Reena Sarju
University of Toronto Scarborough
State of Wisconsin v. Jeffrey Dahmer F - 912542
LSOU Publications November 13, 2023
Case Verdict/Background
Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer from Milwaukee, Wisconsin convicted of murdering and sexually assaulting 17 men and boys during 1978 and 1991. Dahmer’s murder process involved cannibalism and necrophilia as well as preserving the dismembered body parts of his victims. After being convicted to several life sentences in 1991, Dahmer was later killed by another inmate in 1994.
Impact of My Friend Dahmer
Evidently, Jeffrey Dahmer and his crimes have become notorious within the public’s perception. In the eyes of the media, he is the “Milwaukee Monster” or “Milwaukee Cannibal”. Yet in his lesser known formative years, indications to how Dahmer became a murderer arguably holds significance to the nuanced discourse of the crimes that might have been prevented or at least better understood. As such, Derf Backderf’s graphic novel, My Friend Dahmer, realizes an adolescent Dahmer with mercy - a trait that he claims was lost in Dahmer during his teenage years. Backderf does not attempt to psychoanalyze Dahmer the way that those of the media, the jury, the clinical psychologists and detectives have many times before. Instead, My Friend Dahmer reveals a vulnerable and overlooked adolescent; his lack of meaningful relationships whose alcoholism was a coping mechanism for murderous urges that converged with his repressed homosexuality. It becomes clear that Dahmer had no one to whom he could voice his inner turmoil.
Concerns about Remembering Dahmer
Backderf’s portrayal of Dahmer humanizes what was considered irredeemable to many. Notwithstanding the opposing extreme in which adaptations surrounding Dahmer’s life continue to be created; at what point does this humanization veer into yet another sensationalism tactic? Indeed, Eirunn Milde’s thesis, The Changing Portrayals of Serial Killers in Popular Culture examines this phenomenon. “Still, discourse about the glamorization/romanticization of real-life serial killers is typically grounded in the ethics of keeping continuous cultural visibility of the killer through various media representations, and the ethics of repeatedly producing texts that show little regard for the killer’s victims and their remaining families”. Which presents the notion that My Friend Dahmer could well be a valid addition to public interest in that new information about the early development of Dahmer is presented without the justification of his crimes.
Conclusion:
There is nuance to the parameters that separates understanding and sympathizing with a serial killer. Ultimately, whether or not one cares to know the background story of serial killers; their stories exist and have their own relevance to public knowledge.
Bibliography
Backderf, D. (2023). My Friend Dahmer. HARRY N ABRAMS.
Jeffrey Dahmer: Biography, Serial Killer, Milwaukee cannibal. (n.d.). https://www.biography.com/crime/jeffrey-dahmer
Milde, E. (2021). The Changing Portrayals of Serial Killers in Popular Culture (thesis). Eirunn Milde.
O’Meara, G. J. (2009). He speaks not, yet he says everything; what of that?: Text, context ... Marquette University Law School. https://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1128&context=facpub
State of Wisconsin v. Jeffrey Dahmer (Milwaukee County Circuit Court January 30, 1989).
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