Should I be convicted for loving true crime?

How the rise in true crime motivates us to fix the criminal justice system

MEGAN VALADEZ / ASST. OPINION EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

The true crime genre is driven by the telling of real, horrifying events that ruined or ended lives.

Hot take: it is my guilty pleasure. I’m interested in the darkest and worst things people have done – and that’s something I wish was not true about myself. This genre is growing and there is a cultural obsession with it. 

Let’s take a step back in the history of true crime. Hundreds of years ago, preachers would give sermons on different kinds of crimes and their elements, and how to save one’s soul. There was always a moral lesson. Therefore, crime has always been a sort of public spectacle. 

Now, as social creatures who are able to access and share information so easily, everything happens in real-time, which makes us feel like we are part of the story. Podcasts, documentaries, and social media platforms are at our fingertips and have helped ignite the genre. 

I find that I am always defending myself for enjoying true crime because I don’t think there are that many people that are interested in it. But, I think it incorporates more than just storytelling or raising awareness – it also speaks to the increasing distrust in government, society, and law enforcement. 

There is an article in The Guardian by Amelia Tait, where she writes that true crime can offer a sense of informal justice. For example, we may not get court convictions for cases, but we get people who are riveted by these cases and people who want to start discussions about them. 

What I have found is that the more I delve into this true crime atmosphere, the more desensitized I’ve become to the harm that people actually experience and the injustices that so many people feel. True crime has turned into a “fandom” which I have found somewhat troubling. But I also think the sense of trouble I feel is because I just want the genre to do as much good as it possibly can. 

There are many deeply researched and reported true crime podcasts and documentaries. But, there are also certain situations where I find true crime to be problematic, such as true crime that is exploitative, disrespectful of the victim, or that provides no real insight, education, or information about what happened or what went wrong. There are podcasts that sell t-shirts with the phrase, “Stay sexy, don’t get murdered,” which greatly implies that there was something the victim did and makes it seem like the incident was their fault. On the other hand, “Suspect” is a wonderful podcast that spends time doing investigative research and stands up for victims. 

Being obsessed with true crime also has its downfalls. Listening to endless podcasts and watching hours of documentaries can result in something called “mean world syndrome.” Mean world syndrome is a cognitive bias where people may perceive the world to be more dangerous than it actually is, due to the heavy exposure of violence-related content on mass media. 

But, there is education in true crime. There is education we receive within stories we have never heard of before, and there is also education that teaches us how perpetrators operate and how to keep ourselves safe. 

As a woman, I have always been well aware of my surroundings, well before I started getting into true crime. What I have learned though, is ways in which I can help others in case something happens to me. In the podcast “Crime Junkie,” the hosts encourage all people to keep an “If I Go Missing Folder.” Being the crazy, self-aware person I am, I created one. It keeps information regarding my appearance, such as my birthmarks, tattoos, scars, piercings, and even jewelry I always wear. It has information on my bank accounts, my phone carrier information, and social media accounts. 

It also says at the bottom of my “If I Go Missing Folder,” in bold letters, that I would never run away voluntarily. I say this because in almost every single story I hear on a true crime podcast, the first thing law enforcement always says is “She might have just ran off with some friends” or “She might have just ran away from home.” In many of these stories, law enforcement tells families they cannot report someone to be missing after a day or two waiting period, which is not true at all. Often, those first few days are the most crucial days, as there are still chances of the victims being alive. 

Race also plays a huge role in true crime. There’s a phrase in the true crime world, coined by journalist Gwen Ifill, called “missing white woman syndrome.” A lot of the crimes we hear about on podcasts and documentaries are crimes against white women, usually committed by white men. 

In true crime, victimized white women always “lit up a room.” But when the story is about a non-white woman, such as Indigenous, Black, or Hispanic women, they are viewed as being culpable for what happened to them. This is extremely reflective of how this country values different identities and ethnicities, whether that be a person of color, an elderly person, or a person with disabilities. This is not an issue that is specific to the true crime genre, but rather a much broader conversation about who we value and what lives matter in this country. 

All in all, true crime reflects society, and if society has all  these biases and awful ways of representing people, true crime is going to do the same unintentionally. It passively reflects the world we live in. 

True crime content makes it clear how institutions are failing to get people justice. It has empowered the average citizen to understand more about how things work in the justice system. We now have actors telling stories, including victims’ families and advocates, as well as defenders. 

We need all of these people in order to understand how the justice system works and what needs to be done to fix it. This has forced many listeners to rethink assumptions about who the system is for, who it is benefiting, and who is losing freedom. 

True crime has improved greatly. Years ago, people who consumed true crime just accepted the word of law enforcement and did not want to unpack the larger societal issues and delve into the brokenness of the system. 

We still need to do a lot more work within the true crime genre. We need to make podcasters, directors, and creators work to tell the stories of all people – regardless of race, gender, sexuality, disability, or age – because I can tell you right now that there are a lot more people than your average straight, white woman going missing or being murdered.