There is a reason you never know the names of the victims, but you always know the names of the killers. With the rise of social media, interest in true crime has exploded, but this interest is far from harmless.
One of the most recent pieces of media that popularized a serial killer was Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which was a show based on the life of notorious serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer.
While the show was meant to be a tribute to the lives Dahmer took, it was over-dramatized for television. When presented with a narrative like Dahmer’s, we can not help but be enthralled. The problem with this is that true crime stories–no matter how twisted or horrifying–happened to real people, and it is wrong to obsess over them like the latest romance film.
A similar case where the media was involved was the case of Gypsy Rose Blanchard. After years of abuse, Blanchard ended up assisting the murder of her mother, Claudine Blanchard. Whether or not Blanchard was morally right in assisting her mother’s murder is up for debate, but what is less debatable is the insensitive way many social media users have reacted to the crime.
After seven years in prison, Blachard was released, and soon after went on a press tour in an attempt to clear up her story. While Blanchard brought a lot of light to what she went through, ‘fans’ on social media often made unserious comments about her in the same fashion they did with celebrities. It is important to hear and learn about what she went through, but with how recent the crime is, she should not be painted in the light as a star. When looking at Blanchard’s case, it is necessary to consider the lives that were ruined instead of making her out to be a celebrity. As of the last week of November, Blanchard has 739k followers on Instagram. But how does society portray a criminal who died before the age of social media?
Ted Bundy is one of the most infamous serial killers of the late 20th century. Despite reportedly appearing as a charming and educated young man, Bundy was secretly a monster. After his final arrest in 1978, women from all over the world sent him ‘fan mail’ and marriage proposals. At his trial in 1979, some women arrived dressed as his victims as if it was a costume contest with Bundy as the judge.
These incidents may have happened 40 years ago, but we still see similar behavior in social media posts made by some young people who say things along the lines of, “Who cares what Bundy did, he’s attractive!”
Before television and widespread social media, the only way to hear about criminals was through the local newspaper. Now more than ever we have access to instant information, which can lead to criminals being glamorized by the media and average people alike. When people do not fully understand the horrors Dahmer, Blanchard, Bundy and criminals alike committed, they romanticize the drama of it.
To prevent the glamorization of murder, we need to start pushing against these fan posts and shows, no matter how interesting they may be. It’s immoral to continue giving criminals the attention they don’t deserve.
