Fascination with true crime and fictional crime shows grows

May 21, 2019

By Maya Malizia
Staff Writer

True crime and fictional crime shows are known for fascinating and frightening viewers with their mysterious circumstances and eerie conflicts.

In January, Netflix released the new Ted Bundy Series titled “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.” The show focuses on Bundy’s chilling methods of attempting to prove his innocence by recording himself telling his side of the story. The never-before-heard tapes, which were recorded while he was on death row, reveal Bundy’s love for attention and opposition to the punishment he was awaiting.

Junior Mackenzie Kelly, who watched “Conversations with a Killer,” said she was captivated by the series because of how the plot unraveled. However, she said she would not rely on the episodes to prepare her for any real-life situations.

“It is hard to compare what happened back then [in the 1970s] to how a predator would act now. Times have changed so much because public surveillance and modern technology would make it almost impossible for a predator to get away with even a fraction of what Ted Bundy did,” Kelly said. “I think in today’s world, people have to be more wary of who they talk to online than about coming in contact with a serial killer.”

Forensics teacher Mr. Frew, who has watched “Conversations with a Killer” and references Bundy’s case in some of his lessons, said he might start showing scenes from the series to his students.

“Forensic science is the application of science and techniques to the application of criminal justice,” Frew said.  “Forensics includes things like recognizing and collecting evidence to the examination of individual pieces of evidence to link an individual to a crime and a crime to a victim and vice versa,” Frew said.

He said most crime shows are purely for entertainment and do not represent the time and effort it takes to solve a crime.

“These types of crime shows are designed to entertain and not inform the individual watching them, as the process of analysis can be quite long,” Frew said. “True crime shows are still of value if it sparks one‘s interest to further explore forensics, but one needs to realize that what you watch for entertainment is not reality,” Frew said.

Bundy’s case is also the subject of “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” a movie starring Zac Efron. The film is set to be released in theaters in fall 2019, and Netflix purchased the rights to it for $9 million, according to Bustle.

Netflix has invested heavily in the genre, with “Abducted in Plain Sight” being another one of its true crime documentaries. This hour-and-a-half documentary tells the story of a family  whose 12-year-old daughter was abducted twice by a close friend and neighbor in a church-going community in Idaho in 1970s.

“It was interesting and kept my attention, but it was so unbelievable how the kidnapper was able to get away with all the things he did to the family and the little girl,” Voza said. “I would recommend this show because it was very interesting, and it shows how manipulative some people can be.”

Voza said the genre of true crime has gotten so popular because viewers are interested in why and how people commit crimes.

She said fictional crime shows are equally popular nowadays.

“They show some crimes that are made up but could have easily happened or will happen in real life and how much time and effort it takes to catch the criminal,” Voza said.

She said her favorite fictional crime show is “Criminal Minds.”

“I watch this show because it is so interesting how the criminal creates their act, what goes on through their minds while doing it and how the authorities catch them,” Voza said.

Senior Kara Mueller said she is a fan of fictional crime shows including “Blue Bloods,” “Criminal Minds,” “Law and Order,” “NCIS” and “Psych.” Like Voza, Mueller said her favorite fictional crime show is “Criminal Minds.”

“It has a more psychological approach in which they focus on where the criminal’s mindset is, which really interests me,” Mueller said. “‘Criminal Minds’ gives a lot of examples of what to look out for and certain tendencies that dangerous people sometimes have.”

She said these shows have had a small impact on her day-to-day life.

“I wouldn’t say it scares me, but it definitely keeps me more aware of my surroundings,” said Mueller.