Discussion Question

1. Also in Natural Born Celebrities, Schmid argues that there is a complex structure of blame regarding the sexuality of killers and victims alike. Construct a series of examples that showcases and explains how sexuality plays into our fascination with serial killers—and how we shift blame because of it. Why does the sexuality of killer or victim matter?

2. Despite evidence throughout the film, most of Dickie Greenleaf’s friends could not believe that he could be a murderer—even though the clues are right before their eyes. Compare and use examples from “Ripley” and other media (film or novels) in the class, to show why this idea of what we’d expect from a serial killer vs. how he or she really looks/exists is important.

3. In the popular culture forms of Frankenstein, much time is spent on the construction of the monster, but the films often leave out the moral questions of how society created him after his escape from Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory. Rectify this error by explaining how human society constructed the monster through their own actions — rather than dealing with how Dr. Frankenstein scientifically did it. Using specific examples from the text, show us how you believe the monster came into being — once he left the lab. How does your answer address the larger “real world” question of where serial killers come from?