Netflix’s thumbnail for, “The Real Reason(s) You Can’t Stop Watching True Crime.” Caution tape as blinds with a person peaking it to represent the idea of watching True Crime. | Illustration / Javier Jaén
A night of murder and unsolved cases is a standard routine for many people post-pandemic. True crime stories have swept not just the nation but the world when the COVID-19 lockdown started back in 2020. They take shape in many different forms. YouTube videos are one way, with creators such as Kendall Rae, whose channel is dedicated to true crime and mostly unsolved murders, and Bailey Sarian, who hosts the very popular ‘Murder, Mystery, Makeup Mondays’. True crime stories also take a fully audio form in podcasts such as ‘Morbid’ and ‘Crimehub’ to blockbuster movies such as ‘The Hillside Strangler’ (2004) and ‘Zodiac’ (2007). The argument of the True crime genre has been the same since it started. Are these films, shows, and podcasts ethical and something to help people stay vigilant, or do they take advantage of the trauma that these people and their families went through?
True crime podcasts first rose to popularity in 2014 with the series Serial hosted by Sarah Koenig. The series followed a case for each season, a now very popular idea for podcasts, starting with the 1999 murder of Killing of Hae Min Lee. The first season was received well culturally and critically. However, this was just the beginning, as the genre stayed on a steady climb of popularity into its boom of 2020.
It has become a recent trend for one of the most popular outlets of true crime, podcasts to focus on one case for their show. Cases such as ‘Dr. Death‘ and ‘The Dating Game Killer’ have recently started being made into movies/shows like how ‘Dr. Death’ was made into a Peacock original in 2021 and ‘The Dating Game Killer’ was made into an ID television film in 2017 They’re fully moving through the industry pipeline.
March 11, 2020 will be a day to live on for the rest of human history. The CDC officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and people were locked down in their homes. We were told it would all be over in two weeks, that changed into six weeks, then a few months, until where we are now almost three years later and things have still not fully gone back to pre-pandemic times. People quickly became bored staying inside all day everyday and needed something to keep them occupied and entertained, in comes the boom of True crime.
Starting in early pandemic with the “Tiger King” documentary according to theringer.com from an article published in July of 2021, “18 films and series make up the bulk of Netflix’s output in the true-crime genre for the past 18 months. And cumulatively, they’ve spent 232 days in the streamer’s top 10”. The trend of True crime’s popularity is not only on Netflix but has become an industry standard according to Parrot. True crime is not only the biggest sub-genre of the documentary genre but also the fastest growing.
There could be many reasons why people are so infatuated with this genre, mostly, it seems to be fear and adrenaline. The feeling you get when watching a documentary or listening to a podcast as the killer starts their sprees brings fear. The feeling of knowing that these everyday people were in the wrong place at the wrong time means you could easily find yourself in that situation. The adrenaline comes when they’re finally caught. Watching or listening to all the signs that pointed to the culprit but noticed until the end concludes with seeing the sweet justice being brought to them.
Others say the genre is helping people watch for the signs and increase their chance of survival. They want to be the next Tracy Edwards, the only man to ever escape Jeffery Dhamer, or Carol DaRonch, who survived an attack from Ted Bundy when she was 18 and later testified against him in court.
Most of these true crime podcasts, movies, and series were made with the intention of goodwill. The creators wanted people to know of these cases, and in most of them, you will hear them tell a warning and talk about how they mean nothing but respect and wanting to tell the victim’s story, not the killer’s victory.
The fad of serial killers seems to be gone thanks to social media along with the enhanced police work that goes on with these types of cases. Authorities do not want to make the same mistakes they have before in older cases. Instead, it is the one-off killers or, even worse, copycat killers that people need to worry about. This is the main argument about how these podcasts are unethical.
These popular podcasts sometimes bring up cases that did not get much media attention and bring awareness to the case. To many this would be a good thing because a lot of the families with cases like that cannot afford court fees or to get help. That is the bright aspect, but not the main effect of those cases. People start to bombard the families with questions and put them as the prime suspects. They also bring in the possibility of people trying to be a copycat killer or even worse, the killer striking again to get more fame because that is what killers want. Killers want attention. It’s documentaries, like the recent “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” which has been renewed for a second season but will be of a different serial killer, that brings up not only all of the trauma for the families of his victims and the people around that case but also inspires people to potentially follow in his footsteps and fulfill his legacy.
As the true crime genre continues to grow, this will always be a debate. You will have those that think it’s public knowledge and that it’s something interesting to know, those who believe these podcasts are evil and should not be allowed, and those who sympathize with the killer. The only warning I can give you is to use caution when embracing this genre. Remember to respect the victims and their families and not give the killer(s) what they want: attention and fame.
