In the "Ugly Duckling transformation" movie, great pain is taken to ugly-up some very attractive actress. You know the drill; dark glasses, mousy hair-style, painted on blemishes. It just never works. You can still tell the young woman is a looker.
As a doctor I'm especially infuriated by medical cliches. I love the one where nurses and doctors watch someone flatline in the ICU. Dang, its a witnessed arrest, start CPR! I also love nasal cannula that are hooked to ventilators. No one is ever intubated (Endotracheal tube passed though the mouth into the windpipe) even if they are near death, cause it ruins the face shots.
i read once that after something like 20+ disney cartoon movies, there was only like 1 or 2 (or no) instances where the protagonist child came from a "original/biological mother+father" family.
Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, Mary Poppins, The Lion King, Mulan, Hercules, Emperor's New Groove - that's about it.
Stephen, I know just how you feel. As a psychologist, I have to grit my teeth as every kid with autism is a genius at maths, patients in the furthest reaches of dementia have perfect pronunciation, schizophrenics who are always either dangerous or amusing, the industry requirement that psychopaths that either look so barking mad that they'd be arrested for just appearing in public or otherwise look like an archetypal child molester, etc, etc.
I think the Serial Killer thing does actually mimic real life. Didn't most the big Serial Killers have a common M.O. for their murders? They say that these types of killers are control freaks so that would indicate a prefered method. Plus, I think many use the a similar method because they want the world to know who is doing it. Their style is their signature. They try to challenge detectives and police. And for many, the ultimate goal is to eventually get caught.
Bret, quite right for this correction, and my apologies - I should proof read more carefully before I send. :b I meant to say 'a lot of people over a period of time'. Honest. No, really, I did mean to say that.
However, I stick by what I say in the substance of the message - a serial killer doesn't have to use the same MO every time (though Will is quite correct in saying that they usually do).
I love the show FREAKS & GEEKS. The geeks are totally authentic, (I was one) but I remember the "freak" girls in high school and none of them looked like Linda Cardellini.
Awww.. gee Andrew, no harm no foul at least now I think we've got the entire board on the same page for what are the legal definitions of different types of killers. Useful knowledge to be certain!
So a serial killer need not use the same MO every time.
BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY does not have an entry for either "mass murderer" or "serial killer" so there are apparently no legal definitions for those terms.