What makes it so interesting to us?
You can't get away from it, even if you're not really into it. True crime is everywhere right now. Most standard TV channels have reams of shows about it as well as all the channels in the world you can access these days. Why is it that we love these shows so much? I don't know about you but they fascinate me. Most of my friends and family love watching them, too.
I know for me it's mostly because it is so far from my own life reality that it intrigues me how other people's minds work. It is a psychological aspect for me. What makes these people commit such heinous acts and how do they go on to do it again and again? I have learned through watching countless documentaries that most of these perpetrators come from a tough upbringing. Many are the subject of awful abuse, neglect, tragic circumstances but then there are the few that aren't! How do they become murderers, too???
Over the years, I have watched some shocking documentaries about murders. Stories of anger, deception, betrayal and love triangles that have lead to the most awful outcomes. I've watched many shows that show actual footage of the interrogations of these people by the Police and I often wonder how difficult it is listening to the details in real time (that is when they don't answer 'no comment' of course.)
There are always those cases that stay with you, too. One that stays for me was a documentary on Netflix called 'American Murder: The Family Next Door.' If you haven't seen it before, believe me, it is shocking. It tells the tragic story of Shanann Watts and her two young daughters' disappearance in Colorado and the nightmare that unravels in this case. I won't lie, I cried. Having two young daughters myself, this really struck home for me and I could not imagine the reality of what happened. It is 100% a story that will never leave me.
And did you ever see 'Bad Surgeon:Love Under the Knife' on Netflix? Oh my word. Whilst I am not sure we could label him a serial killer - he was killing people! He knew he was but would not stop his shockingly bad practices that were making these deaths happen.
I find myself enthralled by the dramatised series' of crimes, too. One particular series I found I could not stop watching was Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. What a crazy spree of murders he committed! And to the outside world, yes he was considered a bit odd but he was in society as 'a somewhat regular person.'
When I looked into why it makes so many of us want to delve deep into awful crimes, evolutionary psychologists think we are drawn to them so we can better protect ourselves and our families, because we can find out what makes these criminals tick as it were.
A study in the US found that women were more interested in true crime than men were. They also found out that women were most interested in stories that detailed killer's motives, had information about how victims escaped and that were about female victims. This showed that identifying with the victim and developing strategies for defeating criminals was probably why we watch them.
I guess many of us love the puzzle aspect of it. It really gets your brain ticking watching the real life stories. You watch in awe, trying to piece together what the motive could have been. You find yourself searching the crime scenes with your eyes flicking all over the TV screen looking for clues that the Police find, before they tell you. You start to hear how the build up to the event could have caused the incident and wonder 'what made them do it, what finally tipped them over the edge?'
Have you ever seen 'The Staircase' that was on Netflix a while back? I'm not sure if it is still on there but was a 13 episode series. It was the lead up to and including the murder trial of the American novelist, Michael Peterson, following the death of his wife in 2001. It GRIPPED me. I won't tell you what happens or the outcome, or even what I think, here, but if you ever watch it I would be interested to hear your views. A terribly tragic story with 2 sad endings in my opinion.
My husband thinks it's really funny that a nurturing, gentle, newborn and children's photographer (me haha) can get so many enjoyment (using the word loosely here) from watching true crime. I do watch a lot and they hook me in. I like piecing things together and figuring things out. Don't get me wrong, I don't admire these criminals, quite the opposite in fact. But they interest me. I always said, if I didn't have the job I have now, I would have loved to work for the police. Being a detective would be right up my street!
