFF MORE PALATABLE. In fact, it will do exactly the opposite.
It's not just that this is a show explicitly about a serial killer. It's about the fact that you cheer on a serial murderer with no sense of compassion for anyone. The point of seeing the brutal murder process up close and personal is to remind you that, while he seems the fluffy puppy most of the time, Dexter is FUCKED UP. The show makes you question your own morality, your ability to see in black and white or even very definite shades of gray. If you take away the violence and mercilessness of the character, you lose a whole level of audience involvement. And if you don't see the monster, you won't appreciate that.
Moreover, I can imagine that the series would just be very boring and humorless without the murders as counterpart. So much of Dexter's humor is in the juxtaposition of this smooth, confident, unblinking killer and the bumbling, inept, damaged every-day Dexter. No, I suppose the graphic violence isn't necessary, but then I never felt that Dexter was all that graphically violent. Oh, there's plenty of blood in places, but most of the kills are disturbing enough without gore as to make any editing of them for content nearly impossible. Either you edit nothing as there's no literal "problematic scene" to edit out, or you edit everything and ruin the tone because you've had to leave it completely out.
Bottom line: if you know me even tangentially, I'm willing to donate my DVDs to you for a time to appreciate this series uninterrupted, unfiltered, and untainted by commericial TV rules--the way it should be, damn it.
If you have any interest in seeing this absolutely phenomenal bit of television, take my advice and DO NOT WATCH THE CBS VERSION.
Look, I want you all to watch and like Dexter. It's beautiful, well-acted, well-written, and a total mindfuck. When it comes to making you react to what you're seeing in ways that aren't always comfortable, this is the best show on the planet, hands down. There are some folk who might be tempted by tamed version of the show, which will allow them to see the fabulosity without the gore. I've got news for those people: an edited version WILL NOT MAKE THE BAD STUFF MORE PALATABLE. In fact, it will do exactly the opposite.
It's not just that this is a show explicitly about a serial killer. It's about the fact that you cheer on a serial murderer with no sense of compassion for anyone. The point of seeing the brutal murder process up close and personal is to remind you that, while he seems the fluffy puppy most of the time, Dexter is FUCKED UP. The show makes you question your own morality, your ability to see in black and white or even very definite shades of gray. If you take away the violence and mercilessness of the character, you lose a whole level of audience involvement. And if you don't see the monster, you won't appreciate that.
Moreover, I can imagine that the series would just be very boring and humorless without the murders as counterpart. So much of Dexter's humor is in the juxtaposition of this smooth, confident, unblinking killer and the bumbling, inept, damaged every-day Dexter. No, I suppose the graphic violence isn't necessary, but then I never felt that Dexter was all that graphically violent. Oh, there's plenty of blood in places, but most of the kills are disturbing enough without gore as to make any editing of them for content nearly impossible. Either you edit nothing as there's no literal "problematic scene" to edit out, or you edit everything and ruin the tone because you've had to leave it completely out.
Bottom line: if you know me even tangentially, I'm willing to donate my DVDs to you for a time to appreciate this series uninterrupted, unfiltered, and untainted by commericial TV rules--the way it should be, damn it.
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Date: 2007-12-19 12:08 am (UTC)The affliate of CBS here in good ole family values Utah refuses to show Saturday Night Live. It turned its nose up at Coupling. It deemed Cavemen too vulgar for the likes of Utahns everywhere.
So while I'm desperately intrigued by Dexter, and probably would have watched it despite the editing, the affiliate here is not gonna let me see it. I'm not sure why this tickles my sense of ironic cynicism so much -- its just -- you know. Good old CBS, looking out for my morales.
So I think I'll do the books first, then jump to the DVDs this summer.
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Date: 2007-12-19 12:30 am (UTC)Definitely try out the DVDs. This is the sort of thing DVD-by-mail services were invented for. You could get and cancel a free Netflix account in the time it would take to order the whole series. Of course, Netflix is itself addictive and you'd likely end up keeping it, but if only to have Dexter, I'd recommend it.