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By Root 639 0

father laid out to kill only serial killers who have escaped justice. For Dexter, this serves as a guideline to decrease his chances of getting caught by the police. By choosing to kill killers instead of innocent members of society, Dexter limits the possibility that his murders will be investigated in great detail. The presence of Harry’s Code implies that Dexter’s drive to kill arises from a noble sense of justice. But in fact, Dexter describes his killing as being a means to satisfy his Dark Passenger, or the deep-seated need to kill. Yet, for viewers, Harry’s Code provides a means to justify rooting for a serial killer. Viewers can relish the righteous retribution when Dexter kills killers who have slipped through the cracks of the justice system. Furthermore, Dexter dispatches his victims in a highly sanitized fashion and is never lewd with them. In fact, in “Dex Takes a Holiday” (4-4), his victim, Zoey Kruger, who was wrapped in cellophane, asked if Dexter was going to rape her. Dexter laughed as if the question was ludicrous, and reassured her that, “No one is raping anyone!” (He then killed her.) Dexter’s victims and methods provide viewers with an acceptable level of morality for them to root for Dexter to kill, even though Dexter himself does not share the viewer’s lofty moral justifications. In addition, viewers may feel safe that if they were to meet Dexter in real life, they would have nothing to worry about as long as they themselves are not killers.

Several other factors also make it possible to reduce the dissonance of rooting for Dexter. Family and work complicate Dexter’s priorities. On the one hand, Dexter might feel he should spend time with the kids or fulfill his professional duties as blood spatter specialist, attending to each of those needs while keeping up “normal” appearances. On the other hand, his over-arching goal is always about making his next kill. The nuances related to each of Dexter’s priorities and the tension created by his having to manage them all simultaneously allow viewers to find nuances in their own responses to Dexter.

Dexter’s relationships do more than complicate Dexter’s life; they also make him a more sympathetic character, and add suspense to the show by putting Dexter in awkward positions as he tries to juggle his family, his job, and staying true to Harry’s Code. When people sympathize with a character, they experience more suspense and prefer positive outcomes for the character. 43 His interactions with Rita in particular provide a specific means for viewers to identify with his character. Viewers in relationships have probably shared experiences similar to Dexter’s, in which he wants to make his partner happy but is unsure of what to say to achieve that goal. Even though viewers don’t share the cause of Dexter’s frustration (i.e., an antisocial lack of emotions and a desire to avoid getting caught as a murderer), they can still identify with the situation and develop sympathy for Dexter. Because viewers sympathize with Dexter, they will support him and hope that he succeeds.

These are not the only options for Dexter viewers who seek to alleviate cognitive dissonance. Recall the demonstration that dissonance reduction often results in belief change: participants reported a dull task to have been (somewhat) enjoyable. Similarly, frequent Dexter viewers may lose access to aspects of the program that strike more casual viewers as problematic. Research in psychology suggests that people are more likely to remember information that is consistent with a particular choice (such as choosing to support Dexter’s behavior) and may even distort information that is inconsistent with that choice.44 Suppose Dexter viewers selectively remember information that is consistent with their choice (such as the fact that Dexter’s actions stop serial killers). This memory bias should help make dissonant information inaccessible. Thus, the bias will reduce both viewers’ cognitive dissonance and the possibility that they will feel regret about their choice. These same viewers might further