Serial Killer Movie Research Paper

In the movie “FEED” the killer that is portrayed can arguably be considered a serial killer or a spree killer. There are different characteristics of a serial killer and a spree killer that must be examined to explain how the murderer can dangle between the line of both types of killer. A serial killer is defined as being an individual that kills at least three people or possibly more over the course of a month. During this time the killer must also have some time between the killings. There are four different types of serial killers with different motives, methods of killing, and behavioral patterns. These four types are called hedonistic, control, visionary, and mission killers. In the movie “FEED” the killer could be portrayed as a control …show more content…
Social controls that are seen as being formal are sanctions that are given by law enforcement. There are also informal social controls such as the reactions of peers that keep individuals in line with social norms. With this being stated the question of whether or not serial killers can be used as a form of social control. If the serial killer only targets those seen as undesirables by society than they could be seen as a form of social control. This would make the serial killer be seen as a mission killer as they would target those that they see as undesirable. However, there would be a problem with this as societal views of what is considered undesirable would also have to match up with the killer’s views of undesirables. This also suggests that there would have to be some sense of control with the serial killer as so to not kill any individual that does not match the view of undesirable. An example of this is the movie “Se7en” where the wife of one of the detectives is killed even though she is not one of the undesirables of the killer, because it helps him reach a different individual’s sin. This cannot be the case for a serial killer if they are going to be used as a form of social