Since finishing Mindhunter on Netflix - which at the time I thought an alright show at the time, I look at humans differently and the show is one of the craziest mindfuck subversion I've felt. Holy cripes let me unpack.
I approached the show much like Holden Ford at the time. Without giving away too much, Holden is an idealistic young FBI profiler who approaches situations and persons very clinically and without any bias or subjective emotional context. Much like him, I approached the show. The premise of the show is basically how Behavioral Science Unit is established at the FBI through countless profiling of serial killers. Holden's partner is Bill Tench, who is the opposite. He is a veteran FBI agent. He feels disgust at the serial killers and cant stand to be in the same room as these psychopaths. I am watching the show unfold and listening to all the grisly murders just like Holden is. I am....fascinated by these monsters just like him. They're enigmatic and hiding their true selves beneath the thin veneer. I too want to hear more and more, and I simply couldn't wait until Holden interviewed another crazy. I slowly realize that we're talking about humans being murdered - lives, hopes, dreams, communities shattered. For no good reason. But I still wanted more. Until the finale.
Spoiler territory
After the show ended, I started down the wikipedia and google rabbit hole of serial killers like Kemper and their exploits and holy crap this is absolutely unspeakable evil. Pure, unfiltered evil. All of these serial killers are. I felt like I was an absolute idiot approaching the killers with such sterile view and no moral compass. The show grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me out of my apathy by the end and I thought it was an absolute brilliant piece of filmmaking by Fincher. I am not sure if anyone felt the same way that I did, but please watch the show. It will make you ponder. And dont go down the wikipedia holes of these psychopaths. Its a truly dark place. And today I feel like its one of the best shows ever made.
I approached the show much like Holden Ford at the time. Without giving away too much, Holden is an idealistic young FBI profiler who approaches situations and persons very clinically and without any bias or subjective emotional context. Much like him, I approached the show. The premise of the show is basically how Behavioral Science Unit is established at the FBI through countless profiling of serial killers. Holden's partner is Bill Tench, who is the opposite. He is a veteran FBI agent. He feels disgust at the serial killers and cant stand to be in the same room as these psychopaths. I am watching the show unfold and listening to all the grisly murders just like Holden is. I am....fascinated by these monsters just like him. They're enigmatic and hiding their true selves beneath the thin veneer. I too want to hear more and more, and I simply couldn't wait until Holden interviewed another crazy. I slowly realize that we're talking about humans being murdered - lives, hopes, dreams, communities shattered. For no good reason. But I still wanted more. Until the finale.
Spoiler territory
When Kemper gets up and tells Holden that he can kill him in a second, I felt a rush of blood. And then he hugs him, and it felt that ~I~ was giving Kemper a hug because I also felt fascinated by him and thought he was pretty chill in the interviews. I suddenly realized that these people are not just pieces of enigma - but terrible threats to humanity. I wanted to run away as well!