“Copycat” by Jon Amiel

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Television is an essential part of our life. Films and shows, in particular, are a part of our entertainment. People watch films to relax, to know something new, to spare their free time, or to tickle their nerves when they watch horror films or gripping films. The firm’s task is to introduce the viewer to the unknown world of a film, to make the film’s events and worries penetrate into the person’s subconsciousness, and to leave the imprint there. When people watch a film they usually imagine themselves in the place of the main hero, they want to participate in the same situations, to meet the same people. But it is a real problem when the film is about a crime and the main hero is a murderer.

We are going to discuss and analyze specific aspects of the film “Copycat” in this argumentative essay and to research information, we have gathered about that particular aspect. The “Copycat” is an American thriller about serial murder.

As the film title indicates, the killer, Peter Foley (William McNamara), orchestrates a series of homicides based on the murders of previous serial killers, shown in a collection of press photographs portraying the victims of Berkowitz, the Boston Strangler, Ted Bundy, and other serial killers. By posing the bodies of his victims in locations that replicate the earlier photos, Foley emulates – or “copycats” – the larger narrative of serial death in general. In a method, his murders are a form of visual sampling in which he organizes images from a previous narrative (the killings of Berkowitz, for example) into a new discursive chain (Tietchen 2).

One of the main heroes of this film is Dr. Helen Hudson, criminal profiler and psychologist, one of the greatest specialists in serial killers in the world. She suffers from agoraphobia and it helps the killer to keep her in suspense.

One of the aspects raised in this film is the problem of violent imitation. This violence imitation occurs in reality very often.

In Copycat, Foley’s method of appropriation speaks directly to the concept of branching multiplicity, the idea — perhaps understood too strong – by television news and tabloid journalism – that because an individual image can be reproduced, it can therefore be re-contextualized into various inter-and counter texts (Tietchen 5).

Nowadays violence became a popular type of entertainment. Richard B. Felson writes in his article about violence imitations:

one evidence that bizarre violent events have followed soon after their depiction on television, suggesting a form of copycat behavior. In one widely reported case in Boston, six young men set fire to a woman after forcing her to douse herself with fuel. The scene had been depicted on television two nights before (2).

Violence in films and television gives food for the reflections, especially for youth. Young people see the impunity on television and sometimes have a desire to copycat the crime. They are not aware of the consequences and they think it is a game, something unreal, as in the film. But the results are always terrifying.

Another form of popular media entertainment for youth is violent video games. The combination of technological advances and the growing demand for intensity and arousal has substantially altered video game content. The latest generation of games is much more violent and accurate in its depictions of violence than its predecessors were, with many lifelike images of blood, guts, and gore. Data indicate that children and adolescents prefer violent video games to all others. Some scholars suggest that violent video games, because of their interactive and participatory nature, are even worse for children and teenagers than violent television programs. Playing these video games allows young people to practice violence — often gun violence — in ways television does not. (Garbarino 1)

And this cannot be denied. The problem of violence is very topical today in America, especially dealing with youth. Young people search for their place in society, they want to be famous between classmates and friends. They think that being like this or that actor is really fascinating, and try to imitate their actions according to the film. The problem of murder imitation occurs in many films, not only “Copycat”. Violent video games strengthen the violent effect. People see murders very often in the present world and become severe to others, modern people do not know in most cases what compassion is.

Returning to the film “Copycat”, it should be mentioned that there is one more specific aspect here. This is a victim. Much attention is given to the victim, Dr. Helen Hudson. As it was said above, she suffers from agoraphobia – the result of a murder attack. One of her students attacked her after the lecture and tried to kill her. He failed to do that, but Dr. Helen Hudson obtained psychological injury for life. Since that time she stayed in her apartment in San Francisco but continued working with the help of the internet. And when she got to know about the series of murders in her town she decided to help the police and appeared under the threat again.

The problem is really up-to-date. The victims who survived after the criminal attack almost always get psychological injuries. After surviving the victim often tries to commit suicide, she cannot stand that moral pressure after the event. William Coté in his book “Covering Violence: A Guide to Ethical Reporting About Victims and Trauma” writes that “torture victims suffer trauma not from single acts but from months or years of having their sense of safety destroyed (22). Victims never feel safe from their attack, every minute they are stressed and are afraid of the next crime which may be committed on them. These traumas are very difficult to treat.

In the book mentioned above the author writes:

The most prominent type of trauma is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is signified by three reactions that last at least a month and occur together after an event that terrifies, horrifies, or renders someone helpless. The first of the three reactions—which can surface days, months, or even years after the horrific event—are recurring recollections that hit somebody who is trying hard to forget what happened. That can include bad dreams, hallucinations, or flashbacks, the vivid feeling that you are once again seeing, hearing, feeling, or smelling the very thing that is so repellent (Coté 223).

Almost the same testimonies were given by Joel Epstein and Stacia Langenbahn in their book “Criminal Justice & Community Response to Rape”. They say that: Persons who have been raped, mugged, taken hostage, or have survived the flood, fire, terrorism, or internment often suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder, a cluster of immediate or delayed long-term psychological symptoms.ape victims are thought to be the largest single group of sufferers. The hallmark of the disorder is intrusive re-experiencing of the trauma, which may not occur until months or years afterward when an actual or symbolic event triggers recollections. Recollections intrude as daytime memories or as nightmares and are accompanied by intense psychological distress (Epstein 35).

The most difficult aspect is when the victim survives after the serial killer attack and he is not found yet. The victim sees in mass media the result of his further actions, and it hurts more. The victim is always under the stress. He/she cannot help with the investigation; the victim stays at home and worries about the results.

Court evidence is one more hurting aspect, which stresses most victims. The victim is afraid to see the killer, the victim is afraid to give the evidence against him/her. What does the victim afraid of? The answer is simple – revenge. The killer will come out of prison early or late and there is no guarantee that he/she will be corrected during those years. The chance of revenge is too big. And these reasons are really serious.

The film “Copycat” is not unique. The American cinematography, and also world cinematography accounts for a huge number of films with the same thematic: serial killers and survived victims. The problem is very widespread, unfortunately, and not only on television and in other types of mass media. The problem is widespread in real life, on the streets.

It should be mentioned in conclusion that the problem of the criminal and the victim, the violence on television and in the life of people is up to date all over the world. The main spreaders of violence are cruel television films and bloody computer games. It is impossible to say that deleting the violence from television will remove crimes from our streets, no. But still, it will not give people, especially youth, the recommendations and instructions for different types of crimes. There are a lot of different occupations which can strike people’s attention, instead of watching violent films and playing cruel computer games.

Works Cited

Coté, William, and Roger Simpson. Covering Violence: A Guide to Ethical Reporting about Victims and Trauma. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.

Epstein, Joel, and Stacia Langenbahn. Criminal Justice & Community Response to Rape. DIANE Publishing, 2000.

Felson, Richard B. “Mass Media Effects on Violent Behavior.” Annual Review of Sociology (1996).

Garbarino, James. Mitigating the effects of gun violence on children and youth. The Future of Children. 12 (2002).

Tietchen, Todd F. “Samples and Copycats.” Journal of Popular Film and Television 26.3 (1998).

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“Copycat” by Jon Amiel

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