SAWANT: True crime media scuffs social boundaries
Column: Sincerely Rue
If you are like me, you probably love true crime media in any form it comes in. Podcast, documentary, TV series or book, I am there for it. But any true crime lover must be extremely picky about what they consume. I will be the first to admit that while I enjoy the topic, it is extremely easy for many of these content creators (and fans alike) to cross social and moral boundaries.
A lot of the media is genuinely good and brings about awareness — they provide the story with the victim’s family’s permission and provide resources such as donation links, places to get help and tip reporting hotlines at the end. Others lose sight that the stories are about real people that hold intimate and deep emotions and turn the victim's stories into a fishing ploy for clicks, views and general entertainment value.
It is important to keep in mind that there is nothing inherently “entertaining” about any true crime story. They are supposed to be educational and interesting at most, although macabre.
The problem, though, is that true crime media is widely consumed on the same platforms as general entertainment media, such as crime documentaries on Netflix or crime podcasts on Spotify. Thus, people tend to forget that the stories are about real people, real families and tangible violence.
By their very nature, some streamers even purposely dramatize the story for added effect, but that implies the story as it is not horrific enough. Due to the borderline sensationalization of grisly murder, the stories are already perceived differently than if they were read about in criminology texts or police reports. This is not a good mindset to be in when consuming a true crime story.
Such allows fans to engage with the content, primarily through the escalation of true crime interest on social media, but this opens up a door for criticism where there is no place for it. True crime media is not just any movie, TV show or book where you can debate the made-up people in it and the made-up events that happen.
Everything we read or hear occurred in real life, to real people, and entire families are changed as a result of it. It rubs me the wrong way when I see people talk about a true crime story like it is just another episode of "Criminal Minds" or "Law and Order" because it completely erases the weight and gravity of the situation.
What I see happening is the desensitization of mass audiences to crime, murder and violence. People as a whole have become so used to it all (especially with the increasing popularity and occurrence of true crime media) that the dramatization of stories is almost essential to get people to tune in and generate interest.
True crime spaces also tend to sensationalize the worst people you can — the murderers. Think of Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, all of whom have become household names due to the numerous books, movies and TV shows produced about their lives. These people are not celebrities, and although we can all agree they are terrible people, they receive a twisted form of celebrity treatment when we toss around their names and recount their lives as we do of our favorite actors and artists.
Speaking of Dahmer, Netflix recently released a biographical crime drama about the serial killer, which has been met with unrelenting (and very valid) criticism. For one, the creators allegedly never reached out to the victim’s families for permission when creating the series. Rita Isbell, Errol Lindsey’s (one of Dahmer’s victims) sister, gave an emotional and vulnerable victim impact statement at Dahmer’s sentencing.
The show recreated Isbell’s breakdown without permission, much to the dismay and anger of the victim’s family. And even though their story and their trauma were recreated (down to the courtroom breakdown) for the world to watch on demand, no financial compensation was granted for this use.
This is extremely disrespectful and triggering to the families of victims who already have to live the rest of their lives knowing their loved ones were brutally taken away from them. I cannot imagine the pain that stems from seeing it dramatized for anyone to watch as they lounge on their couch with a pizza.
It also makes me think of how twisted it is that Lifetime is creating a movie (was a documentary too real?) based on Gabby Petito’s story, as if her family would love to see someone pretend to be their daughter in her final moments of life.
A repeating pattern I see here is a lack of regard for victims' families and complete blindness to the raw emotions the stories caused. It is not just a TV show where the bad stuff never really happened. None of these stories were on a set where the director called “cut” and everyone went home happy, warm and alive.
The only reason we see the stories we do on true crime shows, podcasts and documentaries is because someone — or multiple people — did not go home happy, warm and alive. As the true crime community grows, I feel people lose sight of that very basic fact.
While I do enjoy listening to true crime stories, some of the ways creators go about sharing these stories just do not feel right. We should respect the grieving families, remember victims for who they were before their tragedies rather than for the tragedies themselves and refrain from crossing boundaries.
Rujuta Sawant is a Rutgers Business School junior majoring in business analytics and information technology and minoring in political science. Her column, "Sincerely Rue," runs on alternate Mondays.
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