design: Lilly Wood
Over the past few years, the glorification of criminals and serial killers has become a problem due to the increase in popularity of true crime documentaries. According to Parrot Analytics, the highest ranked documentary sub-genre was true crime in 2020-21, gaining an almost 60 percent increase in popularity compared to the year before.
Documentaries like true crime and those involving people who committed awful crimes should be made in different ways that encourage the viewer to respect the families of victims, rather than to understand the criminal’s background. The directors of these shows are obviously obsessed with these criminals, passing it on to the viewer.
The documentary Dahmer, which came out in September, has become the fourth most watched TV show on Netflix with 856.5 million hours played according to cnet.com. In the show, Jeffery Dahmer was portrayed by Evan Peters, an already popular and accomplished actor.
These facts pose concern since this documentary is a prime example of a show failing to encapsulate the true importance of these crimes. The victims are real people, with real families and lives that have been changed or ended, not just actors on a TV show.
The purpose of this documentary was to give Dahmer a voice, according to Netflix, and included actors playing Dahmer’s victims as part of the story. This caused controversy due to Netflix failing to reach out to the families of these victims.
Rita Isbell, a family member of one of Dahmer’s victims, spoke out about being portrayed in the show. Isbell states in an essay for Insider that the show felt greedy, harsh, and careless due to the fact that her family was not reached out to, however they were represented, and the actors in the documentary even used their statements from the killings word-for-word.
“It’s retraumatizing over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?” Eric Perry, a cousin of one of Dahmer’s victims posted on Twitter.
Many don’t realize the impact serial killer documentaries can have on victims and their families. Most of these people are still alive today, and popularity of these shows cause many issues.
The popularity of the documentary had fans posting on social media about Dahmer in the show, even positive things about the character. Viewers claimed to begin to ‘understand’ Dahmer’s side of the story, resurfacing the traumatic experiences of the relatives of victims.
This is not the first time a popular actor with a large fanbase has been used to act as a serial killer, the movie “Extremely Wicked Shockingly Evil and Vile” (2019) starred Zac Efron as Ted Bundy, and Ross Lynch also played Jeffery Dahmer in the movie “My Friend Dahmer” (2017).
These documentaries and movies give too much attention to people who have committed awful crimes. They put them in the spotlight, and by being portrayed by conventionally attractive actors, the viewer will begin to support the killer if it’s an actor they previously enjoyed in their other more light-hearted roles.
The people who create true crime-like documentaries aren’t interested in honoring the victims or painting the criminal in a bad light, they’re interested in how the viewer enjoys it and how much money it brings in.
