The Ethics of True Crime in an Age of Social Media
True crime media is nothing new — society has always had an interest in shocking and gripping cases, especially taboo ones. However, social media platforms like TikTok have sparked conversations about the ethics of true crime. Is it ethical to call true crime “entertainment?” Emma Saunders ’24 attempts to sort through the convoluted tangle of opinions on the intersections of social media and true crime.
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Debates about how true crime should be treated in the media and whether or not it can be considered a “hobby” to consume people’s lived experiences and trauma as podcasts, television shows, movies, books, etc. have risen to the forefront of social media.
This discourse was first brought to my attention a few months ago when a TikTok sound by @joecastlebaker was trending, and it said: “Her arms were cut off. Her legs were cut off. Her ears were cut off. Her tongue was cut off. Her nose was cut off. Her eyeballs were plucked out. Her eyebrows were then waxed. Her tongue was sliced open. Her hair was cut off.”
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The sound parodied true crime podcasts that describe murders in similar detail, but what surprised me were the 38,000 videos using it. One video using the sound said, “Me peacefully falling asleep to a crime/murder documentary,” with a written caption that noted, “IDK why it’s so relaxing.” Another video similarly said, “Me watching crime shows to relax.” These online comments raise alarming questions regarding the creation and consumption of true crime media.
Murder mysteries and media revolving around crime are nothing new in popular culture. I am the first to admit to having a Criminal Minds phase and then a subsequent “Buzzfeed Unsolved” fixation. Most people have some amount of morbid curiosity, and the rise of social media has made me more desensitized than my parents and grandparents to descriptions of violence like the sounds above. However, the release of Ryan Murphy’s “Dahmer” in September 2022 has revived discussions about the ethics of consuming media related to true crime and how true crime should be treated in film and television.
From what I have observed on social media, there are two sides to the discourse about “Dahmer” and, by extension, true crime media as a whole. The first side focuses more on considering the ethics of dramatizing stories of victims whose families are still alive. Rita Isbell, whose brother Errol Lindsey was one of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims, shared her view on the show’s portrayal of her family’s tragedy.
“If the show benefitted [the families] in some way, it wouldn’t feel so harsh and careless. It’s sad that they’re just making money off of this tragedy. That’s just greed,” she told Insider in a statement following the show’s release. Many people carried this message forward and began speaking out about the damage that media like “Dahmer” does, not only to the people affected by the crimes portrayed but also to the sensitivity and morality of viewers who do not seem to recognize the effects of the media they consume.
TikTok user @nothaja sums up these concerns in her video addressed to fans of the show: “You know as well as I know that these were real people with real lives … these [victims] still have friends that are alive, mothers [and] children that are alive to this day that are possibly on this app, but you don’t care.”
The other side of this discourse reacted oppositely — people began posting that they wished “Dahmer” had been more graphic despite its TV-MA rating for violence, gore, and frightening scenes. Some of these viewers bragged that they were unfazed by the violent acts in the show, sparking heavy backlash. However, some of the more intense fans of true crime and Jeffrey Dahmer himself admitted that they wished the show had featured a more realistic and graphic depiction of Dahmer’s murders.
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One fan of the show in a now-deleted TikTok stated: “I’m highly obsessed with crime show/murder mysteries. Y’all not about to come for me for being into stuff like that. Y’all are the problem for tryna cancel people for no reason. If I wanted to see him cut people’s heads off and eat people, I will say that.”
This statement seems to represent the disconnect that many have between consuming fiction and supporting media that profits off of the dramatization of victims’ stories. I understand the appeal of wanting to sit down and read a good murder mystery; Agatha Christie is one of the most famous fiction writers in the world for a reason. However, being “obsessed with murder mysteries” is not the same as wanting to see real murders play out in all of their gruesome detail.
Western society is no stranger to a fascination with murder and its perpetrators. I’d be shocked to meet anyone who hadn’t heard of infamous cases like “Jack the Ripper” and “The Zodiac Killer.” However, the rapid development of social media has given true crime fanatics a platform, allowing comments like the following from @tearsofacid1437 on TikTok to go viral: “It might sound crazy but I do love Dahmer. Do I like or agree with what he did? No. But I have my reasons to why I like him.” Social media allows for the formation of communities of like-minded people, but they can easily perpetuate dangerous and harmful ideas.
Many fans of true crime argue that it is not the killer’s story that is being told, but rather, the stories of their victims. However, many point out that this seems more like an excuse than a valid argument. After all, there are very few shows that are advertised as stories about victims rather than perpetrators, and this is evident in their titles alone. “The Jeffrey Dahmer Files,” “My Friend Dahmer,” “Fresh Meat: Jeffrey Dahmer,” “Hunting Ted Bundy,” “House of Manson,” “Charlie Says, Manson: Music from an Unsound Mind,” “Charles Manson: The Final Words,” “Manson Family Vacation,” “Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman,” and “Menendez: Blood Brothers” are just a few examples. The constant retelling of the lives of serial killers ensures that their names are never forgotten. If these stories were being told for the sake of the victims, we would remember the victims’ names instead.
The intention of this article is not to criticize fans of true crime or even the genre itself — there is value in understanding what one can do to keep oneself safe in threatening situations. However, I would urge fans of the genre both to think about the intentions underlying their consumption as well as consider who is being affected by this “entertainment.”
