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(Im leaving podcasts out of this, otherwise this list would be far longer.)
What is it about true crime that keeps us coming back for more blow-poke theories and rehashed courtroom trials?
Arecent HuffPost articlequoted a psychology professor, Amanda Vicary, who says true-crime stories may trigger our survival instincts.
people are also learning about ways to prevent becoming a victim themselves.
TV has basically trained us for this true-crime moment.
Shows likeThe StaircaseorMaking a Murdererdont work that way.
They demand that we dedicate multiple hours to watching a single perpetrator wind his way through the judicial system.
They require attention and commitment, and tend to encourage viewers to analyze evidence on their own or online.
Which is not so different from the way mystery box shows likeLost,Heroes,WestworldorThe Leftoversoperate.
They raise questions that then lead to other questions.
Basically, theyre the kinds of shows engineered to provide fodder for Reddit threads.
True-crime shows do that, too, by similarly turning the viewer into a puzzle-solver.
Fanslove theories, and true-crime shows are teed up perfectly to stoke the desire to develop them.
Back in 2011, Heather Havrileskywrote a piece for the New YorkTimesbemoaning the influence of mystery boxstyle shows.
(For the record, it didnt.)
Which is exactly what many true-crime series do.
Its hard to watchThe Jinxand think, you know, that Robert Durst: he seems pretty innocent.
In real life, there is no such reassurance and often there is no closure.
In other words, exactly the kind of figure who could be the focus of her own anti-heroic drama.
Im not saying that the public would reject true crime if it hadnt been forThe SopranosorBreaking Bad.
A lot of true-crime series dont lay blame directly on a villain.
Our collective obsession with true crime is certainly also guided by something innate about the genre itself.
Then you realize … it all really, actually, did.
Even the most outstanding shows in most other genres cant have that effect.
