Scholarly Articles:
Bearden, Wade. “Jinxed and Serialed: Why True-Crime Dramas Are Making a Comeback.” Christianity Today, vol. 59, no. 6, July 2015, pp. 88–89. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLAiG0M160415001234 &site=eds-live.
This article talks about how true crime dramas are more popular than ever.
From this article, I learned that the appeal of true crime shows has never disappeared over the years. These shows strike a deep, enigmatic chord with viewers. These shows captivate us and even after watching them, we want to know more and try to do even more research on the internet. True crime shows evoke strong emotions with the viewer because it is real and the actions cannot be undone. It is not fictional, it is real. They also appeal to us because we are fascinated by the murderers and how they are able to justify their crimes.
Rachel Franks. True Crime: The Regular Reinvention of a Genre. Vol. 1, no. 2, 2018, pp. 239– 254. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspxdirect=true&db=edspmu&AN=edspmu.S23807687162 00076&site=eds-live
This article discusses how true crime shows are able to stay popular.
I learned that true crime shows are able to stay popular because they capture and hold people’s imagination. These shows provide entertainment as well as information and insight on how crimes happen in our society. This article looks at how society has always been interested in true crime from books and newspaper to television. True crime is a genre that will always be deep-rooted in popular culture.
Non-scholarly articles:
Campbell, Maude. “The Time of True Crime.” Popular Mechanics, 26 Apr. 2019, https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/a27271779/true-crime-genre/.
This article talks about the popularity of true crime shows.
True crime began as a type of entertainment that appealed to all social classes. In the beginning, it was considered to be taboo and trashy, however, in the 1970s, it changed and became more acceptable. This was because of Ted Bundy, who at the time was getting a lot of media attention. We are intrigued not only by the murders but by the science and psychology that drives a killer. In today’s society, we cannot escape true crime as it is everywhere. This genre has become so popular that many true crime shows are available on streaming services like Huluand Netflix. In addition, there is now a channel available, Investigation Discovery, that deals solely with true crime programming.
McCarthy, Erin. “12 Reasons We Love True Crime, According to the Experts.” Mental Floss, 10 Oct. 2018, http://www.mentalfloss.com/article/559256/why-we-love-true-crime.
This article discuses twelve reasons why true crime is popular.
I learned that it is normal to like watching true crime series to an extent. It is popular because we are fascinated with evil. We are curious to know why people commit such crimes and what drives them to it. In addition, murder or killings are always on the news so we are exposed this daily since the 1950s. These shows are also popular because we can learn from them. For example, women can learn how to protect themselves in case an attack. Humans like to solve puzzles and murder mysteries are the greatest puzzle of all. We watch to try and see if we can solve these cases.
Artifact:
McDermott, Geno, director. Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez. Blackfin and Makemake, 2020. Netflix, http://www.netflix.com
This is a true crime documentary about football player, Aaron Hernandez, who was convicted for the murder of Odin Lloyd.
This documentary examines the life of Aaron Hernandez and what led him to commit murder. It talks about his difficult childhood and relationship with his parents. This fascinates us because he was a football star turned murderer which, of course, no one expected. I learned a lot about his life and how some of the events in his life might have affected him, psychologically. People watched this series because they were curious about his life and why he would murder someone he considered a friend, Odin Lloyd.
Experiential research:
It is evident that true crime shows are popular in today’s society because of all the speciality channels that are dedicated to this. In my own house, true crime shows are one of the more popular genres that we watch. We watch shows such as Forensic Filesand The First 48. These deal with real life murders, how and why they were committed, and eventually, how they were solved. These shows are very interesting because they look at different perspectives from the victim to the perpetrator to the police who solved the crime. We get to see how the criminal mind works and what drives them which satisfies our curiosity. I also watched Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez and I was so curious to find out why someone, who seemed to be so successful, would commit murder. He was a popular football player, had a fiancée and a daughter, yet he threw it all away.
Library Visit:
I went to the Saint-Leonard public library and met with a librarian named Diane. She was a very nice lady but unfortunately, she was not very helpful. I explained to her that I needed to find research on true crime and television. She gave me the section where I could go look but when I went there were only books on crime fiction which has nothing to do with my topic. She did not come to help me search for a book, she just basically said that that was the only books available. I am not sure if she just did not understand what I was looking for or if she simply, did not want to help.
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