I want to second, third or fourth darkstarring's and others' opinions. Please don't apologize. Susie, your posts are very informational and sure blow my romantic idea of a "nice serial killer Vincent" out of the water.darkstarrising wrote:susie,VAsusieQ18 wrote:francis, what you said is actually how things used to be handled. The police didn't want to make the victim real to the kidnapper, thinking they would do exactly what you're saying, "get rid" of the child. But in recent years, the stats show that a very high percentage of the abducted children are killed within 24-48 hours of being abducted. So the thought is that perhaps humanizing the victim would perhaps make the abductor remorseful, or see than as a human being and thus potentially save the child. Thats why you see so much on the news these days about abductions and the press putting a face on the victim. Its also another reason why you see so many of the parents put on TV, with pics of their kids and stories of their life....again, putting a "face" to the abducted child.francis wrote:This is very interesting, Susie. I always thought bringing the media in would in fact put the victim in more danger, as it puts pressure on the killer and he can see that they are looking for him. But what you say makes lots of sense.VAsusieQ18 wrote:I know that in the case of missing/kidnapped children, law enforcement will try to get the parents or a liaison rep in front of the camera and use the child's name, talk about them in great detail, all to make them seem human, a person. This is done because the kidnapper or whomever has the child may see the piece and the impersonal nature of the act may somehow become humanized. The experts believe that if the victim can be given a name, a face, a history (of caring by family and friends), it makes harming the victim harder. Not that it won't happen, because some killers just cannot be stopped no matter what you try to do. But like humans, serial killers come in all types and you're hoping to find some chink in his armor, some remorse, some level of consciousness that you can reach to perhaps influence the killer, either to let the victim go, or to confuse them enough to give you enough time to find the victim. Sadly, I think the stats for missing kids abducted is that 90% are killed within hours of the abduction.Serial killers are a different breed and again, there are all kinds. I think in Vincent's case, they will find when they profile him that he can feel remorse, which is ultimately what will get him caught. Some other killers, such as Ted Bundy, never ever showed remorse. Well, remorse for getting caught, but none for their victims.
I don't really like the way the media press a sob story out of anything, but if it actually helps the victim I can understand it.
Okay, my apologies for going so far
please don't apologize...this is fascinating and everything you've talked about is helpful in understanding the type of character Alex is about to play....this is the kind of research he most likely did in order to develop Vincent....sure, the director provides well, direction, but the actor hast to develop the character first.
I'm intrigued by something darkstarring wrote about research to develop Vincent. In the case of Alex doing Vincent, do the scripts usually tell the actors what to do or does Alex have to draw on his own research of criminal profiles to portray Vincent? I imagine the CM production team or writers have their own consultant onsite to tell actors what to do, right? Those little facial twitches and OCD symptoms are amazing.
Sort of a best practices guide for finding a great profiler. Some there's more than enough literature out there for the Criminal Minds people to draw from. Like ds said above, they probably had a very strong idea of how they wanted Alex to play Vincent, but knowing Alex he went out and did his own research.
