The true crime genre has grown dramatically in the past few years, and with this growth comes issues and challenges. These problems need to be fixed before they go too far. The true crime scene is in need of major changes.
In recent years there has been an uptick in true crime reenactment shows. In 2022 the show DAHMER was released on Netflix. DAHMER displays the story of Jeffrey Dahmer and his killings, with Evan Peters starring as Dahmer.
Evan Peters has been a reoccuring crush of the internet. Being an attractive man playing this role caused many to begin to romanticize Jeffrey Dahmer himself. Edits circulated around TikTok displaying Evan Peters in his role as Dahmer in glorified light.
If you want to make edits of Evan Peters then do so in his role as Ralph Bohner in the show WandaVision; I have no issue with that, but it becomes pretty odd when you’re making edits of a cannibalistic serial killer.
When these shows are produced and become popular, there becomes a division in the audience. As you watch these shows and movies you consume it as fiction, resulting in a disconnect from the reality of the situation. This causes people to focus on their celebrity crush; Zac Efron or Evan Peters, in these roles and just simply romanticize them and ignore the truth about the show.
There’s a major issue when I see an edit of Zach Efron as Ted Bundy from Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, knowing that the movie is based on a man who would trick and manipulate women in order to sexually assault and kill them.
In the true crime scene there needs to be more of an emphasis on what the actual story is. People need to realize that it’s not just a fun show or movie with a cute actor, but a reenactment of a gruesome crime.
These shows feed into another major issue with the true crime genre: the idealization of killers. Richard Ramirez was an active serial killer from 1984-85. He killed, robbed, and sexually abused at least 13 individuals. When his trial began women flocked to the courtroom to see Ramirez. His groupies would sit in the courtroom to look at Ramirez in person.
Ramirez wasn’t the first to be romanticized; Ted Bundy received tons of female fans during his time in jail. Bundy was an active serial killer in the 1970s, using his charm and appearance to trick women and kill them. He was convicted of killing 30 women but some say that the number could be closer to 100. While awaiting his trial Bundy received fan mail from women that included marriage proposals and nude pictures.
According to individuals in the courtroom, some women showed up to trial dressed like his victims. This is straight-up psychotic. Ted Bundy took 30 lives. He should not be put on pedestal.
While I would like to say this romanticization of killers has decreased, that is not true. Recently the United Healthcare shooter, Luigi Mangione has received a massive fan base. People go to X to talk about how Mangione is “made” for them, even creating fan art of the assassin. While United Healthcare isn’t the perfect company, Mangione still took a life. We shouldn’t be discussing how hot he is or how you and him should have kids.
The main issue with this romanticization is the fact it ignores the victims. Many true crime podcasts and shows have a lack of care toward the sufferers. Most of them emphasized the killer themself; discussing their background and life. While I think it’s fascinating to hear about their childhood and see if there were any signs as to why they turned out the way they did, there’s still a point where there’s an overemphasis on the killer and not enough thought on the victims.
There’s too much of a focus on the killer and not the person whose life was brutally taken. When creating true crime media you need to focus more on the victims. The victims had a real hardship. True crime needs to tell the victim’s story and not the killer’s.
Putting these individuals on a pedestal inspires others to kill and attempt to be widely reported on, like the infamous BTK killer: Dennis Rader. Rader gave himself the name “BTK” because he would bind, torture, and kill his victims. He was a killer who continuously sought out attention. He once wrote to a local TV station, in order to get this attention, asking, “How many people do I have to kill before I get a name in the paper or some national attention?” Giving these killers fame and making them household names is encouraging them. Dennis Rader wanted to be the next Ted Bundy; he wanted to be widely known.
We all know the name Ted Bundy, but do you know Kimberly Dianne Leach? She lived in Lake City, Florida, and was 12 when Ted Bundy killed her. She went to Lake City Junior High School.
I bet you know Jeffrey Dahmer, but do you know David Thomas? A 23-year-old father that went missing and left behind a two year-old daughter. He was described as “fun-loving.”
There is a serious issue with the fact that we all know about these infamous killers but not their victims. The true crime genre needs some serious changes.
