True Crime. Unsolved mysteries (which isn’t to be confused with Unsolved Mysteries). Are stories. True stories. With data. Facts. Real life drama. And just… (in the case of those unsolved) the human capacity of wonderment alll wrapped up into this nice, tight, little perfectly wrapped gift that allows us to ponder. Question. And Imagaine. All in one. You know?
True Crime. Be it ESPN’s O.J. Simpson series in 2016, Made in America. Or if it’s Netclix’s bafflingly popular Tiger King, or even Netclix’s Making a Murderer. Whatever the case may be. We, as Americans definitely have a desire to hear, leanr and examaine these stories on our own. Virally or otherwise.
Hell man, I believe it’s each and every Friday night, ABCs 20/20 does a show (if I’m not mistaken it’s title is), 20/20 Investigates. Where they look at some, random true crime story from uyears ago and do a deep dive into the situation. There’s tje “Informative Murder Porn” as South Park described it.
But…. why? Right? What makes us so facinated with this maccabe form of edutainment?
I mean, sure, there’s an “evolutionary” element. Like. “Hey dude, I don’t wanna be murdered today, how can I avoid that?” I mean. Those are the basic of all basic terms I can put it in. Obviously. But I mean. It’s gotta play SAOME sort of factor into all of this, innit? So, we tune in to be “inspred” (for lack of a better term) into how to not be murdered! Right?
We tune in to be informed. Which. I mean. Apparently, reading the dumb ass ramblings I write on RyansDrunk.com could be, or could have, been construed as being informed. So. Uh… Yeah dude. The “Karens read an article on Facebook” meme immediately comes to mind. But whatever. Information is information. I guess?
We tune in to have comfort in the feeling ofg being “normal.” I mean. Yes. Blah. Blah. Blah. “Normal is the most subjective term in the history of ever,” kinda… thing. But I mean. Generally speaking… “Normal” people aren’t out there commiting crimes left and right. Unless you’re a politician. HEY-OOOOOO!
We tune in for the obscene. Bro. There’s a reason why “The Attitude Era” was the most successful in pro-wrestling history. I mean. Yes. It’s an amalgomation of things. Sure. But like. We tuned in to that shit becaue you HAD to see what kinda bullshit the WWFG was abnout to pull off next. You know? The obscene has always fascinated us. You know? It’s kinda a morbig curioustit type of thing. Whatever.
But again. We tune in for our own imagination. Because dude. Especially when it comes to the “unsolved” true crimes. Our imagination runs WILD!
Which. I mean. This is basically the reason why conspiracy theory nonsense ruled over Youtube in the early-ti-mid-2010s. And possibly still today and even eaerlier than that. Whatever. Because dude. Conspiracy. On Youtuve. Made the MOST sense. I even fell into that trap. I mean. It didn’t last long. But it made sense.
Because it’s like…
“HEY DUDE *SPOOKY MUSIC PLAYS* DID YOU KNOW THAT 9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB?! *SPOOKY MUSIC GOES SILENT* *9/11 EXPLOSIONS HAPPEN* *SPOOKY MUSIC INTENSIFIES* WE GIVE YOU THE FACTS ABOUT WHAT *ACTUALLY HAPPENED!*”
I mean. Who isn’t gonna be sunk right in to whatever bullshit you’re spewing. Right?
And. I mean. True crime shows kinda do this exact same thing.
This is the easies example because. Recent is recent. But.
Just watch 40 seconds of this clip… when you hit the screeching “background music noise,” you’ll know that that’s what I’m taling about.
So. I mean. Yeah dude. When true crime is done well. Ala, tyhat clip, of course we’re gonna fall deeply in love with it, right? It’s designed to play with our emotions.
RANDOMISH SIDENOTE: Legit, that’s the ONE scene/thing I hated from Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring “Chris Benoit” two-parter. Because they did these things that I’m proclaiming as “good things” lol whatever…
But. Again… again… we tune in to let our imagination run wild. In the case of unsolved true crime (or, the apparent, open-ended true crime as is the case in the dumb ass Making a Murderer series), we’re alwaysd going to be left with an ambiguous ending that would make even Stanley Kubrick go, “Hrmph…” You know>? Our imagination, as human beings, is endless. That’s why fiction was created and exists.
RANDOM SIDENOTE: Oof man. I guess, Dave and I have to do a podcast (or I just have to do the rambling) about “Our Other Worlds”. Merhaps, I needa replay Mass Effect before doing this. But whatever.
No matter what. True crime documentaries are going to edutain us. For a LONG time. Period. And I stand by this. Even though. You know. I, pretty recently, said that True Crime Documentaries Suck. And I still stand by that sentiment too. Given, you know, the point tof that rambling. But whatever.
Stay safe. Take care. I’m you’re humble drunkard from afar that knows nothing.
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