Addendum to my Favorite Fourth Wall Busters...

Regular readers of this blog -- both of us -- will know that I have a certain affinity for what is known in the field of entertainment as "Breaking the Fourth Wall." This is the phenomenon (beep-bee-be-deety) that occurs when a character in a play, movie, or TV show looks at the camera, or talks to the audience, or somehow or another acknowledges the fact that people are watching them.

Oliver Hardy used to do this all the time when he got pissed at Stan Laurel. He'd look at the camera and "huff," just to let you know "thank goodness this is just a movie; can you imagine if this was real life?!"

The baby elephant that Wilma used as a vacuum cleaner on The Flintstones cartoons used to look at the camera -- while he was sucking up dirt with his trunk -- and say to us, "Eh, it's a living..."

Elsewhere in this blog I have compiled a top-ten list of my favorite TV and Movie "Fourth Wall Busters." Seek it out if you've got more time to waste. Obviously you do, or you wouldn't be reading this.

Tonight we welcome Dexter to the Fourth Wall Of Fame.

Available at Amazon

Yes... my dear friend Sue has turned me onto the Showtime series, Dexter. Have you watched this? Dexter is a blood spatter investigator for the forensics department of the Miami Police Department. (It's a scripted drama; not a reality series. Not like Dr Lee.) Anyhow, whenever there's a murder, Dex is called to the crime scene to check out the way the blood is splattered on the walls and floors and by doing this he can figure out... well... where the murderer was standing when he shot the victim.

I don't know how this helps solve the crime, but that's not important, because the real gist of the show is that, after hours, when he's not solving crimes, he's committing them! This here Dexter guy is actually a serial killer himself!

I've been watching the DVD series of this show for the past few months and I'm up to season four.

By now -- in the series -- Dexter has killed dozens of people, but the twist in season four is that he has a wife and kids! How can he get away with murder -- literally -- when he's got to be home for dinner and change the baby, and sleep in the same bed with the wife, and help the other kids with their homework, etc etc etc? (I don't know why people say "etc" three times in a row like that. Once is enough. It means and so on and so on and so on...)

So what does this have to do with breaking the fourth wall?

Dexter did it last night. For a fraction of a second. It was a brilliant ending. (Spoiler Alert for those who haven't seen it yet.)

 -- #11 Favorite Fourth Wall Buster... DEXTER -- 

THE STORY THUS FAR:

Since moving in with his wife, Dexter has no place to hide his killing tools and blood samples (which he keeps as souvenirs from each of his kills.) He's got a duffle bag full of knives, syringes, drop cloths (so as not to spatter -- see?) saw blades, drills, and garbage bags (to dispose of the corpses, after he dismembers them.) (By the way, if it isn't obvious yet, Dexter is the "hero" of the show.)

So, claiming he needs his privacy in this marriage (a.k.a. his arsenal of murder weapons) (his wife doesn't know he's a killer) Dexter and his wife agree to build him a "man cave": a shed in the backyard where he can keep all his personal stuff and where he can go when he needs "to be alone."

His wife Rita is very giving. Not only does she agree to the "man cave" but -- to even Dexter's surprise -- she buys him a lock... and gives Dex the only key!

Loving wife Rita respects her serial killer husband's privacy.

Dexter can't believe his luck. He says nothing, but one can almost read his thoughts.

("My own key. Now NOBODY can get into my personal space.")

As the episode concludes, Dexter just stands there, looking at the lock and key, contemplating how unbelievable it is that he should have such luck.

("Wow. I am the luckiest serial killer of all time!")

And then -- for a single frame of film, about 1/24th of a second -- Dexter breaks the fourth wall, without saying anything, and looks directly at us. As if to say:

("Stay tuned, folks. The fun is about to begin!")

Cut to black. Fourth wall broken. And look at him: doesn't he look like Norman Bates in the last frame of Psycho?

Hey wait a minute! How come THAT'S not on my list???

ADDENDUM TO THE ADDENDUM:

-- # 12 Favorite Fourth Wall Buster... NORMAN BATES --

And as always... thank you for Blegging at Bloggah. Or something like that.