As part of our student spotlight series, we hope to expose articles, essays, speeches, and other work of notice as identified by school personnel. The following is written by Cara Mabry, class of 2023.
The streaming platform Netflix released, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” on September 21, 2022. Within a week, the series hit number one on Netflix’s top ten and continues to maintain this spot. “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile” was another chart-topper on Netflix when released in 2019. Both these series delve into the grotesque details of the numerous murders these men committed, oftentimes disregarding the victims themselves. These murderers' names and atrocities are continuing to captivate the public’s attention, completely disregarding the lasting impacts on the victim’s families. This glamorization of serial killers in the media directs empathy away from the victims; the solution to counteract these romanticized portrayals of cold-blooded criminals is to shift the focus toward the victim's story.
People have always been fascinated by crime. Not long after the invention of the moveable type, “murder pamphlets” became one of the most popular publications of the 1400s. Jack the Ripper has been a popular media subject since he terrorized London in 1888. The graphic recounting of the Charles Manson murders in the novel “Helter Skelter” by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry, was one of the most popular books of the 1970s. Today, every streaming platform and network has some type of true crime program. But why are these shows and podcasts so popular? One reason, people are inherently fascinated by the battle between good and evil and serial killers are the ultimate evil. Many consider these “adult fairy tales” where evil terrorizes a community but in the end, the forces of good prevail. The problem- these stories are not fairy tales, but actual horrific tragedies that ruined lives. These types of shows also give people an adrenaline rush, much like a roller coaster, scary for a moment but with a predictably safe outcome for the participant. Viewers of these types of shows feel they are part of the process, looking for clues and chasing down suspects; a chance to experience the life of a detective without any of the risks. Watching or listening to graphic crime documentaries or podcasts also gives people a chance to connect with their dark side. For the vast majority of functional, non-violent people, the thought of committing such a heinous act is abhorrent and incomprehensible, yet it is the incomprehensibility that makes one seek to understand it. According to Raymond A. Mar, assistant professor of psychology at York University, “humans are driven by an innate and spontaneous tendency to empathize with everything around us in order to try to understand and predict it all. This, as well as our innate fascination with disaster, is exactly what the media takes advantage of.” What triggers a person to turn off all consciousness and moral boundaries to commit such heinous acts? These serial killers’ crimes are beyond what most humans can comprehend. Melissa Hamilton, a psychologist at the University of Surrey, claims that this is supported through scientific evidence "... Neuro-chemical parts of our brain can respond in positive ways to deviance." Gruesome crimes have long horrified yet fascinated people as they seek to understand the capacities of human evil.
Recently, the disturbing trend of the glamorization of serial killers has focused on the sexual side of the murderers and casting popular, attractive actors in the roles of the killers. “Glee” actor and singer Darren Criss portrayed serial murderer Andrew Cunanan in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”. The role won Criss an Emmy in 2018 for his in-depth portrayal of Cunanan and the influences that turned him into a killer. But besides Versace, the lives of his four other victims are not explored. Zac Efron, who rose to fame as the teen heartthrob in the “High School Musical” movies, was cast in the 2019 Netflix film “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile” about the life of notorious serial killer Ted Bundy. The movie seeks to show how women were easily captivated by his good looks and charm, often appearing insipid and foolish. Little is done to distinguish the women from one another and no insight is given into their lives or the possible “why” behind their deadly manipulation. In doing so, these victims once again lose their identities. The movie often zooms in and lingers on Efron’s face when he is portraying the charming side of Bundy, but not when he is brutally murdering women. In this way, the murderer steals the spotlight from his victims again. Such glamorization desensitizes viewers from the fate of the victims and overshadows their suffering and pain. A survey, investigating the allure of true crime, had 1,000 respondents and the results further prove the disturbing mindsets some people feel.
“Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” is a ten-episode series that attempts to explain the origins of Dahmer’s pathological acts, including his mother’s depression and a hernia operation at the age of four. According to Nathaniel Brennan, a New York University professor teaching a course on true crime, criminals are often depicted with a tragic backstory, and “There’s an idea that if society had done more, it could have been avoided.” The series attempts to tell the stories of the victims but their lives are often overshadowed by the gruesomeness of the crimes and the shock value scenes the director has incorporated. One episode centers around Tony, a deaf man, and the events that led up to his murder and his family’s agony when he disappears. This is overshadowed at the end when the final scene shows the victim’s dismemberment and Dahmer’s cannibalistic acts. According to Brennan, in such graphic retellings “It is hard to separate the interest in the victims of the crimes from the heinous ways the ends of their lives are depicted.” Not only does “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” fail to put the focus on the victims, it forces their families to relive their nightmares. At least one victim's relative, Rita Isbell, has openly criticized the show. Isbell, whose brother Dahmer killed Errol Lindsey in 1991, was never contacted by Netflix about the production. “I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it,” she told Insider. “They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it.”. The show reenacts the moment Isbel lashes out at Dahmer in court, using her words verbatim. “If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought it was me. Her hair was like mine, she had on the same clothes. That’s why it felt like reliving it all over again. It brought back all the emotions I was feeling back then.” Another production, FX’s “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story'' was criticized by the fashion designer’s family who released a statement that said “It should be viewed as a work of fiction” and that they had not authorized the work.”
Do these shows have inherent value? Some claim to cast doubt on murder convictions, others to explain the motives behind a crime, solve a cold case, seek redemption for the killer, or relish in previously unrevealed gory details. But at what costs? After “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile” aired, fan pages for Ted Bundy sprung up on Twitter and Instagram. Survivors and victims’ families have to relive the crimes, which often include graphic depictions and reenactments. The prevalence of these dramas and the gratuitous acts they often depict can desensitize people to violence, to the suffering of the victims, and to the heartbreak of their families.
We remember the names of the killers - Bundy, Dahmer, Manson, but who can name any of their victims? The obsession with true crime is not new, but the recent deluge of shows that prioritize entertainment, gore, and violence over the lives lost creates victims once again. Their loved ones, and in some cases the survivors, are forced to relive their grief and nightmares. This disturbing trend could be redirected by instead telling the stories through the eyes of their victims. Surely, there are interesting and colorful lives cut short by these murderers that would make for engaging and thoughtful viewing. Dahmer’s killing spree took place during the early years of the AIDs epidemic, many of his victims were gay and black and at the time, their deaths went virtually unnoticed. Ted Bundy charmed his way into the lives of at least 30 women and then murdered them. An in-depth retelling of how he bewitched one of his victims would be interesting and perhaps even informative. Focusing true crime stories on the victims and their families creates empathy for them, not their killers. Casting a popular lead actor or actress as a victim, instead of as the killer, would be an interesting twist on this trend as well. The public’s obsession with serial killers is long-standing. Retelling these horrific stories through the victims’ eyes would prevent the romanticization of the murderers and rekindle the public’s sympathy for the victims, where it rightly belongs.
Written by Cara Mabry, class of 2023
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