The Ethics of True Crime

[Daltonio]

True Crime as a genre is everywhere nowadays - websites, podcasts, documentaries - but many have called into question the ethics of it all. While there are undoubtedly positives of the coverage - cold cases getting more attention and ending up solved, etc. - there are definitely negatives. Members on websites like 'websleuths' have the reputation of getting way too invested, digging into every aspect of victim's lives and even accusing random innocent parties of these horrible crimes. Most of these cases are still open so they're actively interfering in police investigations. Which is only made worse by the fact that since we'll never know the full story, a lot of their information may be based on biased sources or the like. I personally think a lot of the backlash is simply because of the way they present it all, people talking about their 'favorites' or 'pet cases' make it sound like they're making light of it all and viewing these as simply entertainment and the actual victims get lost in the shuffle.

For example, the most interesting case to me personally that I've followed for years is the Black Dahlia murder, however nowadays if you look it up you get 90% results about George Hodel. His son wrote a book accusing him of the crime (and later accused him of being the Zodiac Killer, the Cleveland Torso Killer, the list goes on...). If you look into it, you can quickly deduce that it's highly, highly unlikely he is the culprit and the amount of lies that get told just to make him fit into the puzzle. In some articles about it, the actual victim Elizabeth Short is almost like a footnote in the story as they make it all about this one guy, who while definitely a piece of work, is not the killer here. It shows how easily swayed the general opinion is and does a disservice to the people affected.

What do you think of true crime? Do you consume the content like me? What do you think of the controversies surrounding it all?

 

[passenger]

I think that it dulls the senses; after so many shocking events you just think that nothing can surprise or shock you...."I've heard it all now."
But then........something happens that's more jolting.

 

[Reddington]

Regardless of your thoughts on true crime, it's always going to exist in some form. There's no way to stop it. Even if you choose to ignore the news and ignore the reality, it's still there. There was a time when certain things in the news were legitimately shocking. "Wow, that's not something you hear often", or "That rarely happens." I don't know if it's simply that these news events were always happening, but now it's easier to spread around to others, or if we (humanity) have gotten worse. Honestly, probably the latter. I've read and seen (via bodycam) so much crazy shit that I have become desensitized to it.

As hard as it might be for some people to hear about, it is important all of these horrific events be public knowledge. Maybe it'll save a life, maybe it'll keep people safe. Regarding the controversy side, it sucks to say, but tough shit. There will always be vultures waiting to report on horrific things, and victims can't always have their privacy protected.