I asked my wife, who watches true crime content on a seemingly daily basis, why she likes it. At first the best she could say is that it's interesting, but then she said there was something about it having really happened that appeals to her. When I asked why she doesn't watch documentaries about other exciting things that happened, she was again unsure.
She said it may be in part because historical documentaries are too similar to what you had to learn in school, whereas true crime is more lurid, and something that isn't taught, so there's no "doing homework" feeling to it. She also mentioned that she tends to avoid the older, "true crime from the 1800s!" content, and gravitates towards modern crimes.
She also said she especially likes the "wife kills husband" stories, but I didn't press her for thoughts on why that's the case.
As some who has gone through spells over the last ten years of listening to every true crime podcast under the sun - the gnarlier the better - I think it comes down to some strange comfort in knowing just how low humanity can go. Maybe comfort is the wrong word, it's hard to put a finger on.
This is so interesting. Especially the piece around people being interested to understand the motivations behind murders. I'm definitely in that category but I'm more on the "curious" and "need to fill knowledge gaps" side than the horror and thrill seeking.
Insightful essay. It has given me pause this morning while I tried to analyze why I enjoyed reading fellow Substack author Mike Cox’s new tongue-in-cheek book “Getting Away with Murder, Learning from ‘Dateline’ (and Other True Crime Shows).”
I asked my wife, who watches true crime content on a seemingly daily basis, why she likes it. At first the best she could say is that it's interesting, but then she said there was something about it having really happened that appeals to her. When I asked why she doesn't watch documentaries about other exciting things that happened, she was again unsure.
She said it may be in part because historical documentaries are too similar to what you had to learn in school, whereas true crime is more lurid, and something that isn't taught, so there's no "doing homework" feeling to it. She also mentioned that she tends to avoid the older, "true crime from the 1800s!" content, and gravitates towards modern crimes.
She also said she especially likes the "wife kills husband" stories, but I didn't press her for thoughts on why that's the case.
As some who has gone through spells over the last ten years of listening to every true crime podcast under the sun - the gnarlier the better - I think it comes down to some strange comfort in knowing just how low humanity can go. Maybe comfort is the wrong word, it's hard to put a finger on.
This is so interesting. Especially the piece around people being interested to understand the motivations behind murders. I'm definitely in that category but I'm more on the "curious" and "need to fill knowledge gaps" side than the horror and thrill seeking.
Insightful essay. It has given me pause this morning while I tried to analyze why I enjoyed reading fellow Substack author Mike Cox’s new tongue-in-cheek book “Getting Away with Murder, Learning from ‘Dateline’ (and Other True Crime Shows).”
Good points 👌
Have you listened to this episode of You're Wrong About? It touches on the phenomenon of women loving true crime in a very interesting way: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2gGviuZwmptcpuZGzmSscv?si=oMrdekOCS7yDybYZscFLAw