• Boozilla@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    19
    ·
    1 month ago

    The trope I’m familiar with is that a criminal always returns to the scene of the crime to enjoy watching the aftermath and/or observe who is investigating. There’s also a trope about serial killers exhibiting a creepy triad of behaviors in childhood: bed wetting, arson, and animal torture. I’m not an expert but I think the science is dubious.

    Movies and TV shows have used these tropes and countless variations. Are you maybe remembering one where the arsonist liked to have a wank? It would not surprise me if it was used in one or more procedural crime dramas. If it’s a common trope, it’s news to me!

    • Don_Dickle@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      When I was younger I used to work at a liquor store with a firefighter. I asked him about arsonists since we had 3 whole trailer parks go up in flames. He told me they always had someone in their civis and would wonder thru the crowds or people parked nearby. He said there were a couple of fires where they caught the guy because I quoting here that he would jerk off to his fires. But one time I guess he did the fire wrong and burnt the shit out of hit nether regions and when he went to the hospital they reported it.