Recent years TV Series are plenty of antiheroes. Some of them suffer psychological disorders, like psychopathy in the case of Dexter (2006-2013). Nevertheless, the border between antiheroes and villains is getting blurred. Dexter was a murderer with a traumatic past and a social function as vigilante and executioner, but protagonists in Hannibal (2013-present) and House of Cards (2013-present) don’t maintain a fair or lovely face, and, however, audiences identify with them. This article tries to shed light on this fact providing us with a psychological and sociological explanation.

1. Jorge Martínez Lucena

2. • The 3rd Golden Age of TV (MOOC: Massive Open
Online Course)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq_9pK0LONQ
• Transmedia Storytelling –according to Wikipedia-
(also known as transmedia narrative or
multiplatform storytelling, cross-media seriality
etc.) is the technique of telling a single story or
story experience across multiple platforms and
formats including, but not limited to, games,
books, events, cinema and television.The
purpose being to not only reach a wider audience
by expanding the target market pool, but to
expand the narrative itself.
WhyTV series?

3. ExposureTime

4. - Borderline characters and protagonists (madness, immorality,
abnormality).
- Rebel/Victim (Hassan, 1995)
The Antihero in Post-Modern Fiction

5. - The Sopranos (1999-2007):Tony Soprano
- House (2004-2012): Gregory House
- Weeds (2005-2012) : Nancy Botwin
- Breaking Bad (2008-2013): Walter White
- 24 (2001-2013): Jack Bauer
- Sons of Anarchy (2008-): Jax Teller
- Homeland (2011-): Carrie Mathison
Antiheroes in ContemporaryTV series

6. Homeland (2011-):
• Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes): Bipolar
Disorder
• Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis): Post-
traumatic Stress Disorder
Madness and Antiheroes

7. Dexter (2006-2013): Dexter Morgan
The Antihero as a Good Psychopath

8. - House of Cards (2013-): Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and Claire
Underwood (Robin Wright)
TheVillain as Protagonist: Antiheroic
Psychopathic Politician

9. - Hannibal (2013-): Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen)
TheVillain as Protagonist: Antiheroic
Serial Killer Psychiatrist

10. • Lack of empathy
• Shallow emotions
• Guilt externatization
• Lying discourse
• Superficial charm
• Self-Reliance
• Pathological egocentrism
• Low tolerance for frustration
• High impulsivity
• Tendency for agressive responses
Psychopathic Features

11. - Family justifies everything
How DoWe IdentifyWithThese
Antiheroes?

12. - There is always someone who is worse than our lovely villain
How DoWe IdentifyWithThese
Antiheroes?

13. - Victimization of the character
How DoWe IdentifyWithThese
Antiheroes?

14. - The spectator doesn’t judge them exclusively through ʽthe engagement
of moral scrutiny but rather through moral disengagement-laden story
schemaʼ which are learnt through repeated viewings of these sorts of
antiheroic stories (Shafer and Raney, 2012)
How DoWe IdentifyWithThese
Antiheroes?

15. • Excellence according to our social values
• Machiavellian and calculating intelligence
• Professional success
• Elegance
• Delicacy
How DoWe IdentifyWithThese
Antiheroes?

16. - Charisma of the actor who interprets the role.
How DoWe IdentifyWithThese
Antiheroes?

17. Are these features of contemporary TV series enough to justify our
identification with these psychopaths?
What’s Up Doc?

18. Paul Ricoeur’s classic, Time and Narrative, establishes that in order to spin a
narrative it is necessary to be grounded in our ʽpreunderstanding of the word
of actionʼ, which is formed by ʽits meaningful structures, its symbolic
resources, and its temporal character.ʼ
So, we have to assume that we all share certain social imaginaries (success,
excellence, etc.)
A Possible Reason

19. Psycopaths have great success in our political and economic world. Are our
values psycopathic as well?
A Psycopathic Social Imaginary

20. What are the real effects of these TV series?
Last Question