Jack the Ripper v. Holmes
So Jack the Ripper - who had his killing spree in the late 1800's - is largely considered the world's first serial killer, right? But Holmes killed far more people - I believe Jack had just five victims while Holmes had at least 20 and more likely a couple hundred - and is far less famous. Is this because the murders were done in private and only discovered long after the fact whereas Jack's were public and immediate? Would either have these killers been thought to be less evil if they had committed just one murder rather than several?
posted by MamaChristy at
8:14 PM
2 Comments:
Re: "...the murders were done in private and only discovered long after the fact whereas Jack's were public and immediate."
I had never thought about this, but I think it's a fascinating insight. I bet you're absolutely right. When you hear about something after the fact, and it's unproven for a bit and sort of nebulous, it doesn't have nearly the shock value of a brutal, in-your-face crime. Jack was, in media parlance, 'sexy.' He was an attention grabber and an adventurer. He was the kind of badboy people tend to sympathize with bc he's so exciting and dramatic -- a la Ted Bundy. Whereas Holmes was quieter, sneakier -- more Jeffrey Dahmer. (This parallel isn't perfect, I know -- and I'm in no way endorsing it -- but I think you know what I mean.) I had never thought about why I hadn't heard of Holmes before, but I bet you're absolutely right. Once the drama of the missing kids was gone, he probably just faded from the public eye. Also, of course, once the mystery of the kids was gone, well, there was no mystery other than "how many." Whereas, with Jack, no one knows "who" even today. I think society likes Jack's story bc it is so daring and out-there, and yet his identity is still a mystery.
I think Americans are also fascinated with Jack because we're all sort of secret Anglophiles with a quiet belief in the superiority of British culture. I wonder if Holmes has a sort of "following" in some other country -- like where Baywatch is big and Hasselhoff is King. Hasselhoff and Holmes? Now, that's frightening.
Stolie -- our Chi-town chick -- did you know who Holmes was before? Is he a local historical figure up there?
By
JenniNapa, at 8:49 AM
"Jack" was never caught so we are free to imagine him/her in any way we wish. Its a fun, if morbid, fancy to imagine who he was and to posit theories which range from a deranged american student to a pompous syphalitic who was later murdered by his wife. We will never know the truth and I don't think there is even a single "jack" behind the murders. We all like a mystery and since the "zodiac" killer was never caught, there are lots of books on him despite a very low body count.
By
Laclos, at 7:26 PM
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