The Bible in Crime Fiction and Drama by Caroline Blyth;Alison Jack;

Author:Caroline Blyth;Alison Jack;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK

Chapter 7

‘LONG IS THE WAY AND HARD, THAT OUT OF HELL LEADS UP TO LIGHT’: SERIAL MURDER AS HOMILY IN SE7EN

James C. Oleson

That this chapter exists – that I wrote it, that you are reading it – is itself a vindication of John Doe’s vision. Near the conclusion of David Fincher’s 1995 neo-noir police procedural Se7en, John Doe, an enigmatic serial murderer, assures the two detectives who have captured him that who he is does not matter, but that what he has done is extraordinary. He prophesies: ‘You can’t see the whole complete act yet, but when this is done – when it’s finished – it’s going to be so – flawless. People will barely comprehend, but they won’t be able to deny. What I’ve done is going to be puzzled over. And studied. And followed. Forever.’1 Doe was correct. For twenty years now, scholars have wrestled with his puzzle. They have studied Se7en. And that Doe was right about this bodes badly for the rest of us.

Our society celebrates serial killers as celebrities.2 The A-list of killers is filled with household names: virtually everyone has heard of Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and the Unabomber. Many people can name more serial killers than Nobel laureates.3 Even the B-list, murderers who do not command the same level of brand recognition, are merchandized through serial killer trading cards, comic books and action figures. Serial killers attract hybristophiliac groupies and fan clubs. A flourishing market for murderabilia exists4 : in 2012, Bonnie and Clyde’s two handguns sold for $504,000.5 In fiction, both literary and cinematic, our fascination with the serial killer runs amok. Dr Hannibal ‘the Cannibal’ Lecter was selected as the American Film Institute’s number one screen villain of all time.6 Dexter Morgan, star of the Dexter franchise, however, rivals Lecter for notoriety, and John ‘Jigsaw’ Kramer transformed Saw into the most successful horror franchise in the world. There are even Saw theme park rides.7

Lecter, Dexter and Jigsaw – film’s most famous serial killers – share common characteristics.8 All are organized killers – intelligent, socially competent and geographically mobile – who kill their victims with foresight and control.9 They are also mission-oriented killers, killing because they feel compelled to eliminate a certain class of person from the world.10 Lecter kills the rude; Dexter, other killers; and Jigsaw, those who lack sufficient will to survive. Amid this pantheon of mission-oriented vigilantes belongs Jonathan Doe, the antagonist from the 1995 movie Se7en, written by Andrew Kevin Walker (who also wrote the screenplay for 8MM) and directed by David Fincher (who went on to direct Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl).

Distilled down to a single sentence, the plot of Se7en nearly flunks the laugh test: two detectives – one, an impulsive cop, new to the precinct; the other, a jaded veteran, one week from retirement – must overcome their differences in order to capture the brilliant serial killer who will kill seven victims in seven days, corresponding to the seven deadly sins.

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