Shut Up Kristyn! | Misc

60 | the ethics of true crime content

I also listen to a few podcasts, including Crime Junkie, And That's Why We Drink, The Deck, Casefile, and Anatomy of Murder. But I have a bone to pick with some other podcasts (and even criticism of the ones I do listen to) which I'll
get into later.

REFLECTING ON MY OWN EXPERIENCE

I will fully acknowledge the hypocrisy of my experience with true crime.

A lot of the things I complain that I wouldn't be comfortable with, I do with other cases. But moving forward, I'm trying to be more cognizant of the content I consume and do better.

One time, I stumbled across a YouTube video that someone had made in which they covered the case of my family member. I was quite shocked, and, driven by some unknown force, decided to listen to the story. It was... surreal. I didn't know how to react. There was a nice sentiment because the creator made a piece of artwork and dedicated it to that family member, but it was also weird that they didn't try to contact any of my family to ask if it was okay for them to make the video beforehand.

And thus marked my spiral into questioning my own true crime content consumption.

How do the families of victims of prolific serial killers such as Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Joseph DeAngelo, etc feel when their crimes are covered on every platform available, endlessly, with no end in sight? How do the surviving victims feel to see their real-life monsters posted all over, when their names are hardly remembered?

Those familiar with the Amanda Knox story know her name, but how many know that Meredith Kercher was the name of her roommate who was murdered? How many people can name even one of Ted Bundy's victims?

This, I think, is one of the greatest sins of the community— the creators of the content focus so much on the perpetrators instead of the victims. There's something morbidly fascinating about the people that commit heinous crimes, but it's important to recognize that they harmed actual people, people who had loved ones, people who lived and breathed (and some who are still around), not just faces on a screen or names on a podcast/radio show.

Once I reminded myself of how I would feel if this happened with my family member's case, I began to change how I looked at all of these things.

WHAT DO I THINK IS ETHICAL?

This is a matter of personal opinion. Not every victim/loved one of a victim is going to feel the same way, and what one person deems ethical may not be to someone else.

To me, I feel comfortable consuming a certain type of true crime content if it hits these marks:

1. NO VICTIM BLAMING. Honest to God, it really isn't hard not to blame someone for getting killed/assaulted/etc, but some content creators go WILD with this. "Well that's what they get for walking alone at night." "They let their kid do that? I would NEVER..." "They trusted that person? The red flags were ALL RIGHT THERE! That's their own fault at that point." And other such things.

It isn't funny. You aren't cute, smart, or quirky for saying these things. You're just an asshole.

You have NO idea what you would do in certain situations. You can be as prepared as you want, and something could still happen. You never expect the worst to happen to you or someone you love. You're no better than anyone else for asserting that you wouldn't do something, or that you saw something coming.