Dexter: “Love American Style”

Dexter: “Love American Style” (Season 1, Episode 5)

The television series Dexter, directed by Robert Lieberman, explores the fictional life of Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a serial killer and blood spatter analyst in Miami. Its season 1 episode entitled “Love American Style” (2006) depicts how insecurity, greed, and corruption are common problems affecting the society. This theme is developed in part by the show’s treatment of cultural identity.

To depict cultural identity effectively, the film director Lieberman features Hispanics, Asians, whites, and blacks, thus presenting the full range of Florida’s demography. In particular, the show talks about cultural identity issues in Cuban American society through characters such as Sgt. Angel Batista (David Zeyes) and more focus at Jorge Castillo (José Zúñiga). Life in the diaspora is presented through Cuban food, music, culture, and religion (Episode 1). However, the Cuban characters are painted as being power hungry, manipulative, murderous, and sexually deviant.

Angel Batista, homicide detective, is struggling with a relationship, which is a Cuban societal issue. In the first episode, Batista is revealed as an unfaithful man who is involved in several sexual scandals; he is in the process of a divorce. He is a heavy drinker who casually engages in illicit sex. The connection between Batista’s sexual desires and Cuban ethnicity are made clear from his language use (“la passion”). The detective’s career is constantly at risk because of his obsession with women. Batista is depicted as typical Cuban characters based on power thirst and immorality.

Jorge Castillo is presented as a character suffering from his cultural identity. Castillo lives in denial of his Cuban race and culture. Castillo leaves the dead bodies in the ocean, where they are washed ashore and the bodies handled as those of illegal immigrants. Castillo is a rich person who drives very expensive cars, lives in a beautiful home by the ocean, and operates a junkyard as a cover to his illegal operations.

Castillo is married to Valerie, a beautiful, blue-eyed, blonde woman. The couple believes their luxuriant life is a real reflection of the American dream. Castillo is culturally assimilated by North American culture. His intermarriage with Valerie clearly demonstrates this. Marrying a white woman shows that the social gap between the two races has been narrowed.  Castillo is ascending into white American Society through Valerie (1.5).

To live the American dream, Castillo fights against his Cuban identity to assume the North American culture. He asserts that he is a white through marriage and lifestyle, though not through birth. His junkyard is a symbol of his identity crisis. It is full of old car parts and a rusted car which is a representation of Castillo’s tainted morality. His personality has been damaged by his chase for the American dream. Dexter accepts this fact and admits he finds it difficult to understand why “Americans” are obsessed with cars. He believes that the chase of American dream is difficult and robs people their sanity, he says another American dream is his nightmare (1.5).

The junkyard is also a hiding place for fishing boats and trafficked people. In most cases, the victims are murdered. In doing so, Castillo believes he is fulfilling the American dream. Human trafficking is the way he affords his lavish lifestyle (the American lifestyle). Further revelation of Castillo’s ill character is seen during his conversation with Dexter.  Castillo talks of “a row boat with a hole in it” in reference to his gradual way of luring his victims before killing them.

Castillo pretends to have very limited Spanish knowledge. In essence, this was a message to Dexter that he was a fellow American. He says, “I’m American, pal, just like you.” Later, Castillo is seen ordering immigrants into the junkyard in Spanish (1.5). Castillo thus stands out as a man having a cultural identity crisis.

In Dexter (Love American Style), Cuban’s have been portrayed as people suffering from cultural immorality. Cuban are power thirsty, manipulative, murders and sexually deviant. Possibly, this explains why some members of the society are fighting to detach themselves and find new roots. Castillo is an example of a Cuban who is dissatisfied with his own community and seeks solace in pursuit of American dream. The director of the film has not only succeeded in painting the bad Cuban cultural setting but also provided audience a chance to compare it to the “ideal” American culture.  Through the pursuit for American dream, it is clear that Cubans believe in a better lifestyle with moral values.

 

Work Cited

“Love American Style.” Dexter. Showtime. 1 Oct 2006.

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