True Crime: If it bleeds, it leads.

Since when did we all become completely and shamelessly obsessed with True Crime? Before you get defensive, that’s not a “you people” statement.  I’m in the same morbid boat these days - a can’t eat, can’t sleep, world series kind of Murderino.

I thought it might be time for us to take some personal stock of when (and why) this topic became our dark obsession. My husband has voiced his concerns over my Netflix category suggestions one too many times. I needed to turn inwards and ask the tough questions: Why can’t I look away? Why am I always “in the mood” for a gritty True Crime title? Who hurt me and turned me into this armchair atrocity monger?

I had to talk to an expert. Well, I had to talk to a friend with the same seemingly unnatural affinity.

My friend Ashley comes by this topic academically. The girl has a degree in Biological Anthropology, and studied bones for four years (at least, that’s the Coles notes description). But even beyond that, we have cornered each other on multiple occasions to let our inner Murderino flag fly and discuss our latest binges on HBO, A&E, Netflix and Amazon. She was the right girl to talk to as I struggle to come to terms with why True Crime is now a full blown subgenre of pop culture.

Let’s call a spade a spade. True Crime is having a moment akin to say, Reality TV in the early 2000s. All of a sudden everyone can name more than 10 serial killers, even if they’re 4 or 5 drinks in. It should be one of those things EMTs ask to make sure people are conscious. Like, what’s your name? What day is it? Name 5 serial killers.

But this is by no means a NEW thing to be unusually devoted to. I’m sure your parents watched Law and Order religiously - the way back Orbach and Brisco years. The difference, is that information and media have become this beautiful Frankenstein that’s part human and part… whatever the internet is made of. Our access to information is now served up exactly the way we want it to be. We’re listening to podcasts about the topic, we’re watching hours of documentary content, and we’re loving every minute of it. Especially WOMEN and that’s fascinating to me. Ashley told me that there was an equal number of men and women in her University classes, but that the industry itself is still quite “man-sided”. She believes that women are far more logical than we’ve traditionally been given credit for, and that studying “black and white” anatomy subjects actually appeals to our logic centres.

I wondered aloud how much True Crime is currently on Netflix. I knew it would be a lot. This “sub genre” is ENORMOUS for this platform. How enormous? Stay seated. I looked it up, and there are currently 77,000 titles associated with True Crime and serial killers. Easily a few weekends of content, am I right? Jesus. I didn’t even need to look far to find the stats to prove my point. This “sub genre” is not at all sub. I mean, Netflix could solely exist to stream true crime content and make a killing. Don’t mind the pun. Actually, mind the pun...that was good.

I know you’re into this stuff too. When did you start? What happened to you? What was the very first True Crime story that you remember being borderline obsessed with? From the people I’ve talked to, it’s usually a close to home story, what Georgia and Karen of My Favorite Murder would call a “hometown murder”. Or maybe it was the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys paperbacks you borrowed from the library every weekend through the 80’s and 90’s.

The hometown association is absolutely true for me. In 1991, Toronto was absolutely gripped and mortified by a string of murders carried out by the “Schoolgirl Killer” who turned out to be the “Ken and Barbie” team of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. It still gives me heart palpitations just saying their names out loud. The absolute worst of our city’s humanity were enabling each other and committing the most horrific murders….and it was far too close to home. These weren’t gruesome stories ripped from the headlines in California or New York. This was happening right around the corner, and you could cut the anxiety around here with a proverbial knife.

Since then, I’ve almost habitually kept my eye on those cases. Like a part-time job. I learned everything I could - even the most inhuman of details. I felt it my responsibility, not because I enjoyed it, but because I wanted so badly to understand why this could happen, and what kind of people were capable of it. It truly felt like I was respecting the victims by trying desperately to understand the monsters that ended their beautiful lives. Those victims names were: Tammy Homolka, Leslie Mahaffy, and Kristen French. Always remember the names of the innocent. They have families who love them.

In case this isn’t obvious, it’s really important to note that when we say we are “unusually devoted” to True Crime, we don’t mean that we are in any way glorifying the murders. Far from it. Law and Order SVU chose the best word to describe it: heinous. These are horror stories and we are entirely on the victim’s side, always.

I’m glad that’s out of the way.

So why are women consuming so much of this subject matter? Ashley and I agree that the rise of True Crime popularity among women seems to be aligned with the trajectory of a larger conversation about sexual harassment and assault. In her words, “women are pissed”. We are that. It’s hard not be when you hear statistics like, 82% of all juvenile victims, and 90% of adult rape victims are female. Leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, doesn’t it ladies? If knowledge is power, then we are getting really, really power hungry…and content producers are well aware.

That’s fine. Keep pumping out information for us to consume, exchange and learn from. I’d like to see more “I Survived” episodes than cold cases as a result. I’d like to think that we’re forcing men to think for at least one more beat longer before they think of us as weak, easy prey. I am terrified of home invasions, that’s my nightmare. Hence, I have made sure I can fit through every window in our house. I know how to unlock and lock everything in two seconds or less. I have a “weapon” handy in every room and corner, and I have rehearsed how I would use it to save myself. I am acutely aware of my surroundings, and of the people within a 50 metre radius of me at all times. I run really fast. I have a lifetime of un-medicated rage issues just waiting to crest when the moment strikes.

If you are a female, aged 18-34, you are categorically consuming the most content in this genre. The amount of access that we have to the power of information should be a formative moment in our relationship with crime, in fact, it’s a snapshot moment. In 20, 50, 100 years, generations after us will look back at why we were obsessed with True Crime, and more importantly, what it says about us. I hope it means that the number of assaults starts to decrease. I hope it means there are more survivors of attacks. I hope it means there are less cold cases, and more justice for the innocent.

Please don’t send me anything vulgar, or compose angry tweets. I mean you can, but then you just don’t get it. I am here to talk about why things matter, and my candid lightheartedness is the only healthy reaction I have to get me through these stories, because we are humans - we aren’t great with dealing with this stuff in general. Ask your therapist why you pay them.

Always be an active viewer, not a passive consumer. My friends, that’s the difference between watching True Crime for sheer entertainment value, and letting it teach you something. Lastly, get a dog with a good bark.