A Confession: I'm a true crime addict
Some things, innate and deep in you - you can't resist or fight against.
Yes, the title says it all. I’m coming clean. I’m a true crime addict. And I’m not alone, there are many of us out there. The fascination with true crime is truly huge and runs through many. From where comes this fascination?
I’m blaming my mother. She’s the only person on this planet who I see myself in. Just how it turned out. And she’s always loved a good mystery novel and nowadays that has grown into online news shows, murder mysteries etc … Like mother, like son.
I remember reading as a teenager, Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment and unable to put the book down as I followed the thought process of Rashkalnikov. I think it all started there. I blame that Russian iconoclast.
However, this fascination runs through us all. True crime is a huge industry. Youtube channels abound. Netflix has a full category of “true crime”. It’s got the news in a dithers - reporters rove the streets with cameras reporting on all kinds of crime - it brings eyeballs like nothing else, to their channels.
There are only two plots: A stranger rides into town, and A man goes on a journey.
- John Gartner. The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers. 1984.
I think Gartner was on to something. But I’d describe it differently. The really big plot that rules all is - disruption of the established order and logic. Even of course the biggie that rules so many storylines - revenge follows this pattern. Something happens to upset the current order and a hero, a process occurs to re-establish order either through the sword or through the law. True crime in a nutshell.
I watch true crime because it has a kind of incredulous effect on me. “How can this happen?” “This is just so damn strange.” That’s where the fascination comes in and from - but also it’s the narrative, the story of how, if, when, the perpetrators will get their just desserts (revenge).
I watch true crime in all its guises. The rich and famous (recommend Vanity Fair Confidential - especially the Dunne narrated episodes). The suburban (Dateline). The quirky outsiders (Mike at That Chapter). I watch many others - you know all the series online - I could write for hours!!!!
But let me end this confession on a positive note. My addiction has had some positive effects. Some learning. Watching true crime with a reflective mindset, teaches you a few things. Here is my shortlist. I’m sure you have your own.
#1. Life Insurance. Why do they allow it to be sold when almost 80% of true crime involves this document? It can’t be any good - leads to so much evil.
#2. Femicide. If you are a woman, you are almost always the victim. Says something about the world we live in, doesn’t it?
#3. Stupidity. Most who commit the murderers are REALLY stupid. Sure, there is a lot of spontaneous emotion usually involved but after, the stupidity is really jaw-dropping.
#4. Incompetence. It is lucky for the stupid murderers that even worse than their stupidity is the incompetence of the authorities. Watch all real honest true crime. You’ll see an absolute, the head doesn’t know what the body is doing, type of institutional incompetence. Law enforcement and legal incompetence, unparalleled. Years and years, things drag on when it is bloody clear who did it. Both in operation, in this true crime story.
#5. A Warped Sense Of Reality. Watch enough true crime and you’ll develop a feeling that the world is crime-ridden, filled with ordinary people who can become evil. You’ll be scared to leave your house, your community - IT’S OUT THERE. I could be next. Nothing is further from the truth. These kinds of crime when looked at in their totality, are actually quite rare. It’s just there is there are so many of us out there now. So these things will happen but rarely. Don’t fall into the true crime fear loop!
What’s your secret confession? Fascination? That makes you think about the world we live in and just shake your head?