Newswise — "The online auctioning of Ted Kaczynski's personal effects is a typical example of the so- called 'murderabilia' industry (as represented by websites such as www.supernaught.com and www.murderauction.com) and that industry, in turn, is a prime example of how the serial killer has become an iconic celebrity figure in American culture over the past 20-30 years," Schmid says.
"Although the Kaczynski sale is being undertaken for the unimpeachably moral reason of providing restitution to the families of his victims, this sale will unavoidably participate in and profit from the celebrity culture that has surrounded serial killers for some time."
Why do we make serial killers into celebrities?
"In part because the old dividing line between fame and notoriety has become increasingly blurred, so that celebrity is defined more than ever by whatever it takes to grab a jaded public's attention, no matter how appalling the attention-grabbing actions are," Schmid says. "There's also a natural human tendency to be perversely fascinated by extreme deviant and criminal behavior, precisely because it's so different from our humdrum everyday lives. Moreover, with serial killers, that fascination is intensified by the fact that serial killers appear to be so ordinary when they are arrested--think of how bland, even boring, killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer and David Berkowitz turned out to be. It's this combination of normal appearance and extreme actions that drives the public fascination with serial killers, turning them into household names."
"Above all, serial killer celebrity is motivated by our recognition that serial killers are somehow as quintessentially American as apple pie. Although we are appalled by our fascination with the serial killer, what could be more American than a complex and ambivalent reaction to a criminal figure? Just like cowboys and gangsters before them, serial killers such as Ted Kaczynski have become celebrities because we know, on an intuitive level, that they are more like us than not."
Related article:Book Examines Celebrity and Serial Killershttp://www.buffalo.edu/news/fast-execute.cgi/article-page.html?article=74560009
David Schmid, Ph.D.Associate Professor of EnglishAuthor, "Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture" University at BuffaloWeb site: http://wings.buffalo.edu/cas/english/faculty/schmid/
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