Stories allow writers and readers to explore dark themes and ideas that are otherwise horrifying in reality. A big topic of conversation is the nature of killers. The thought of a real life killer is terrible to digest because it involves real loss of life, but fictional killers are celebrated all across fiction. Audiences love violence and to get inside the heads of their favorite killers because it’s a dark place that can become more manageable in terms of fiction. It also allows viewers or readers to debate and discuss the philosophy behind these killers and how they developed. Falling Down is a great example of this.
The 1993 film stars Michael Douglas as a typical white collar worker who snaps on his morning commute. He essentially goes on a killing spree over the course of a day in order to get back to his wife and child, who want nothing to do with him. From the film’s opening sequence, the character is seen as an average Joe who is fed up and tired with all aspects of society. It’s not necessarily a political position, as he hates and is aggrieved by everyone equally. The message here is that society and its broken systems has molded this man into a monster.
That said, the film is much more nuanced than that. At several points, it’s hinted at that his mental breakdown was a long time coming. There were signs that he was a violent man with fractures in his mind long before he went on a killing spree. He might have always been like this, and society only gave him an excuse to be his true self. So the question remains as to whether or not this killer was born that way or whether he was made. The film offers evidence for both arguments, and that’s what makes the storytelling of killers so interesting. It allows writers to explore these questions in gratuitous detail, which otherwise would be taboo.
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