In another real-life example of the halo effect (I also wrote about the phenomenon here), people are shocked, shocked I tell you, that 23 year old Boston University medical student Philip Markoff has been arrested on suspicion of being the “Craigslist killer.” He’s a handsome young man who was pursuing a medical degree, so his (alleged) penchant for violence is completely unexpected. Nearly every report on his arrest also notes that he is “clean-cut” (read: doesn’t look like a killer).
The implication is that horrible things are done by people who are not clean-cut, who are not handsome, who are not highly educated. Nevermind that some of America’s most famous murderers were bright, charming, handsome fellas – Ted Bundy, for instance. Doctors are capable of brutality, too. And not only is Markoff intelligent, white, good looking and “preppy,” he’s engaged, which completes the “good guy” circle.
Markoff’s fiance is in deep denial. The woman sent an email e-mail to ABC News, writing, “Philip is an intelligent man who is just trying to live his life, so if you could leave us alone we would greatly appreciate it. We expect to marry in August and share a wonderful, meaningful life together.” Ohhhkaayy. His former stepdad can’t believe it either, saying, “He’s a very bright, intelligent, articulate guy. I just keep thinking there must be some mistake.”
I suppose I can understand the shock immediate family members and good friends feel upon learning the news about their loved one, but it pisses me off that the media perpetuates the notion that pretty, rich, educated, professional people are incapable of doing awful things (or, in the case of Susan Boyle, that plain, lower-class, uneducated people are devoid of talent). When will humanity learn?
“We expect to marry in August and share a wonderful, meaningful life together.”
Good luck with that, hon. Also: THERAPY.
It’s just another coping mechanism. It’s a way of telling ourselves, “it can’t happen to ME.” Just like the myriad comments people make about rape trying to show that it was the victim’s fault, because then, if they don’t DO those things, it can’t possibly happen to them.
I admit seeing pictures of a handsome blond man in a white coat and knowing that he killed at least two women is difficult for me, as my husband is a handsome blond man with a white coat. Would I know if he were capable of such a thing? I’d like to think so. I like to think that I see his true self, which is a caring, gentle, compassionate man without a bone of violence in his body.
I commented last night to my mother that this is the new Robert Chambers aka the Preppy Killer. The cases themselves are not incredibly similar, but the fascination with “OMG how does a clean-cut white guy do such bad things?” is eerily reminiscent.
We were watching the news last night and when the MSNBC reporter said, “For now, he’s been suspended from medical school,” my mother rolled her eyes and said “That’s the least of his problems.”
The cult of beauty/class/grooming/(lets face it)race is truly out of control. I am way more shocked and horrified by this kind of response to our “clean cut” killer than by the murders themselves (to me, rich douchebags killing sex workers, while horrible, is not particularly shocking). I actually think it is more about the grooming/class part than actual beauty that is being evaluated though (since the former often substitutes for the latter) — I just don’t think that a good looking but working class or poor man would produce the same reaction.
Frankly I have always been scared shitless by white preppy man types, probably because they have committed most of the crimes I’ve been privy to.
Me too, JD. It’s not surprising to me at all.
To clarify, I don’t think the guy’s “beauty” is the most important aspect, either.
@JDRegent: Also, they get away with a LOT.
I guess I was responding to all the “bombshell” and “Brad Pitt” language describing fairly ordinary looking people. I just hate when class markers stand in for attractiveness assessments, realizing that that is a little besides the point. Although I do think it is weird that his fiancee has described him in every communique with the press as “beautiful inside and out.” Um, what’s the point of saying “out?”
Right Becky, a man of color who commits crimes is just much much more likely to be in jail. Maybe that is really what all the shock is about.
The first report I read about his arrest actually began by saying he didn’t fit the “murder suspect” profile because he was “blond.” Methinks “blond” might be a secret code for something or other.
“class markers stand in for attractiveness assessments”
I think it’s the other way ’round. We don’t like to talk about class here in the US–we’re famously a class-less society (you can take that however you like…), right? So we talk around class, by describing phenotypes, beauty, education, taste, etc. I’m working on stuff like this for part of my dissertation. It is, as LSG just said, “secret code.”
@JD Me too. White preppy guys doing bad stuff is so the opposite of surprising. People are also shocked that a woman could have possibly killed Sandra Cantu. Because only creepy guys who live in their mom’s basements and stalk playgrounds commit crimes.
Interesting PHD. My thinking has always been that when people refer to someone as “beautiful” “attractive” or “good looking” or whatever they usually mean:
1. thin
2. well groomed/makeuped/dyed blown out hair and
3. expensively dressed
all tending to indicate upper classness, usually doesn’t have much to do with cheekbones or fertility or facial symmetry or whatever beauty is based on.
But I definitely see what you are saying as well.
This reminds me of a story I was told by my friend Anonymous Prosecutor. AP prosecuted a clean-cut, nice Jewish guy who had drugged and brutally raped a young woman he’d met at a bar in Hastings (the NY ‘burbs). The defendant showed up every day in a suit and tie and read from a prayer book during the proceedings. It was a bench trial, and the elderly male judge was just convinced that this paragon of Nice Jewish Boy-ness could never have done what he was accused of (also, the girl was clearly a drunk slut who asked for it). The Nice Jewish rapist was acquitted. Had he been a college-educated Nice Black Dude from Yonkers? He’d be in prison right now.
disgusting, Becky. And not at all surprising.
The creepiest person I’ve ever known was a rich, blonde, preppy asshole with a degree from a prestigious university and a textbook case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Combine that real-life experience with years of Law & Order: SVU reruns, and yeah — I have no trouble believing that this Markoff kid could’ve been the killer.
honestly, the bigger shocker for me is the whole melissa huckaby thing.
with something like craigslist, i almost expected it to be some kind of perfect-golden-boy who trolled cl looking for the kinda danger his fiancee wasn’t offering.
The hubs has worked in a private sexual predator therapy organization and with convicted sexual predators in a state hospital system. As you can imagine – the dudes in the state org – predominantly minorities. Dudes in the fancy pants “rehab” program – white dudes. Rich, white, doctor/lawyer/banker dudes.
Messed up system.
Ugh – I forgot to add the relevant part:
Although I don’t know details about anything or anyone, I have gleaned over the years that the doctors/lawyers/rich dudes freak my husband out a lot more than the folks in the prison hospital.
What I find sadly hilarious about this sort of thing is that basically I eye all clean cut white men with suspicion. Are they drones? Is there secret anger fulminating within them at the chains their conformity-rich lifestyles impose on them?
But then I used to read tons of true crime as a kid. I’ve read The Stranger Beside Me probably twenty times, and Helter Skelter more than that.
PSoul I realized the other day at a party how difficult it is for me to tell young white men apart. I was reintroduced to a bunch of people I had last met in 2002-2003, I remembered each and every one of the girls but embarrassingly got the boys all confused, thought they were other totally unrelated men, and then continued to call them each by the wrong name all night. I actually think I have white man facial blindness. Bad news the next time I have to pick one out of a lineup.
I’m given the heebie jeebies by rich white guys because I find most people with huge senses of entitlement scary. What do they think I owe them now? What does the world owe them, and are they violently angry because they haven’t gotten it yet?
When it comes to white male predators and the like – they are fortified in their belief in their superiority and that they will never get caught. It’s narcissism to the Nth degree. I feel like that is a thread that connects them all – and it is frightening. ‘Cause how do you rehab that? You don’t.
Kithkin – I am with you.
@Pilgrim: If you like true crime, have you ever read The Burning Bed?
Did none of these people see American Psycho?
Kithkin–Rich people worry me much more than poor people. The rich kids were the ones who got away with all sorts of things growing up, and they’re the ones who can afford lawyers to get them out of all sorts of things.
Can I contrast this briefly with the Angie Zapata murder? I wish the MSM would treat Zapata as just as undeserving of being killed as the women who Markoff is accused of murdering. But our culture still loves to categorize murder victims in terms of the degree of outrage their killings receive, just as much as we love to categorize murderers. Murders of transpeople? Not seen as “heinous” as murders of other members of society, like Markoff’s victims (may they rest in peace).
Absolutely – I just wrote a similar post at my blog. Because he’s white, upper middle class, and educated, everyone’s head is spinning when he commits violent crimes against women. Crimes against women, particularly sex workers, transcend race and class barriers. Men from all backgrounds can be perpetrators.
Just a thought:
The man has not been convicted of a crime.
We should not be presuming that he is guilty until the case is tried and closed.
And that applies to anyone who is accused, no matter their gender, race or class–”innocent until proven guilty” is vital to each and every court case.
(I just…it breaks my heart when defendants have to deal with being tried by the media–it’s bloody unjust, and if an innocent person has to go through the media presuming their guilt, it makes everything worse for them–how can they ever return to a normal way of life?)
I refer to him as an “alleged” murderer and a “suspect.”
What you’re asking is that people never discuss murder suspects or arrests, which is unreasonable.
You did refer to him that way, but it was this statement:
“…Ohhhkaayy. His former stepdad can’t believe it either, saying, ‘He’s a very bright, intelligent, articulate guy. I just keep thinking there must be some mistake.’”
Which bothered me, along with a couple of others in the comments. If his fiancee and his family have no reason to believe that the man they love has committed this crime, then they are absolutely right to be defending him thus far (This would also apply if the accused were poor, and of a different race, as well).
And you’re right, it is ridiculous to ask folks to never discuss murder suspects or arrests, I wasn’t suggesting that–but I do think we all need to be more cautious with how and what we say about defendants–utilizing “alleged” and “suspect” as you did, but avoiding jumping to conclusions, or allowing our language to do so.
…that’s all I’m trying to say, really…
I don’t really understand. I just comment on stuff I observe in the world, and what I’ve observed of this guy makes me think he’s a murderer. My blog post will not get in the way of a fair trial. What would you have me say, if not what I’ve written? I could call him a murderer all day every day from now until he goes to court, and it wouldn’t have any effect on the outcome anyway.
(Caveat: This is a really important issue to me. I know I’m crazy sensitive when it comes to the presumption of innocence, and I am trying to take that into account, here…)
“I could call him a murderer all day every day from now until he goes to court, and it wouldn’t have any effect on the outcome anyway.”
But it might. This blog is public, and from what I can tell, it’s pretty widely read, and fairly well respected, non?
I just got the impression that you thought his fiancee was a fool, and while I share your frustration at the notion that “clean cut” folk never commit crimes, it doesn’t give anyone except the judge and jury the right to do away with the word “if”.
If this man did commit murder, I sincerely hope he is punished appropriately for it.
If he did not, I sincerely hope he and his fiancee can have a lovely wedding.
I’m really not trying to be a jerk, or to play devil’s advocate; I hope that this isn’t coming across as a personal attack, Sarah…
No, it’s not Rebecca; it’s perfectly fine. What I’m saying is that this blog post is about the media and public reaction to Markoff’s arrest. It’s not really about whether he’s truly guilty or innocent, or my personal feelings about it. Yes, I said his fiancee is in denial but the post was written from my viewpoint! Perhaps I should have said “I think.”
Okay, I can see that. Adding “I think” probably would have been helpful–thanks for the dialogue–I appreciate it!
I hadn’t really thought about it before, but rich white prepster frat guys used to make me nervous too, especially when they were travelling in packs.
Funny, the first thing that pops to mind when I think “serial killer” is a clean cut white guy… or the Joker, that girl-beating prick.