True crime

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For other uses, see True Crime.

True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people.

The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 percent focus on tales of serial killers.[1][2] True crime comes in many forms, such as books, films, podcasts, and television shows. Many works in this genre recount high-profile, sensational crimes such as the JonBenét Ramsey killing, the O. J. Simpson murder case, and the Pamela Smart murder, while others are devoted to more obscure slayings.

True crime works can impact the crimes they cover and the audience who consumes it.[3] The genre is often criticized for being insensitive to the victims and their families and is described by some as trash culture.[4]

History[]

Murder pamphlet, 1812

Zhang Yingyu's The Book of Swindles (c. 1617) is a late Ming dynasty collection of stories about allegedly true cases of fraud.[5] Works in the related Chinese genre of court case fiction (gong'an xiaoshuo), such as the 16th-century Cases of Magistrate Bao, were either inspired by historical events or else purely fictional.

Hundreds of pamphlets, broadsides, chapbooks and other street literature about murders and other crimes were published from 1550 to 1700 in Britain as literacy increased and cheap new printing methods became widespread. They varied in style: some were sensational, while others conveyed a moral message. Most were purchased by the "artisan class and above", as the lower classes did not have the money or time to read them. Ballads were also created, the verses of which were posted on walls around towns, that were told from the perpetrator's point of view in an attempt to understand the psychological motivations of the crime. Such pamphlets remained in circulation in the 19th century in Britain and the United States, even after widespread crime journalism was introduced via the penny press.[6]

Thomas De Quincey published the essay "On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts" in Blackwood's Magazine in 1827, which focused not on the murder or the murderer but on how society views crime.[6]

Starting in 1889, Scottish lawyer William Roughead wrote and published essays for six decades about notable British murder trials he attended, with many of these essays collected in the 2000 book Classic Crimes. Many regard Roughead "as the dean of the modern true crime genre."[7]

An American pioneer of the genre was Edmund Pearson, who was influenced in his style of writing about crime by De Quincey. Pearson published a series of books of this type starting with Studies in Murder in 1924 and concluding with More Studies in Murder in 1936. Before being collected in his books, Pearson's true crime stories typically appeared in magazines like Liberty, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair. Inclusion in these high-class magazines distinguished Pearson's crime narratives from those found in the penny press.[8] The foreword of a 1964 anthology of Pearson's stories contains an early mention of the term "true crime" as a genre.[9]

Truman Capote's "non-fiction novel" In Cold Blood (1965) is usually credited with establishing the modern novelistic style of the genre[1] and the one that rocketed it to great profitability.[8]

Forms[]

Books[]

True crime books often center on sensational, shocking, or strange events, particularly murder. Even though murder makes up less than 20% of reported crime, it is present in most true crime stories. Typically, these books report on a crime from the beginning of its investigation to its legal proceedings.[10] Serial killers have been a highly profitable sub-genre. An informal survey conducted by Publishers Weekly in 1993 concluded that the more popular true crime books focus on serial killers, with the more gruesome and grotesque content performing even better.[8]

Some true crime works are "instant books" produced quickly to capitalize on popular demand; these have been described as "more than formulaic" and hyper-conventional.[11] Others may reflect years of thoughtful research and inquiry and may have considerable literary merit.[1]

A milestone of the genre was Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song (1979), which was the first book in the genre to win a Pulitzer Prize.[12]

Other prominent true crime accounts include Truman Capote's In Cold Blood;[13] the best-selling true crime book of all time Helter Skelter, by the lead Manson family prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry;[14] and Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me, about Ted Bundy.[13] An example of a modern true crime book is I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara.[15] Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City gives a novelistic account of H. H. Holmes' operations during the 1893 World's Fair.

In 2006, Associated Content stated that since the start of the 21st century, the genre of writing that was growing the quickest was true crime. Much of this is due to the ease of recycling materials and the publication of numerous volumes by the same authors differing only by minor updates.[16] The majority of readers of true crime books are women.[17][18]

Films and television[]

True crime documentaries have been a growing medium in the last several decades. One of the most influential documentaries in this process was The Thin Blue Line, directed by Errol Morris. This documentary, among others, feature reenactments, although other documentary filmmakers choose not to use them since they don't show the truth.[19] Other prominent documentaries include Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, Making a Murderer, The Jinx, and The Keepers.[20]

In the early 1990s, a boom of true crime films began in Hong Kong. These films ranged from graphic Category III-rated films such as The Untold Story and Dr. Lamb (based on serial killers Wong Chi Hang and Lam Kor-wan, respectively) to more general audience fare such as the film Crime Story (based on the kidnapping of businessman Teddy Wang Tei-huei), which featured action star Jackie Chan.[21][22]

Podcasts[]

Podcasts with a true crime theme are a recent trend. The 2014 true crime podcast Serial broke podcasting records when it achieved 5 million downloads on iTunes quicker than any previous podcast.[23][24][25] As of September 2018, it has been downloaded more than 340 million times.[26] It has been followed by other true crime podcasts such as Dirty John, My Favorite Murder, Up and Vanished, Parcast series such as Cults, Female Criminals and Mind's Eye, Someone Knows Something, and many more.[27]

Podcasts have now expanded to more sites such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and many more. They exist to provide others an easy way to learn about true crime murders and mysteries. Spotify has an expanding number of true crime podcasts with Rotten Mango, Conviction American Panic, Bed of Lies, Catch & Kill among many more. This genre has been on the rise as psychologist, Amanda Vicary, said her report found “women were most drawn to true crime stories that gave them tips for spotting danger and staying alive”.[28]

It's been speculated that fear could play a role in the popularity of true crime podcasts. These podcasts often recount horrific crimes, which triggers the fear response and the release of adrenaline in the body. Due to the possibility of bingeing podcasts, adrenaline rushes can be experienced in quick bursts.[29] Another explanation for the popularity of true crime podcasts is due to the serialized nature of crime, in which events happen one after another. Podcasts that explore a crime episodically can utilize this aspect in their storytelling.[29]

Effects[]

The investigative process of the true crime genre can lead to changes in the cases being covered, such as when Robert Durst seemingly confessed to murder in the documentary The Jinx and was arrested.[30][31]

A study conducted in 2011, in Nebraska, showed that consuming non-fiction crime shows (aka true crime) is correlated with an increased fear of being a victim of crime. As the frequency of watching true crime shows increased, support for the death penalty increased, while support for the criminal justice system decreased.[32]

In Australia, the amount of reports given to the crime reporting network Crime Stoppers Australia that led to charges being pressed doubled from 2012 to 2017. This increased interest in crime is attributed to popular true crime podcasts.[33]

The Netflix show Making A Murderer has had a range of real-life effects, ranging from the show being shown in law schools as instructional material to increased mistrust in criminal investigators.[34]

Criticism[]

The true crime genre has been criticized as being disrespectful to crime victims and their families. Author Jack Miles believes this genre has a high potential to cause harm and mental trauma to the real people involved.[35] True crime media can be produced without the consent of the victim's family, which can lead to their being re-traumatized.[36] Recent discussions about the consumption of true crime media have also focused on the impact on the audience's mental health.[3]

Depending on the writer, true crime can adhere strictly to well-established facts in journalistic fashion or can be highly speculative.[11] Writers can selectively choose which information to present and which to leave out in order to support their narrative.[36][37] Author Christiana Gregoriou analyzed several books of the genre and concluded that tabloidization and fictionalization are pervasive in the works of some of the authors of true crime literature. In some cases, even books by the same author disagree on specifics about the same killer or events.[11] For instance, some facts reported in Capote's In Cold Blood were challenged in 2013.[38] Capote's second attempt at a true crime book, Handcarved Coffins (1979), despite being subtitled "Nonfiction Account of an American Crime", was already noted for containing significant fictional elements.[39]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c David Levinson (2002). Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment. SAGE Publications. pp. 1019–1021. ISBN 978-0-7619-2258-2.
  2. ^ Ray Surette (2010). Media, Crime and Criminal Justice: Images, Realities, and Policies. Cengage Learning. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-495-80914-2.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "How True Crime Shows Affect Your Brain, According To Trauma Therapists". Elite Daily. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  4. ^ "True Crime and the Trash Balance". Longreads. Automattic. 2019-01-18. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  5. ^ Christopher Rea and Bruce Rusk, "Translators' Introduction," in Zhang Yingyu, The Book of Swindles: Selections from a Late Ming Collection (New York: Columbia University Press, 2017).
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "The Bloody History of the True Crime Genre". JSTOR Daily. Ithaka Harbors. 2016-08-24. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  7. ^ "Arthur Conan Doyle, True Detective". The New Republic. Archived from the original on January 7, 2020. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c David Schmid (2010). Charles J. Rzepka; Lee Horsley (eds.). A Companion to Crime Fiction. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4443-1792-3.
  9. ^ Pearson, Edmund Lester (1964). Masterpieces of Murder. Hutchinson. pp. xi.
  10. ^ "True Crime." World of Criminal Justice, Gale, edited by Shirelle Phelps, Gale, 1st edition, 2002. Credo Reference. Accessed 02 Dec. 2018.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b c Christiana Gregoriou (2011). Language, Ideology and Identity in Serial Killer Narratives. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-203-83265-3.
  12. ^ Ralph F. Voss (2011). Truman Capote and the Legacy of 'In Cold Blood'. University of Alabama Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-8173-1756-0.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "Women and the evolution of true crime". The Economist. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  14. ^ Cruz, Lenika (2015-06-11). "The New True Crime: Telling Stories About Murder for the 21st Century". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  15. ^ "Michelle McNamara Died Pursuing the Golden State Killer. Her Husband, Patton Oswalt, Has Questions for Him". Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  16. ^ Christiana Gregoriou (2011). Language, Ideology and Identity in Serial Killer Narratives. Taylor & Francis. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-203-83265-3.
  17. ^ Browder, Laura (December 2006). "Dystopian Romance: True Crime and the Female Reader". Journal of Popular Culture. 39 (6): 928–953. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2006.00328.x.
  18. ^ Abbott, Megan. "Why do we — women in particular — love true crime books? - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  19. ^ "True crime and the rise of the docudrama". The Hub. 2018-01-30. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  20. ^ "12 True Crime Documentaries You Should Stream Right Now". Time. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  21. ^ "A history of violence: 4 gruesome killings that shocked Hong Kong". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  22. ^ THOMAS, KEVIN (1994-02-25). "MOVIE REVIEW : An Action-Packed 'Crime Story' : Martial arts superstar Jackie Chan cuts the clowning when he sets out to rescue a kidnaped Hong Kong tycoon". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  23. ^ Dredge, Stuart (November 18, 2014). "Serial podcast breaks iTunes records as it passes 5m downloads and streams". The Guardian. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  24. ^ Carr, David. "'Serial,' Podcasting's First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  25. ^ "What 'Serial'-mania says about the growing popularity of podcasts". NewsHour. PBS. December 11, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  26. ^ Spangler, Todd (2018-09-05). "'Serial' Season 3 Podcast Premiere Date Set". Variety. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  27. ^ Nelson, Hillary. "52 Great True-Crime Podcasts". Vulture.com. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  28. ^ "Why Are So Many People Fascinated by True Crime? Here's How Experts Explain the Attraction". Health.com. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  29. ^ Jump up to: a b Stahl, Michael (2017-04-13). "Why True Crime and Podcasts Were Made for Each Other". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  30. ^ Cruz, Lenika (2015-06-11). "The New True Crime: Telling Stories About Murder for the 21st Century". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  31. ^ Hamilton, Matt. "HBO's 'The Jinx' played key role in 'urgent' timing of Robert Durst's arrest, prosecutors say". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  32. ^ Kort-Butler, Lisa A.; Sittner Hartshorn, Kelley J. (Winter 2011). "Watching The Detectives: Crime Programming, Fear of Crime, and Attitudes About the Criminal Justice System". The Sociological Quarterly. 52 (1): 36–55. doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.2010.01191.x. JSTOR 23027459. PMID 21337735.
  33. ^ "True crime podcast fans help solve real crimes". ABC News. 2018-10-08. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  34. ^ Thompson, Andy. "'Making a Murderer' impact far-reaching". Post-Crescent Media. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  35. ^ Miles, Jack (December 1991). "Imagining Mayhem: Fictional Violence vs. 'True Crime'". The North American Review. 276 (4): 57–64. JSTOR 25125321.
  36. ^ Jump up to: a b Bradford, Lauren (2016-05-02). "My family was traumatised first by a murder, then by the TV serialisation". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  37. ^ Brockes, Emma (2016-04-17). "HBO's Confirmation: how far is too far when it comes to retelling the truth?". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  38. ^ Helliker, Kevin. "In Depth: Long-Lost Files Cast Doubt on 'In Cold Blood'." Wall Street Journal Europe. 19 Feb 2013: 14+.
  39. ^ Ralph F. Voss (2011). Truman Capote and the Legacy of "In Cold Blood". University of Alabama Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-8173-1756-0.
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