Jack the Ripper Marketing: Wholesome Family Values Killer?

[Barnaby]

This thread is not about the actual killer, but rather why he remains the most "popular" serial killer of all time. Obviously, I condemn his actions.

Several times in the last week, I literally had to get up and walk away from my computer - completely disgusted - reading about violent crimes (often against children) on popular news sites. It is quite a condemnation of society when I take to this site for "refuge."

In short, it is a nasty, brutish world, and our ability to hurt one another in the most heinous, tortuous ways continues to sicken me.

Which brings me to the point of this thread: When discussing the Jack the Ripper phenomenon, his popularity is usually chalked up to being the "first" modern serial killer, to being the first to engage the media, to the eternally popular unsolved "Victorian Mystery." This may all be true; but I'd argue that in addition to this, his crimes by the standards of his day and today for whatever reason did and do not trigger the moral revulsion that is reserved for torture murders, child-sex murders, etc. I can't justify why this is the case on an intellectual level, but I think most would agree at the gut-feeling level.

Sometimes I also get the impression that part of our culture takes the "blame the victim" mentality to some extent. After all, these women were selling their bodies for sex, he dispatched them quickly, and the mutilations were post-mortem. Because it wasn't Jack's goal to torture his victims, and his victims were "unfortunates", he gets a sort of a pass and we are free to create an anti-hero status for him.

Fair or not? Is Jack the most marketable serial killer out there?

[MrBarnett]

Hi Barnaby,

He certainly has the most eye-catching brand name. If he had been nick-named Dick o' Whitechapel, would we be here today?

Regards,

MrB

[Ally]

ts a sort of a pass and we are free to create an anti-hero status for him.

Fair or not? Is Jack the most marketable serial killer out there?

Jack's the most marketable because he's the furthest off in time and unknown. He's the most marketable primarily based on his unknown status which allows a mystery to be created around him.

If he'd been caught, named James Whoever, killer of five prostitutes in Victorian England, he'd have faded into the obscurity of time.

It's the mystery, not the method nor the motive nor the morals that make him marketable.

[K-453]

... his crimes by the standards of his day and today for whatever reason did and do not trigger the moral revulsion that is reserved for torture murders, child-sex murders, etc. I can't justify why this is the case on an intellectual level, but I think most would agree at the gut-feeling level.

I do. I had the same thought lately. Although, in my case, it possibly was drenched with much more sarcasm than in yours, Barnaby.

Pedophiles are the witches, Jews, and heretics of the 21. century.

[Ally]

I do. I had the same thought lately. Although, in my case, it possibly was drenched with much more sarcasm than in yours, Barnaby.

Pedophiles are the witches, Jews, and heretics of the 21. century.

Excuse me. WHAT??!! Your statement seems to imply that pedophiles are somehow innocent victims of mass hysteria and that their treatment is neither warranted nor deserved.

Are you actually claiming that pedophiles are undeserved victims of public opinion???

[Tom_Wescott]

Excuse me. WHAT??!! Your statement seems to imply that pedophiles are somehow innocent victims of mass hysteria and that their treatment is neither warranted nor deserved.

Are you actually claiming that pedophiles are undeserved victims of public opinion???

It's only a matter of time before the liberals embrace pedophiles as the next great cause and it will become politically incorrect to speak ill of them. Maybe 25 years? Maybe even sooner. Only a matter of time.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Ally]

So if liberals are the ones embracing pedophiles, it stands to reason that conservatives are the ones who *are* pedophiles. After all they are the ones who like seeing children starve and refuse to fund any programs for children like social services and SNAP, believing its better for them to die than get the necessary care. I guess it's one small step from politically raping them to literally raping them, so hmm, maybe you are on to something, conservatives are actually all pedophiles.

[Errata]

Damn this went offsides quickly. It's actually kind of remarkable.

[MrBarnett]

So what makes JTR more compelling than the Thames Torso Murderer? I still say the name has a lot to do with it. Now if he'd been called Larry the Limb-Lopper...

MrB

[Errata]

So what makes JTR more compelling than the Thames Torso Murderer? I still say the name has a lot to do with it. Now if he'd been called Larry the Limb-Lopper...

MrB

Well a sexy name doesn't hurt, but why was Ted Bundy popular but not Otis Toole? Why Jeffrey Dahmer and not Albert Fish? Why Manson but not Jim Jones (although that was our couples Halloween costume a few months ago. Really in poor taste. But fabulous) ? How do we decide who gets on a t-shirt? It's all about image. Otis Toole sits next to you on a bus, you get up and move. Because the man really never didn't look like a serial killer. Albert Fish was in theory dead creepy as well. Bundy was handsome, and all the girls loved him. Jeffrey Dahmer was a shy boy women wanted to take home and feed. Manson was a rock star with a hareem. They are a surprise. It's why they are popular. It gives us a passive thrill to know that we wouldn't have seen it either. That had we met these men, our radar would not have gone off, and we would have died.

And Jack the Ripper has all of these cartoons depicting him as a top hat and cape wearing knife wielder. He doesn't just have an accepted image, he has an accepted silhouette. That you can get on shower curtains. The average person doesn't know anything about the case or the murders (and really why should they?) They know the movies maybe, and they look at these posh depictions and they thrill to think that they wouldn't have seen it coming either. No more than Ted Bundy, or any of the other "popular" serial killers.

Wolves in sheep's clothing. Gets us every time.

[MrBarnett]

Hi Errata

The people you mention above are all known, so I suppose you take your pick as to the characters that appeal most. Both Jack and Larry ( as I now think of him) are unknown, but something elevated one of them out of the realms of sordid criminality and into the realm of myth. I still stand by my belief that without the name we would be dealing with something altogether different. Just think of the difference in resonance between say 'Leather Apron' and 'Jack the Ripper'.

'Jack' is an archetype that runs through English folklore and once the name had been invented and echoes of Spring-Heeled jack had started to enter the public consciousness, the myth was born.

Although ripperologists shed the myth and become fascinated by the reality of life and death in LV London, I bet that most, if not all of them would admit to having been intrigued in the first place by the trademark appearance (however implausible) and above all the brand name.

Regards,

MrB

[K-453]

I knew someone would pretend to get me wrong!
But let's not turn this into another ketchup-at-school-caféterias thread.

Back to Jack:

Besides the reasons already mentioned, it is a "fame caused by fame" thing. Jack the Ripper is famous, so we hear about him, and naturally are interested in him - because we assume, if he is famous, he must be interesting! By knowing him and being interested in him, we again add to his fame.

The same mechanism turns books into classics, even though they are poorly written. It helps rumours spread and fashions gain momentum.

[Ginger]

Pedophiles are the witches, Jews, and heretics of the 21. century.

Well-observed, and pithily summarized.

[K-453]

This thread is not about the actual killer, but rather why he remains the most "popular" serial killer of all time.

This is a documentary about this topic: "Shadow Of Jack The Ripper"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiA0eIj_EJQ

Chances are, many of you know it already, because it is from 1988. If not, it's recommended!

The scenes from a Ripper walk back then, with much of the background scenery still unchanged, gave even me a feeling of nostalgia.

[Roy Corduroy]

The People's Palace then

(was a location in The Shadow of Jack the Ripper movie)

Thank you for the link,

Roy