Thinking back

Looking back on the last two lectures (Mark putting on countless songs and videos referencing Jack the Ripper and making the poor girl at the back turn the light switch on and off each time.) Again we see little reference to the victims. The songs (Death metal, Rap, etc) they all included Jack the Ripper in the lyrics or title, but very rarely mentioned the actual victims (you sometimes here a name or two in some songs but not many.) The majority of the songs characterised Jack as a definative example of extreme violence or misogyny.

A lot of examples i've seen indicate the victims names as that little extra bit of knowledge that indicates they've done their homework on the background of Jack the Ripper. Which brings up the question, just how important are the victims to the story that sells costumes and tacky figurines? It's the killer who is idolised, the victims are portrayed as his canvas, but it's the nature of the victims deaths that make this story stand out. The brutallity and final state of the victims (paticularly Mary Kelly) that made the story of Jack the Ripper. But as mentioned before, you can buy a childrens costume of the Ripper, but it'd be a little difficult to explain what happened with the victims.

(That's be an awesome lesson for a group of primary school juniors; "Now pay attention children, Mary Kelley's throat had been slit and and her insides scattered all over the small room. The first policeman to enter slipped and fell over the victims discarded intestines..." Yeah, as you can tell i'm not all that fond of kids.)

Edward Bromage
(0806096)