Maybe We’re Forgetting the “True” in True Crime.

Why do we feel entitled to dissect other people’s tragedies?

By Lila Swedzinski

Raise your hand if you have ever watched a true crime documentary, or listened to a true crime podcast. Ok, you don’t actually have to raise your hand, but I am assuming that most of us have engaged with true crime content in some form or another. In fact, the Pew Research Center finds that 24% of the top-ranked podcasts from Apple and Spotify are related to true crime. But why is that?

I want to preface this by saying that I’m not immune to the allure of true crime, because so much about it draws you in. Whether it is just for plain interest, entertainment, or the sheer incredulousness of it all, crime is a point of interest for many, especially due to our innate desire to understand why people commit such heinous acts of violence. However, I do think we — as individuals and as a society — need to reexamine our own reasons for engaging with true crime media.

I have noticed that something which used to be an exercise in empathy is now just another instantly gratifying form of entertainment that people aren’t able to resist. We used to approach true crime with an intense curiosity and sense of purpose. That still remains true for some documentaries and podcasts, but the line gets extremely blurry when streaming platforms start making movies and limited series about these tragedies.

Netflix’s Dahmer Series is a prime example. “Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” is a show about a cannibalistic serial killer, Jeffery Dahmer, who is already decisively well-known. And in unnecessarily dramatizing this story and making it resonate with audiences like some variant of the fictional television series “Criminal Minds or Law and Order: SVU,” Netflix and show creator Ryan Murphy have exploited gruesome, real-life tragedies and further traumatized the families of Jeffery Dahmer’s victims. In an article from The Hollywood Reporter, Rita Isbell was quoted on the show’s portrayal of the trauma she experienced after Dahmer murdered her brother.

“When I saw some of the show, it bothered me,” she said. “It’s sad that they’re just making money off of this tragedy. That’s just greed.”

According to Netflix’s 2022 letter to shareholders, the Dahmer Series garnered 824 million hours of viewership and became the second biggest English series during their third financial quarter. Netflix acknowledged that they had been losing money in the first two quarters, but expressed hope that they would continue to generate growth.

“The key is pleasing members. It’s why we’ve always focused on winning the competition for viewing every day,” the letter stated. “When our series and movies excite our members, they tell their friends, and then more people watch, join and stay with us.”

On this information alone, it is fair to say that the Dahmer Series was a huge reason for Netflix regaining popularity in the second half of their financial year. It is important to acknowledge this context when discussing the problem of victim exploitation in true crime series because of how important the payoff was for Netflix.

The casting for these projects is another component of the problem. Attractive and beloved actors like Evan Peters and Zach Efron being cast as serial killers only exacerbates the intrigue in true crime movies and TV, especially for young girls.

The medium of these stories makes a difference as well. My quarrel with the effects of true crime media does not stem from watching informational documentaries or podcasts, because those can be a way to raise awareness for victims that have been otherwise disregarded. The problem emerges when writers and producers feel entitled to making a TV show out of murder victims’ stories without getting permission from their families beforehand. It is possible to tell the untold stories of victims of violent crime without over-dramatizing them for a cash grab, but it needs to be done respectfully, delicately and consensually.

Sources:

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/20/true-crime-podcasts-are-popular-in-the-us-particularly-among-women-and-those-with-less-formal-education/#:~:text=The%20Center's%20new%20study%20finds,are%20primarily%20about%20true%20crime.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jeffrey-dahmer-netflix-tv-show-victim-family-speaks-out-1235228196/

https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2022/q3/FINAL-Q3-22-Shareholder-Letter.pdf