Semiotics and Serial Killers

Semiotics, the tradition of calling attention to formal structures of significance. Whatever that means.

Semiotics, semiotic studies or semiology was first developed by a Swiss linguist known as Ferdinand de Saussure. Or at least, what we would consider semiology was developed by Saussure. Semiotics is the study of signs and their related meanings. As we perceive the environment around us, we apply significance and meaning to it. Saussure found this interesting as he believes that language is 'central' to our understanding of the world around us. In this way, the language of semiotics could be said to be signs or signifiers.

Take for example, this rose. Of course the first thing to realise is that it is not an actual rose, but rather an image of a rose that I stole from Google images. The image of a rose is a significant one to western culture, it symbolises love and romance. I could probably do some research and find the origins of this connection, but honestly it doesn't matter. What matters is that you saw this rose, and you probably thought of the same things that everyone else would. If you're a crazy person, like Jonathan, roses mean death. This is also a notable connotation of the rose image; in the media, we're shown numerous killers leaving roses on their victims as a kind of 'calling card'. This subverted origin of significance is a classic narrative tactic to explain the character and also screw with the audience.

What do you think about a person who leaves a rose on a corpse, or gives someone a rose and then kills them? That they're deranged, most likely, that they have romantic notions concerning their immoral activities. It's saying, "Look at this guy! He's so far removed from our established understanding of how people should be, from our own behavioural and moral codes, that he is to be feared enormously". People fear what they do not understand, what is dissimilar to what they know might be dangerous. It's a natural survival instinct, it's the reason that we trust our friends and those we're familiar with, and not anybody else. It could be argued that this instinctual behaviour is also the origin of racism, homophobia and all other forms of prejudice-based hate.

Filmmakers and media producers in general know this, at least to some extent, and then they use that knowledge to form a compelling story. Charles Sanders Pierce, an American philosopher, also did some work on semiotics.