This is a response to The Value Of True-Crime Television
True crime has grown to be a popular genre in entertainment in the past few years. It has become trendy in the world of television. 2022 was a big year for the genre with the releases of tv shows based on true crimes such as The Thing About Pam, Candy, and most recently, Dahmer. While many enjoy these programs, there have been others opposing the genre.
People have taken to social media to voice their displeasure with the genre of true crime. One of the main points of contention is the treatment of the victims of these crimes. More often than not, these shows focus heavily on the killers, which in turn overshadows the victim and dehumanizes them in a way. Another criticism is the glorification of serial killers.
One more criticism is the portrayal of these crimes and the effect on the family of the victims. The Dahmer series has come under fire for retraumatizing the families and capitalizing off of and exploiting the deaths of the victims.
Others will argue that true crime is an interesting topic to watch. While both sides have valid points, I think that there needs to be a medium when it comes to the production of true crime shows. We need to focus more on the stories of the victims and consult with their families. True crime isn’t going to go away anytime soon, so we may as well try and improve how it is covered on television. At the end of the day, these victims were real people and we need to be more mindful of how we are covering their stories.
