We’ve come a long way from G.I. Joe and Captain Action.

Dexter, Showtime’s critically-acclaimed serial-killer-as-hero crime drama, has gotten the action figure treatment.

Now,
I’ve got to be honest. I don’t get Showtime and wouldn’t watchthis show
if I did —  though at least one person I respect who claims it’s
excellent.  It’s just that I, basically, abhor the concept: A Miami
P.D. blood spatter analyst/obsessive serial killer works out his
compulsion by killing killers.  That, I guess, is supposed to qualify
as moral ambiguity — and, we’re told by critics, to be truly
sophisticated is to love this kind of stuff.  Well, count me out. 

I
see enough moral ambiguity in the real world, thank you, and I actually
believe we would all benefit from more moral clarity in our
entertainment. Good guys win. Bad guys lose. Crime doesn’t pay. I go to
bed happy.

But, even if the show somehow works as adult drama,
the idea of creating an action figure (sold at Toys R Us) modeled after
its main character strikes me as disturbing — and unworthy of a toy
store chain seeking family business.

BTW, the serial killer is reportedly being marketed not at kids but at adults 18 years of age and older. Is that supposed to be reassuring?