Thanks for the video. I wrote this comment yesterday and it was a long mess, so I had to edit it. .............. True crime as a genre, whether it’s on television, in books, or podcasts, has proliferated to the point where your essay is necessary. I hate that. I wish I saw this essay and thought it was a ridiculous thing. I wish it was over the top, hyperbolic science fiction fantasy. It’s not. We’ve gone far beyond the point where the prominence of these ideas and stories has desensitized the big fan. I suspect that, just like with a poisoned political idea, the true trickle down that happens is behavioral and seeps from politics and into the rest of society. I worry that we have gone beyond desensitization into desire. I want nothing more for the world of peace. I will go to great lengths to relocate a single ant from inside of my house to a place where it will be safe from other murderous humans. However, I sometimes see news stories about these horrible events and, I hate to admit it, but I feel something that feels a little bit like the edge of a thrill. Dammit. It’s hard to admit but it’s true and if someone like me is being affected that way I can’t help but wonder what people with muddled, loose or misinformed morals and ethics are thinking when they see those stories. I told someone I had heard about a shooting and that 10 people were killed. They said: “Oh. That’s not too bad. Only 10?” And then, blithely moved on to talk about important things, like the weather. Do you know the story about the incident from the Los Angeles, bus stop advertising campaign, for the film “Zack and Miri Make A Porno?” The poster for the film had the name of the film, the name of the actors and director, Kevin Smith. The legs and knees of a man and woman, presumably the actors, were visible from the knees down…. nude! Not even a single sock in sight. Parts of the public raised an outcry. They found it morally, repugnant, disgusting and awful.. and I’ll bet they said it was going to destroy the minds and souls of the children of Los Angeles. Not only were the posters taken down, but the name of the film was changed to Zack and Miri. They had to get that offending word out of there. It evoked naked people touching each other. Here’s the interesting part. When the posters were removed from the bus stops, they were replaced with a poster for another film. One of the Saw movies. The poster depicted a person who was wearing a mask made of the skin of another person’s face. The mask was attached to their face, using some sort of curved pointy metal hooks and there was a lot of blood, etc. The fact that the people who were offended by the hideously, nude knees, legs and feet, found it entirely acceptable to expose the children of Los Angeles to that particular brutality and depravity at the far end of the hideousness spectrum, says a lot about what’s going on in our world these days. I’m not sure exactly what, but it’s not good. There is utility to documenting, studying, reporting and even publicly reiterating the stories that make the genre of true crime possible. However, as you point out, once you take the step into what is essentially pure fandom, it’s time to consider whether or not you’ve gone too far. Unfortunately, big piles, of little pieces of green paper make those considerations unlikely to occur. I have heard that women consume true crime at a rate, far higher than men do. If my ex-wife was used as the only indicator for how bad the problem is, I suspect a national emergency would be declared. She’s really into it. Women are affected by these issues in major ways. They are more often the target of serial killers than men are. That’s not to mention domestic partner violence, sexual violence, etc. I have heard theories that consuming true crime helps women feel and be more secure by teaching them what to look out for. I can believe that. The podcast My Favorite Murder is very popular. I listened to it when it first came out. It is a comedy true crime podcast. A comedy. True crime . Podcast. Lol. I appreciate gallows humor, and I understand why we need it. My wife was listening to it and I was riding around with her so I got to hear it too. I really enjoyed the first couple seasons of the show. It seemed like they were trying to do a service. It was directed at women to some extent, and according to the stories from their listeners, it helped. Some women had their antennas up when they otherwise would not have, and report actually avoiding bad incidents that may have turned into the kind of crime showcased by the genre we are talking about. Educating yourself is one thing. Inoculating yourself is one thing. Healing from trauma and learning to navigate the world more securely is one thing. Remaining immersed in that world is quite another. I think that you are correct to worry. We now have a giant cohort of people who are addicted to the genre. We live in a capitalist society that, in my opinion is either and stage or undergoing some sort of transformation that we did not expect and do not understand. My fear is that it’s just history, repeating itself, and the end stage capitalism gives way to fascism. I sure hope not. If we follow the possible outcomes of continued immersion and love of the true crime genre in a capitalist society, then we must consider supply and demand. That is terrifying. If the market is big enough, if the demand is big enough, someone will manufacture the products. I think we are already seeing it and have been for over two decades. I think it is easily seen in school shootings. Copycats proliferate. I apologize for the overly long comment. I am autistic and once I get going, I have a difficult time shutting up. According to Neurotypical people, my sense of justice and fairness is overblown. I disagree. I think it’s just basic humanity being embraced and expressed. As a matter of fact, I feel that my sense of justice is under engaged. I feel like I should be doing a lot more than I am and it makes me feel guilty. I also understand that I am a puny mortal and can’t do much more than speak and try to talk people into looking at their belief systems and wondering, why they believe what they believe. Anyway. Maybe this is the beginning of a conversation. I appreciate your work. Thank you for a thought-provoking morning. I’ve been kind of a wreck lately, as my life is changing drastically. My disabled daughter, and I are now on our own as our caregiver has a band us to pursue a new life. My daughter and I are smart and capable and we will be OK. Unfortunately we must come through the sense of learned helplessness that was inculcated into us. We have to keep reminding ourselves and each other that we will no longer be living with an amphetamine addict. I think we will be more emotionally regulated on a daily basis due to that, and that our lives will improve. Giving too much and two personal information is another trait of my autism that makes people feel uncomfortable. I hope that I didn’t bother you at all, but I feel like you are someone I can speak to openly. By the way, I am continuing my exploration of Steve Morse era, deep, purple and enjoying it. I just got my electronic drum set back and a project heavily inspired by certain corners of classic rock is forming in my head. The name of the band, which will probably be me playing all of the instruments with a friend guest here and there. I may even have a guest producer, which is exciting. My old friend is an amazing musician. He has a difficult time recording because he never trusts his ears. I like his recordings. I want to show him that his aesthetics and ears are as wildly talent filled as his playing and writing. So I’m having him produce and engineer for me on some tracks (I will assist with tech nical stuff). I suspect he will be an amazing producer. I just have to convince him that it's like painting a picture by pushing and pulling on an artist's beliefs and ideas about their own music. We both have deep interests in reports of spooky, odd occurrences. We even used to go to Fortean festivals in the 90s and hung out with John Keel (Mothman Prophecies) all day at one of them. It’s fun to speculate about that stuff, but it has turned ugly because of unpleasant conspiracy junk, so I’m fictionalizing. The name of the band is Daylight Disc. A phrase taken from the Blue Oyster Cult song E.T.I. The music will be about UFOs, cryptids, myths and other assorted strangeness. I am essentially a pan agnostic, but these ideas and stories are so much fun and still resonate for me in the same way they did when I was a kid. Part of that is because of you and your passion for Deep Purple. Thanks for inspiring me with your interest and support.
Thanks for the video. I wrote this comment yesterday and it was a long mess, so I had to edit it.
..............
True crime as a genre, whether it’s on television, in books, or podcasts, has proliferated to the point where your essay is necessary.
I hate that.
I wish I saw this essay and thought it was a ridiculous thing.
I wish it was over the top, hyperbolic science fiction fantasy.
It’s not.
We’ve gone far beyond the point where the prominence of these ideas and stories has desensitized the big fan. I suspect that, just like with a poisoned political idea, the true trickle down that happens is behavioral and seeps from politics and into the rest of society. I worry that we have gone beyond desensitization into desire. I want nothing more for the world of peace. I will go to great lengths to relocate a single ant from inside of my house to a place where it will be safe from other murderous humans. However, I sometimes see news stories about these horrible events and, I hate to admit it, but I feel something that feels a little bit like the edge of a thrill. Dammit. It’s hard to admit but it’s true and if someone like me is being affected that way I can’t help but wonder what people with muddled, loose or misinformed morals and ethics are thinking when they see those stories. I told someone I had heard about a shooting and that 10 people were killed. They said: “Oh. That’s not too bad. Only 10?” And then, blithely moved on to talk about important things, like the weather.
Do you know the story about the incident from the Los Angeles, bus stop advertising campaign, for the film “Zack and Miri Make A Porno?”
The poster for the film had the name of the film, the name of the actors and director, Kevin Smith.
The legs and knees of a man and woman, presumably the actors, were visible from the knees down…. nude! Not even a single sock in sight.
Parts of the public raised an outcry. They found it morally, repugnant, disgusting and awful.. and I’ll bet they said it was going to destroy the minds and souls of the children of Los Angeles.
Not only were the posters taken down, but the name of the film was changed to Zack and Miri. They had to get that offending word out of there. It evoked naked people touching each other. Here’s the interesting part.
When the posters were removed from the bus stops, they were replaced with a poster for another film. One of the Saw movies.
The poster depicted a person who was wearing a mask made of the skin of another person’s face. The mask was attached to their face, using some sort of curved pointy metal hooks and there was a lot of blood, etc.
The fact that the people who were offended by the hideously, nude knees, legs and feet, found it entirely acceptable to expose the children of Los Angeles to that particular brutality and depravity at the far end of the hideousness spectrum, says a lot about what’s going on in our world these days. I’m not sure exactly what, but it’s not good.
There is utility to documenting, studying, reporting and even publicly reiterating the stories that make the genre of true crime possible.
However, as you point out, once you take the step into what is essentially pure fandom, it’s time to consider whether or not you’ve gone too far.
Unfortunately, big piles, of little pieces of green paper make those considerations unlikely to occur.
I have heard that women consume true crime at a rate, far higher than men do. If my ex-wife was used as the only indicator for how bad the problem is, I suspect a national emergency would be declared. She’s really into it.
Women are affected by these issues in major ways. They are more often the target of serial killers than men are.
That’s not to mention domestic partner violence, sexual violence, etc.
I have heard theories that consuming true crime helps women feel and be more secure by teaching them what to look out for. I can believe that.
The podcast My Favorite Murder is very popular. I listened to it when it first came out. It is a comedy true crime podcast. A comedy. True crime . Podcast. Lol.
I appreciate gallows humor, and I understand why we need it. My wife was listening to it and I was riding around with her so I got to hear it too.
I really enjoyed the first couple seasons of the show. It seemed like they were trying to do a service. It was directed at women to some extent, and according to the stories from their listeners, it helped.
Some women had their antennas up when they otherwise would not have, and report actually avoiding bad incidents that may have turned into the kind of crime showcased by the genre we are talking about.
Educating yourself is one thing. Inoculating yourself is one thing. Healing from trauma and learning to navigate the world more securely is one thing. Remaining immersed in that world is quite another.
I think that you are correct to worry. We now have a giant cohort of people who are addicted to the genre. We live in a capitalist society that, in my opinion is either and stage or undergoing some sort of transformation that we did not expect and do not understand. My fear is that it’s just history, repeating itself, and the end stage capitalism gives way to fascism. I sure hope not. If we follow the possible outcomes of continued immersion and love of the true crime genre in a capitalist society, then we must consider supply and demand. That is terrifying. If the market is big enough, if the demand is big enough, someone will manufacture the products. I think we are already seeing it and have been for over two decades. I think it is easily seen in school shootings. Copycats proliferate.
I apologize for the overly long comment. I am autistic and once I get going, I have a difficult time shutting up.
According to Neurotypical people, my sense of justice and fairness is overblown. I disagree. I think it’s just basic humanity being embraced and expressed. As a matter of fact, I feel that my sense of justice is under engaged. I feel like I should be doing a lot more than I am and it makes me feel guilty. I also understand that I am a puny mortal and can’t do much more than speak and try to talk people into looking at their belief systems and wondering, why they believe what they believe.
Anyway. Maybe this is the beginning of a conversation.
I appreciate your work. Thank you for a thought-provoking morning.
I’ve been kind of a wreck lately, as my life is changing drastically. My disabled daughter, and I are now on our own as our caregiver has a band us to pursue a new life. My daughter and I are smart and capable and we will be OK. Unfortunately we must come through the sense of learned helplessness that was inculcated into us. We have to keep reminding ourselves and each other that we will no longer be living with an amphetamine addict. I think we will be more emotionally regulated on a daily basis due to that, and that our lives will improve.
Giving too much and two personal information is another trait of my autism that makes people feel uncomfortable. I hope that I didn’t bother you at all, but I feel like you are someone I can speak to openly.
By the way, I am continuing my exploration of Steve Morse era, deep, purple and enjoying it. I just got my electronic drum set back and a project heavily inspired by certain corners of classic rock is forming in my head. The name of the band, which will probably be me playing all of the instruments with a friend guest here and there. I may even have a guest producer, which is exciting.
My old friend is an amazing musician. He has a difficult time recording because he never trusts his ears. I like his recordings.
I want to show him that his aesthetics and ears are as wildly talent filled as his playing and writing. So I’m having him produce and engineer for me on some tracks (I will assist with tech nical stuff). I suspect he will be an amazing producer. I just have to convince him that it's like painting a picture by pushing and pulling on an artist's beliefs and ideas about their own music.
We both have deep interests in reports of spooky, odd occurrences. We even used to go to Fortean festivals in the 90s and hung out with John Keel (Mothman Prophecies) all day at one of them. It’s fun to speculate about that stuff, but it has turned ugly because of unpleasant conspiracy junk, so I’m fictionalizing. The name of the band is Daylight Disc. A phrase taken from the Blue Oyster Cult song E.T.I. The music will be about UFOs, cryptids, myths and other assorted strangeness. I am essentially a pan agnostic, but these ideas and stories are so much fun and still resonate for me in the same way they did when I was a kid. Part of that is because of you and your passion for Deep Purple. Thanks for inspiring me with your interest and support.