“These were girls with lives. They had crushes, they had friends, they did things, they wanted to be things and at the end of the day, they’re always going to be remembered as Ted Bundy’s victims,” stated Neha Biju, senior public health major, "even in death, he has ownership over them."
In a YouGov poll, 50 percent of Americans expressed their interest in true crime content, with 13 percent mentioning it as their favorite genre.
The popularity of true crime can be witnessed across media varying from podcasts to Netflix documentaries. According to the Pew Research Center, true crime is the highest-ranked genre among podcast topics.
So, why are Americans so obsessively engaged with true crime content?
One of the major feeders into the true crime realm is Netflix. Most of the crime documentaries released on this media giant’s platform are confirmed to enter the Top 10 within a few days after release. The directors have perfected the formula which sells like hotcakes to the audience: a mix of real cases with a copious amount of reenactment.
Regardless of Netflix providing a reliable source of entertainment for true crime lovers, several moral issues have been raised by the audience and the families of victims. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a “documentary” is a film or novel presenting factual events. But, is Netflix adhering to the authenticity required of a documentary? There are concerns about whether Netflix is too engaged in only increasing its viewership rather than providing authentic storytelling.
Biju jokingly stated, "A documentary is about facts, [non-true crime documentaries] don't state 'We don't know if polar bears can swim,' but they say 'This is a polar bear swimming.'" When other documentaries are built around concrete facts, why are crime documentaries neglected?
Firstly, the titles of Netflix documentaries are questionable, such as “The Night Stalker” and “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes,” based on Richard Ramirez and Ted Bundy, respectively. These titles provide a platform for criminals to gain fame and attention. Through being tagged as The Night Stalker, Ramirez evolves from a serial killer to a famed person with a title. His title was allotted to him long before the era of Netflix, but it was popularized through these new channels. Most of the audience can recognize the titled fame; however, they won’t remember the names of the brutally murdered victims.
Along the same lines of keeping the attention of the documentaries on the killers, the trend of Netflix movies showcasing a reenactment of these real-life stories is increasing. A prime example is “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” in which Zac Efron and Lily Collins act as Bundy and his long-term girlfriend, Elizabeth Kendall, respectively. The idea of casting a famous actor who starred in “High School Musical” and “17 Again” is puzzling because it only increases the social media attention for Bundy through questionable TikTok slow-moving edits rather than increasing awareness about Bundy's crimes. After the release of “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” on Netflix starring Evan Peters, another famed actor, we could see a repeat of the younger population becoming obsessed with a serial killer.
The glamorization of serial killers can have an active effect on cultural trends, which in most cases is also detrimental. Biju emphasizes, “I know multiple people who were Jeffrey Dahmer for Halloween.” It is not fair to victims and their families for their brutalizer to become a social media trend enough for it to be a trendy Halloween look.
A documentary should stay a documentary with strict facts conveyed through engaging means, but Netflix’s adaptations of real-life crimes with mainstream actors defeat the purpose of raising awareness, instead increasing the glamorization of these criminals. Another concerning piece of the Dahmer documentary is how his actions are justified through systemic explanations, such as racist and homophobic parents. However, that tone is not fair to the victims of Dahmer and the people who have grown up in similar environments and yet have not become serial killers.
“I think in a lot of these shows, it becomes like a parent's fault instead of the person's fault,” Biju said. “Because [Netflix is] trying to humanize them because [the serial killers] are the main characters.”
Continuing with Netflix’s lack of credibility around documentaries with “The Staircase,” sources claim that crucial details that point toward the victim's, Kathleen Peterson, husband, Michael Peterson, were not included in the show. Major motives include Michael Peterson being the beneficiary of Kathleen Peterson’s $1.4 million life insurance policy. If Netflix intends to truthfully represent the timeline and facts of the case, then why were case details hidden? To further decrease the show's credibility, the editor of “The Staircase” documentary also had an affair with Michael Peterson, resulting in a combination of missing facts and unprofessional involvement of the staff.
Netflix also released a documentary on a pending murder case, “The Indrani Murkerjea Story: Buried Truth.” The background of the documentary lies in the death of Sheena Bora, the daughter of Indrani Murkerjea. Producers have turned the prime murder suspect into a titular character while neglecting the victim Bora, whose body was burned in the middle of a forest. The Central Bureau of Investigation in India pleaded with the Supreme Court of India to prevent the documentary from being released because it is a pending case. This is another case of the victim becoming a simple side character rather than awareness being raised about her murder. In India's judicial system, the juror system is nonexistent; hence, the show poses a threat of altering public perception and the lawyers involved in the case.
There have also been conservations about whether Netflix uses AI to alter and manipulate the images included in “What Jennifer Did,” which adds to the complaints about Netflix manipulating real-life cases to fit their agenda and point of view. To this, Biju wishes Netflix invested more in fictional shows. "[Producers] can take creative liberty, and then do as much AI as they want," Biju said. Fictional shows can be manipulated without consequences while engaging the targeted audience who loves crime shows.
Keeping in mind the lack of honor for affected victims and their families, Biju said that Netflix is only a company with "no obligation to tell the truth, no obligations to survivors and victims." The commercialization of true crime cases has plummeted into a realm that is being milked for profits and fame rather than informing and educating the audience.
How can the true crime genre evolve into one that respects and honors victims? Through documentaries that present the plain truth to the audience. Through fictional plots which allow full creative freedom to directors.
Victims deserve to be remembered, not represented as just characters. So, let's speak the names of the victims rather than their murderers.
Vincow. Okazasi. Yu. Zazzaras. Doi. Bell. Cannon. Nelson. Kneidings. Khovananth. Abowath.
