Conservative group protests Dexter on CBS, again

Deja vu, anyone? The Parents Television Council, whom you may remember from a December campaign against CBS’ plans to repurpose cable shows, just released another statement urging the network not to air Dexter, which is scheduled for broadcast on CBS starting Feb. 17.

“The biggest problem with the series is something that no amount of editing can get around: the series compels viewers to empathize with a serial killer, to root for him to prevail, to hope he doesn’t get discovered. Dexter introduces audiences to the depths of depravity and indifference as it chronicles the main character’s troubled quest for vigilante justice by celebrating graphic, premeditated murder,” PTC president Tim Winter said in a statement.

The PTC goes on to argue that the violence on Dexter celebrates murder and will have a “devastating” effect on kids. I’d argue that, while the show certainly is geared toward older audiences, it doesn’t celebrate murder so much as it pushes viewers to question their own responses to violence.

Do we condone killing when it serves the greater good, even if it breaks laws that are supposed to protect us? How can a killer become a sympathetic character? And when we identify with Dexter, what does that say about our own moral codes? I tend to come away from each episode with those thoughts rattling around in my brain.

I agree parents should make sure their kids are watching age-appropriate shows but I also think network viewers are better served by TV that makes them think than by mindless entertainment, however family-friendly it might be. Then again, I’m a writer. Freedom of expression is sacred to me.

What do you think? Does PTC have a leg to stand on?