This New Obsession With True Crime Makes Me Uncomfortable

Show of hands:

Does listening to a podcast about a girl being brutally murdered make you uncomfortable?

Okay, I see a few of you. Good.

Does a podcast picking apart the psyche of an attractive serial killer interest you?

Oh....lots of hands. That's....well now I'm the uncomfortable one.



I have to ask, what is the appeal?

When I was younger, I used to watch forensic documentaries on channels like Investigation Discovery or A&E. The process behind how a crime is investigated, how evidence is collected and analyzed, that part fascinated me. There was real science there - and a drive to solve a heinous crime and find justice for those wronged. That appealed to the Libra in me. But the moment they delved into the motivation and backstory of the criminal...they lost me.

I don't care what his (and let's be real, it was usually a dude) motive was. I don't care why he targeted that person. I don't care about his mental state, his prestigious job, his turbulent childhood, etc. I just wanted to see him arrested and put behind bars. Or in a straight-jacket. Or better, an electric chair.

No sympathy for killers. No understanding. Nope.

So I don't really understand this current fascination, nay obsession, I'm seeing from a lot of people over these true crime and murder podcasts. Can we call it a simple fascination with death and leave it there? The angsty Goth teen in me wants to say yes, but I think it's deeper than that.

Scott Bon, a criminology professor at Drew University, claims that the obsession with true crime boils down to fear - and experiencing fear in a safely controlled environment. Playing armchair detective and trying to solve the crime before the law enforcement officers on the television catch up with the bad guy can be an exciting guilty pleasure - guilty because it should feel wrong or inappropriate to relish the horrors inflicted on real people - but like a train wreck, some people simply can't look away.

"True crime might be so fascinating because it offers us a glimpse into the deviant parts of the human psyche" suggests A.J. Marsden, assistant professor at Beacon College. She goes on to point out that a majority of viewers and listeners addicted to true crime stories are women and it's no secret that many of these grisly murder stories feature young women as hapless victims. So what's the connection? Marsden thinks it ties into an innate instinct for survival - understanding who could be a murderer, how these things happen, and who is often the target - in order to prevent oneself from becoming another statistic on one of these series.

Okay, fine, I get that.

And while garnering some more info on how to protect yourself better or generally be safer, the psychological tolls of a murder podcast obsession seem to outweigh the good. We're talking about paranoid fear, onset of extreme anxiety, nightmares, and even agoraphobia - the fear of leaving your home or "safe space."

And for some of us...this content is extremely triggering.

Long-winded stories about stalking, rape, and eventual murder leave me feeling really squicked out, because I've survived a couple of instances of those encounters myself. Hearing some Valley Girl, disembodied voice waxing poetic about a dead blonde in a flippant tone makes me see red, makes my blood boil, makes me want to scream. Where is the concern for these victims? Where is the outrage that nothing is being done to stop this from continuing to happen? Where is the righteous fury for the pitiful justice these "dead blondes" receive?

And I can't help but think, if I was murdered would I simply become fodder for a true crime story? Would a group of 20-something women gather around and discuss my murderer over glasses of prosecco and joke about what I should have done differently? Would my very identity and memory condense into the moment that ended my life - and eclipse everything else that I was and believed in?

It just doesn't sit right with me. In fact, it makes me very angry. And I'm sure it makes the ghosts of these murdered women angry as well. How do we grapple with that?

I'm not even going to mention the anguish and rage of the surviving family and friends. I hope I don't need to.


Some recommended reading:

Why I Will Never Listen To 'My Favorite Murder' ***

Why Our True Crime Obsession is Bad for Society

Jezebel link about Himpathy

On Youtube, the True Crime Trend is Even More Troubling



*** This one was especially enlightening and one I STRONGLY suggest reading thoroughly and carefully. She makes some excellent points and while I tried to keep my tone and language fairly level in this blog, her emotional experience echoes mine.