Among some of the worst people in society are thieves, liars, rapists and murderers.
It’s interesting to delve into the minds of these people and understand what makes them tick, but glamorizing them is unhealthy and wrong.
For some reason, movies and other forms of pop culture have a fascination with glamorizing these people, mainly serial killers in particular.
My issue with the media attention, whether it be the news, movies or something else, is that too much emphasis is placed on criminals.
This is especially true in the event of school shootings. The constant attention given to the killers, by the light shed on them from the media, could give people false perceptions and inspire copycat crimes.
The families of victims and others involved also don’t get the respect they deserve or the privacy they should be given after such a traumatizing experience, by it constantly being shared.
It’s sad that we’re a lot more familiar with the names of the criminals than the victims. I understand why this is to a degree, since memorizing one name is easier than many, but this has more to do with the lack of attention given to victims.
Speaking of copycat crimes, fanbases can spawn around the over-exposure of violent criminals. People obsess over the negative qualities in people, which I think is a reason why crime shows centered around murders are so popular.
According to The Atlantic, “The U.S.’s high rates of violent crime may also be the reason certain killers become more famous than others.
When the news is filled with gun violence every day, another murder by firearm doesn’t necessarily stand out. But when killers stab, torture, rape and even eat their victims, that’s attention-grabbing, even to a desensitized nation.”
The casting of attractive, high-end actors doesn’t help the matter much. Zac Efron, who is widely seen as being attractive, is starring as Ted Bundy in an upcoming biopic called Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile.
Regardless of my opinion of the film, as far as this subject goes, that’s a poor casting decision.
In defense of these kinds of films, a lot of serial killers and other monsters use charm and manipulation to work their way into victims’ homes and so on.
I understand to an extent the way the killer is represented; portraying their methods is important to completely understand the person. But in my mind, depictions of the offenders go outside the realm of solely portraying the charm of the offenders. It can be harmful coming from films, but the real consequences come from the media.
The selection and coverage of events involving major crimes are poor and is meant to pull in ratings. Mainstream media outlets focus way too much on the offenders and don’t give enough coverage to the victims.
The damages coming from glamorizing these monsters primarily comes from excessive media coverage of the suspect, and the best way to create change in content produced, is to create change in the content consumed.
