Dahmer - thoughts on the popularity of such shows

[ToPleaseHim]

Like a lot people, I’ve been listening to podcasts, watching documentaries, and watching dramatized fiction all related to serial killers. I’ve long been interested in these types of shows, but the popularity in recent years has increased the availability of all types of media. I wonder if it’s morbid curiosity, a desire to learn from history and try to stay safe, something else, or a combination of all that have led to the popularity. What are your thoughts?

Also, it’s always shocking what people got away with in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. It seems like it should be much harder to get away with similar crimes today, but serial killers still find a way.

 

[ToPleaseHim]

The popularity of Dahmer also brought to light the concerns of living relatives of the victims. The plight of these relatives, the pain they experience as their loved ones deaths are used for entertainment. It’s a lot to consider.

I think the value of people knowing about these dark historic events merits the publication. But, I am sympathetic to the victims’ families. I’m not sure where the line is, though….

 

[JohnEBbad]

I guess I'd like to know what happened to those kids in Idaho.
I'm just not all that interested in all the "Ripper" types past...

 

[ToPleaseHim]

I guess I'd like to know what happened to those kids in Idaho.
I'm just not all that interested in all the "Ripper" types past...

Definitely want to know what happened in this case, too. Hard to believe it’s already been more than a month.

 

[y=mx+b]

I think the interest in such is similar to that of pornography or pimple popping videos.

 

[patient1]

[ a desire to learn from history and try to stay safe,] I think it's mostly this and morbid curiosity. People may tune in out of a desire to stay safe, but I think there are just as many who can't look away when they come across it. Like a car wreck.

 

[Btq97]

There are numerous netflix offerings that are murder porn. Countless different youtube channels about true crime. Will admit to having a passing interest in these shows. But I often wonder how much of the science is left out. They could be viewed as how not to get caught 101.

 

[y=mx+b]

There are numerous netflix offerings that are murder porn. Countless different youtube channels about true crime. Will admit to having a passing interest in these shows. But I often wonder how much of the science is left out. They could be viewed as how not to get caught 101.

...or to further inspiration.

 

[IrisAlthea]

I think Mr Linear Equation and patient1 nailed it. Morbid curiosity, a kind of revulsed fascination and as social media has shown: people like to be outraged and appaled.
For the unresolved crimes and disappearances, I think the inner Nancy Drew comes out to play too.

 

[twister947]

I followed the search for Gabrielle Petito like a bloodhound.

 

[twister947]

I guess I'd like to know what happened to those kids in Idaho.
I'm just not all that interested in all the "Ripper" types past...

Suspect arrested in PA this morning.

 

[AlexBailey]

A eighteen year old friend of my kids murdered two members of his foster family and severely wounded another. He was sentenced to life in prison where he regularly receives fan mail.

 

[AlexBailey]

I also know a former member of the Manson Family who wasn’t part of the infamous killings but her name is well known. She still occasionally gets approached by people wanting to interview her or sign autographs.

 

[butters]

i've been giving this some thought. For me, there's a real fascination about the human motives behind the actions: the whys and whats of how they became the sort of person capable of doing such things. Beyond that, there's the intellectual curiosity of how they were finally caught, and seeing how evidence was missed that could have concluded the search earlier.

I honestly don't get a kick out of the details of the actual crime, but enjoy the science behind (for instance) how the forensics of a wound might show the type of knife or gun used, the angles and so on. I can view the pictures of horrific stuff and not bat an eye, seeing it through a clinical lens. Not so for the families and loved ones of the victims, you can be sure. That emotional connection isn't one most viewers will make. It must be so frustrating and anger-inducing, painful and sorrowful for the families... I'm sure they by and large hate the fact viewers are being fed this stuff as a form of 'entertainment'. It adds to their pain.

Perhaps, then, the kind of programmes mostly out there on these subjects shouldn't exist, the facts of cases better left to people who opt to study them via courses of online or in-house information. Accessible enough that people can reach the material if they want it, without it being transmitted in prime time or movie format with the real aim of financial gain. This would also reduce the amount of 'fame' the murderer's name engenders, the amount of copycatting (though, again, someone serious enough to want to know detail enough to pull that off would find it anyway), and largely mute the swell of inspirational murders that spread out like rings on water over time. The name of the murderer would become insignificant, the victims' names being those remembered.

 

[jaF0]

The very last case I paid any real attention to (no stuff!!) was Hayward Brown, John Percy Boyd and Mark Clyde Bethune. And years later I found out a lot of what I remember was not exactly what happened.

I had a passing interest in the Vicky White/Casey White case, but that faded out when they were caught. Also minor curiosity about the Murdaugh case.

I just don't much care about the underbelly of society any more.

 

[DickandDoof]

I’m still obsessed with finding out who killed JFK. Hint: it wasn’t Lee Harvey Oswald.

 

[ToPleaseHim]

I’m still obsessed with finding out who killed JFK. Hint: it wasn’t Lee Harvey Oswald.

I haven’t dug into this outside of the most common sources of info. I’m intrigued. Anything you suggest reading or watching?

 

[jaF0]

It was those space aliens that Mexico has the bodies of stashed away.

 

[Jd192235]

I’ve met and chatted w the cop that arrested dahmer. It’s quite fascinating

 

[DickandDoof]

I haven’t dug into this outside of the most common sources of info. I’m intrigued. Anything you suggest reading or watching?

There have been so many books written about the Kennedy assassination, Amazon alone lists over 900 books in English. Some have suggested there are up to 2,000 books on the subject. That’s not including films, documentaries, videos, magazine articles etc. The books are written from every possible perspective, and a few highly improbable ones. But they all break down into basically one-of-three camps:

1. Kennedy was the victim of a conspiracy that involved any or all of: the mob, CIA, FBI, Secret Service, U.S. military, Kennedy’s successor Lyndon Johnson, the Dallas Police Force, Castro, anti-communists Cubans, the surgeons who conducted JFK’s autopsy, and a cast of thousands. There were as many as four shooters, one of whom may or may not have been Lee Harvey Oswald.

2. Kennedy was shot by one gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, who was an alienated loner looking to make a name for himself. Oswald spent time in Russia with his native wife Marina, trying to defect and doing who knows what else. He fired all of the shots at the President, including the fatal one. He was murdered by a very distraught night club owner, Jack Ruby.

3. Oswald was part of a conspiracy to assassinate the President. He was a secret agent working for either the CIA or the Russians. He may have been anti-Castro/Cuba or he may have been pro-Castro/Cuba. He may have been part of the shooting team that killed Kennedy, or he may have been exactly who he said he was, “a patsy” who was framed and blamed for the assassination. Even J. Edgar Hoover believed that there was at least one Oswald impersonator who presented himself to the Russian embassy in Mexico City and had tape and voice recordings to prove it. Jack Ruby was hired (or ordered) by the mob or CIA (he had connections to both) to kill Oswald because Oswald could provide evidence of the conspiracy.


Obviously, I wouldn’t suggest that you try to read 900-2,000 books or even a representative sample. I sure didn’t try. I would recommend reading Mark Lane’s Rush to Judgement and Jim Marrs’ Crossfire, both of which embrace the conspiracy theory. Personally, I couldn’t stomach reading any of the lone gunman books because to me the “theories” and “facts” underlying them were patent nonsense, but if you want to read something from that perspective, I understand that Vincent Bugliosi’s Reclaiming History and Gerald Posner’s Case Closed are highly regarded.

I’m glad if my comments have rekindled your interest in the Kennedy assassination. If you read any of the books I’ve recommended or other books on this topic, I’d be interested in hearing about any conclusions to which you may have come.