Title: Why We Are Drawn to True Crime Shows | Time
Headings: Why We Are Drawn to True Crime Shows
Why We Are Drawn to True Crime Shows
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Content: Why We Are Drawn to True Crime Shows | Time
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Culture
Why We Are Drawn to True Crime Shows
Why We Are Drawn to True Crime Shows
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By Scott Bonn
January 8, 2016 11:41 AM EST
Scott Bonn is a criminology professor at Drew University and author of Why We Love Serial Killers. G iven the tremendous buzz and interest in reality programs such as Netflix’s Making a Murderer, about the exoneration and then murder conviction of Steven Avery, HBO’s The Jinx, about eccentric millionaire and possible serial killer Robert Durst, and Serial Season 1, about the case of convicted murderer Adnan Syed, it is clear that true crime shows are tantalizing to millions of people. This conclusion is supported by the passionate and loyal following demonstrated by Investigation Discovery network, which is entirely devoted to the true-crime genre of programming. If you spend any amount of time watching true crime TV, you will quickly notice that the shows almost always involve one particular type of crime: murder. Often, too, the focus is on exotic, bizarre and especially grisly or disturbing incidents of murder. In the extreme, the tales of murder depicted in true crime TV shows involve the gruesome and notorious exploits of serial killers such as the late Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy (The Killer Clown), Richard Ramirez (The Night Stalker) or David Berkowitz (Son of Sam). The morbid stories of these prolific killers have become popular culture legends. Can we conclude that people are fascinated with death, and that this alone explains why true-crime shows are so popular with the public? I think not.