THE OBESSIONS AND ETHICS

BY ZORAYA KING Opinion Editor

“Fictionalized, narrative-driven and exploitative.” According to junior Besher Garcia, this is true crime.

True Crime media follows real life tragedies, from murders to kidnappings and everything in between. Recently popularized documentaries, television shows, movies and podcasts investigate decades old reports and reenact crimes, allowing their viewers to assume the role of a detective and immerse themselves into gruesome acts in history.

This form of media has a tendency to over dramatize the stories and take more of an entertainment angle in hopes to attract an audience. While some people only stick to the news stories appearing on their television, others found a keen interest in the entertainment source and coined an entire genre.

True crime has accumulated its own diverse audience interested in this niche form of media, with interests ranging across the board; some are intrigued by the mystery of true crime while the psychological investigations of criminals ties other viewers in.

“The psychology and the way that they go about finding out how murders happen really piqued my interest. [...] I just think that it’s interesting how people can commit murder when biologically we’re not able to harm others or even [inflict harm] upon ourselves,” junior Ellie Peterson said.

Personal intrigue also takes form in wanting to know how to best protect yourself from danger, especially for the female demographic.

“Because women tend to be victims [of these crimes], they’re [most] invested in watching them being solved. I never watch mystery ones. If it’s an unsolved one, I will

Some common stereotypes of those who enjoy true crime assume that they are likely to get involved in illegal activities themselves. According to the true crime fanbase, this is not the case.

“Most people just assume that we’re crazy [even though] we’re not the ones that are committing [the crimes] or planning to commit [them],” Peterson said. “[Its just so] out of the box and people just can’t accept other people being interested in [or] learning about it.”

True crime is full of mystery and gore that most people are too afraid to even think about. For those who enjoy it, the reason behind their interest in it is not much of a psychological secret.

“Humans have this underlying desire to know things. Similar to how when we see a car accident, we can’t help but slow down to see what is going on. Also I think the story telling of true crime [is like] a murder mystery novel, [so] we like to try and figure it out. We like the suspense,” IB Psychology teacher Erin Cespedes said.

Simply because it is an unusual subject is what draws much of its audience in. Entertainment tactics that generate fear, mystery and anticipation keeps us watching more.

“People like knowing and being able to explain things, and so if [there is] a blank question mark [to a crime], people are just going to want to know more,” Peterson said.

Watching true crime can even benefit the viewer, making them more aware or more knowledgeable about how to protect themselves from possible threats.

“It makes you paranoid but in a good way, it can just make you aware of your surroundings,” Spears said. “There is this sort interested in the investigative or psychological parts of the stories, true crime can help someone indulge in their interests and get insight into a possible career path.

“I am totally looking at schools that have like criminal law [so I can be a forensic scientist] and do all the science stuff behind crime scenes,” Peterson said.

Of course, with this intense form of media also comes its disadvantages. When looking at how fear inducing media affects a person’s brain, it’s hard to ignore cognitive bias.

“We are more likely to recall things we’ve seen recently and those things may influence our thinking and decision making. So for example, if someone watches a lot of true crime they might think that these kinds of events are more likely to occur and this might lead to increased fear,” Cespedes said.

Watching lots of true crime can negatively affect a person’s mental and physical well being, especially if they experience excessive amounts of paranoia.

“When I binge some podcast or binge shows, I definitely like need to go watch something happy to like reset myself,” Peterson said. “There’s something gut wrenching learning [about] and watching people get slashed to death [and] thinking about getting stabbed like 27 times. That’s just something that can definitely alter your brain.”

Overconsumption of true crime media is inevitable for many viewers, some even saying that the media is too engaging and they have trouble hitting pause.

“It’s just addictive! [...] Everyone that I know who indulges in it, constantly indulges in it– like there’s nobody I know who does it only a little bit. [Either] they’re all in or all out. [...] We want to know the story of what happened at the end,” Spears said.