美国国家公共电台 NPR In New Film, 'My Friend Dahmer' Author Portrays Serial Killer As Sympathetic Outcast

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Here's that second story we promised you. There's a new movie out this weekend, and it's a biopic with an interesting backstory of its own. Remember the serial¹ killer², Jeffrey Dahmer? Between 1978 and 1991, he murdered 17 people in grotesque³ ways. While the movie "My Friend Dahmer" opens this weekend, it's a fictional⁴ retelling of Dahmer's high-school years based on the international bestseller, a graphic⁵ novel of the same name by John Backderf. As the title suggests, he actually did know Dahmer in high school in Ohio. And after the killings⁶, he took it upon himself to learn more about Dahmer's background. David C. Barnett of member station WCPN ideastream in Cleveland tells us more.

JOHN BACKDERF: I just have hundreds of these things.

DAVID C. BARNETT, BYLINE⁷: Cartoonist John Backderf flips⁸ through sketches⁹ of Jeffrey Dahmer...

BACKDERF: Now, this is actually the genesis of the book.

BARNETT: ...Sketches that Backderf started drawing in 1975, when he and Dahmer were both students at Revere¹⁰ High School in suburban¹¹ Akron.

BACKDERF: He was - blond hair. He had this kind of odd halting way of talking. And he just didn't look comfortable in the world.

BARNETT: Backderf says Dahmer started to attract a small following for his subversive¹² antics.

BACKDERF: You know, you'd be sitting in the library. And suddenly, the door would creak open and he'd suddenly bleat¹³ out like a sheep and then slam the door and run away.

BARNETT: Some of that is captured in Backderf's 2012 graphic novel, "My Friend Dahmer," and in the new film.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MY FRIEND DAHMER")

ROSS LYNCH: (As Jeffrey Dahmer, imitating sheep)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: (As character) Who did that?

BARNETT: Dahmer also pretended to have epileptic fits in the school hallways. All of this led to the formation of the Dahmer fan club. John Backderf was a member, so was Mike Kukral role.

MIKE KUKRAL: You just look at him and think either, man, that kid's weird¹⁴ or he's funny or, what's up with him? You just didn't know.

BARNETT: But back home, Dahmer's parents fought often. And when Backderf went back to do research, he learned that Joyce Dahmer suffered from depression and was addicted¹⁵ to pills.

BACKDERF: Later I found out that his mom was also suffering from nervous episodes at home. And she would have seizures¹⁶ where she would shake and twitch¹⁷ until she exhausted¹⁸ herself essentially¹⁹. So really he was imitating his mom at school. And how screwed up is that?

BARNETT: Backderf also learned that Dahmer started drinking at the age of 14. His research began in earnest in the summer of 1991.

BACKDERF: I was at home. And my wife was at that time a reporter for the Akron paper. And she called me at home and said, this guy you went to school with has killed all these people in Milwaukee and apparently²⁰ ate some of them.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: There are 11 individuals parts thereof that were recovered.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: We have also in addition through our investigation²¹ determined²² that the suspect may well have been involved in at least 17 homicides.

BARNETT: A newspaper story caught Mike Kukral's attention. He says he read it over and over.

KUKRAL: I didn't sleep for about two weeks, which has never ever happened to me before or since. And when I did sleep for short periods of time, I would have dreams of Jeff Dahmer in them. And that's pretty horrific.

BARNETT: About a week after the story broke, Mike Kukral and John Backderf got together with another friend to try and process the news. Backderf figures he filled 10 pages with new notes and sketches based on those conversations.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARC MEYERS: Roll sound please. Rolling sound, guys. Quiet.

BARNETT: A film crew came to the Akron area last year and shot in some of the same locations where the story first took place. Director Marc Meyers says he made a conscious effort to get as close to the book as he could.

MEYERS: I started tearing apart a copy of the graphic novel and using those visuals as like a collage²³ to storyboard my way through the entire book.

BARNETT: When "My Friend Dahmer" was published five years ago, some critics charged that John Backderf was trying to make a sympathetic character out of a heinous²⁴ criminal. Now Marc Meyers is preparing to suffer the same flak.

MEYERS: This story is about understanding in a much more compassionate²⁵ or empathetic way a troubled kid's life before he became a monster to maybe help understand people that have sort of fallen by the wayside, that have become outliers. How did they get there?

BARNETT: Jeffrey Dahmer was beaten to death in a Wisconsin prison bathroom in 1994 by a fellow inmate²⁶.

BACKDERF: You know, I was surprisingly upset by it.

BARNETT: John Backderf.

BACKDERF: You know, I didn't feel sorry for Jeffrey Dahmer the monster. But Jeff Dahmer, the kid who was my friend, yeah, you know, you had a little bit of mourning there, yeah. And then you felt guilty about, well, why would I care?

BARNETT: But John Backderf thinks there's plenty of guilt²⁷ to go around in the story of the kid who looked like he wasn't comfortable in the world.

BACKDERF: This guy reeked²⁸ of booze all day long. And all the kids knew exactly what Dahmer was doing, but I think the adults just didn't want to be bothered. You know, another year, he'll be out of our hair and he's somebody else's problem. Well, unfortunately, he was somebody else's problem.

BARNETT: For NPR News, I'm David C. Barnett in Cleveland.

1 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

2 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

3 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

4 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

5 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

6 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 flips   

轻弹( flip的第三人称单数 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• Larry flips on the TV while he is on vacation in Budapest. 赖瑞在布达佩斯渡假时，打开电视收看节目。
• He flips through a book before making a decision. 他在决定买下一本书前总要先草草翻阅一下。

9 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 revere   

vt.尊崇，崇敬，敬畏

参考例句：

• Students revere the old professors.学生们十分尊敬那些老教授。
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven.中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。

11 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

12 subversive   

adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子

参考例句：

• She was seen as a potentially subversive within the party.她被看成党内潜在的颠覆分子。
• The police is investigating subversive group in the student organization.警方正调查学生组织中的搞颠覆阴谋的集团。

13 bleat   

v.咩咩叫，(讲)废话，哭诉；n.咩咩叫，废话，哭诉

参考例句：

• He heard the bleat of a lamb.他听到小羊的叫声。
• They bleat about how miserable they are.他们诉说他们的生活是多么悲惨。

14 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

15 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

16 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

17 twitch   

v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛

参考例句：

• The smell made my dog's nose twitch.那股气味使我的狗的鼻子抽动着。
• I felt a twitch at my sleeve.我觉得有人扯了一下我的袖子。

18 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

19 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

20 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

21 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

22 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

23 collage   

n.拼贴画；v.拼贴；把……创作成拼贴画

参考例句：

• A collage of coloured paper covers a table top.一副彩纸拼贴画盖在桌面上。
• He has used a mixture of mosaic,collage and felt-tip pen.他混合使用了马赛克、拼贴画和毡头笔。

24 heinous   

adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的

参考例句：

• They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
• I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。

25 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

26 inmate   

n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人

参考例句：

• I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
• The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。

27 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

28 reeked   

v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的过去式和过去分词 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象）

参考例句：

• His breath reeked of tobacco. 他满嘴烟臭味。
• His breath reeked of tobacco. 他满嘴烟臭味。 来自《简明英汉词典》