UNITED STATES—This is something I have been trying to figure out for years. If there is one thing that tends to fascinate Americans, it is true crime, but the question lingers: WHY? What is it about true crime and unbelievable tales that get so many people in a tizzy?
I don’t know, that is a question I would love to answer, but I just can’t because that is something that gives me the utter chills more than anything. Shows like “20/20,” “Unsolved Mysteries,” and a host of others, would give me nightmares. Until this day, you will never see me watch such shows, because they would give me nightmares that last for days.
It has never intrigued me to figure out the motive behind some of the most notorious serial killers in this country, but I have friends and family who think otherwise. Why? They want to understand those intricacies and understand why notorious killers like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson and so many others did what they did and how they alluded authorities for such a significant time frame.
That would not intrigue my mind, if anything it would madden it because it scares you to high heaven, realizing such horrific and violent things transpired in this country at the hands of a crazed individual. I think the fascination with true crime is a direct result of Americans becoming desensitized to violence. We see it all around us, we hear about it all the time, so it feels like it’s not such a big deal, which is beyond scary to say the least.
You see it in movies and TV, and you know its fake for the most part, but when you hear about it in the real world, it should terrify us, but in some sick and twisted way it doesn’t. We become more invested in these tales of macabre and depravity.
I heard so many people talking about that Netflix series involving Jeffrey Dahmer and how disturbing it was, but people couldn’t turn away; they had to know how it ended. Remember a lot of things when it comes to television and movies are sensationalized. I mean the goal is to make money, so you elaborate a bit on things, but in doing so society becomes giddy about it.
I don’t even want to get into the realm of podcasts because if you have a microphone everyone has a podcasts nowadays and you have plenty who LOVE to talk about true crime and all the fascination that comes with these high-profile serial killers that some of us have placed on pedestals, we have become obsessed with, when we should be repelled and disgusted by.
The scary thing about true crime is I don’t think it is going anywhere. You have cable channels and networks completely dedicated to all thing’s true crime. If anything, it is just getting bigger in scope. It is scary because what does our obsession/fascination with true crime say about us as a society? I would love to give you that answer, but I don’t have one. I would make the argument it makes us have to look in the mirror and question who we are.
