There was a fascinating article in the Washington Post magazine recently on how stories about true crime impact the survivors of those crimes. I am really into crime stories, but mostly fiction (Broadchurch, Elizabeth George, Tana French). True crime often leaves me a little uneasy, for the reasons discussed in the article—is it exploiting the trauma of others?
In particular, I was really uncomfortable with Serial because victim Hae Min Lee’s family refused to speak with them and asked them not to revisit the crime. At the same time, as the article discusses, true crime stories that garner a lot of attention may yield leads in unsolved cases, and renewed law enforcement attention.
Finally, the article also notes the disparity in coverage—the victims in true crime stories (and those who consume them) are overwhelmingly white and female, while homicide victims generally are overwhelmingly black and male. This both reinforces stereotypes in our society about vulnerability and danger, and robs the majority of victims of a possible path to attention that could lead to a break in their case.