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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think some crimes should not be turned into a drama

86 replies

Mtngfres · 13/10/2023 23:07

Flicking through Netflix and came across 'Maxine'. Realised to my horror that it was a true crime drama about Maxine Carr and the Soham murders 20 years ago. Think it was on TV last year but never heard about it.

I actually felt quite sick and no way I would be able to watch it.

I have watched True crime dramas in the past - The Sixth commandment for example was well done and you could tell it had been done with information and consent of families too. It was still hard to watch.

However, Crime dramas about child murder that many of us still remember on the news just feels too much. Not sure what consent was obtained from victim families either but it just feels wrong to dramatise.

I know it's all about viewing figures though and people always watch these programmes so I won't be surprised if they dramatise other terrible crimes that are best left alone.

OP posts:
LaurieFairyCake · 15/10/2023 15:58

Yep, both Maxine and Saville are too soon for me - will watch them in 20 years

I've just watched the Yorkshire Murderer one with Toby Jones as I was young when it happened

TumblingTower · 15/10/2023 16:04

Milarky · 15/10/2023 14:58

I have never watched any real-life crime drama or watched/listen to podcasts.

Think the women who watch this shit (I believe it's mostly women) are sick individuals.

Now after being all high and mighty I must admit to coincidently watching Maxine last night. Don't know why, just couldn't find anything else at just let it play. I watched all 3 episodes and I can see why some people get into it. It appears to give a deeper insight into the crime. I'd missed from the original tragedy that Hinley had already been accused of rape of young girls.

Anyway all the way though I was thinking, did the parents agree to this? And the hypocrisy of the show slagging off the red tops when the programme was using those families misery to make money too, blew my mind!

No I'd never watch another true crime drama. But I'm guessing there's going to a lot more. :(

I hate that she's out and has a kid and family. She knew exactly what she was doing when she was cleaning up and lying.

She obviously wasn't that afraid of him if she was snogging other men. Reading some of the abused women's posts on here, and the constant fear they are under, I doesn't compute with me that she would risk doing that.

Are you balancing on a pin head on that moral high ground 😂

Faircastle · 15/10/2023 16:27

This question is the subject of a Black Mirror episode: Loch Henry.

MyDogSmellsTerrible · 15/10/2023 16:30

I've just really enjoyed watching The Long Shadow about Peter Sutcliffe.

Thought it was brilliantly done. I often wonder why the police today seem so soft. But having watched how utterly incompetent, misogynistic and arrogant they were towards those poor women, it's opened up a whole new perspective to me.

I think if the families of the victims are openly hostile to the idea, then perhaps not - but if they don't object, I can't see why the story shouldn't be televised.

Milarky · 15/10/2023 16:40

So you accidentally watched all.three episodes but have the audacity to call other people who watch true crime sick individuals
What a,Hypocrite

I know a complete hypocrite!! That's what I'm saying! It's really easy to see why people get sucked into them!

Also I suppose in my defence, and admittedly a pretty shit defence, how I can have an opinion on these sort of shows if I've never watched one? Well I have now. It's reinforced my opinion of the people who watch them and the shows who make money out them.

I will never watch another.

x2boys · 15/10/2023 16:47

Milarky · 15/10/2023 16:40

So you accidentally watched all.three episodes but have the audacity to call other people who watch true crime sick individuals
What a,Hypocrite

I know a complete hypocrite!! That's what I'm saying! It's really easy to see why people get sucked into them!

Also I suppose in my defence, and admittedly a pretty shit defence, how I can have an opinion on these sort of shows if I've never watched one? Well I have now. It's reinforced my opinion of the people who watch them and the shows who make money out them.

I will never watch another.

Well you could have turned it off after a,few minutes but you watched all.three so.....

VeterinaryCareAssistant · 15/10/2023 17:04

I'm so sick I named my bearded dragon Ted Bundy.

Gwendimarco · 15/10/2023 17:06

YANBU, I find it ghoulish.
It’s like those horrible memoire paperbacks in the supermarket with titles like “Daddy, no” all about child abuse. Somebody somewhere must enjoy reading them, it’s grim.

therealcookiemonster · 15/10/2023 17:20

I am 100% with you OP. disrespectful to the tragic victims and their families to monetise their heartbreak. and some of these are positively ghoulish.

I enjoy crime drama but could never watch something based on real life, can barely manage to read the news coverage.

PuppyMonkey · 15/10/2023 17:28

What does everyone here think of the cosy type of murder drama/comedy shows that currently seem so big. I’m thinking mainly of Only Murders in the Building but also things like Midsummer Murders and the one where it’s set in the Caribbean, forget the name!

I know they’re not real cases, but I often feel a bit uncomfortable watching stories about people being horribly murdered - usually while the stars are making witty quips or taking the piss.

itsmyp4rty · 15/10/2023 17:35

I watched that Jeffrey Dahmer one on Netflix and I have to say it was crazy but absolutely fascinating - if it hadn't happened then you'd never believe it. It was done as more of a drama than a documentary as it was done from his point of view - and of course they couldn't know exactly what he did when he was alone.

I do think it was done too soon and that it was wrong not to ask people if they were happy to be portrayed in it - or even tell them beforehand that they were including them in it.

LakieLady · 15/10/2023 18:11

Catalwaysasleep · 14/10/2023 07:50

Yes I agree. Like the Saville programme. I feel like the idea glorifies the person who commits the crime. And I don't think entertainment should be made of such suffering. Either it will be gory or it isn't the whole truth, so that's misleading.

I wouldn't watch such a thing.

The Savile programme does anything but glorify him. It shows him for the vile, lying, manipulative, child-abusing pos that he was.

Steve Coogan's acting in it is breathtakingly good, an absolute masterclass in how an ostensibly low-key performance can be incredibly compelling.

x2boys · 15/10/2023 18:13

VeterinaryCareAssistant · 15/10/2023 17:04

I'm so sick I named my bearded dragon Ted Bundy.

😂

InterFactual · 15/10/2023 18:17

YANBU. I was really shocked to see Steve Coogan playing Jimmy Saville. I'm sure it was a well made production but how utterly vile to give that man any more air time. The worst punishment for him is to be forgotten, he so loved the attention that it seems fitting to exile him to the history books and never speak his name again. He is an insignificant nobody, he doesn't deserve a dramatisation even if it's a negative one.

Americano75 · 15/10/2023 18:18

I thought the Savile programme was very well done, I felt so angry for those victims and had found it hard to understand just how he had managed to get away with it for so long. It made me feel furious. But the victims interviewed have stated that this is as close as they'll get to any kind of justice.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 15/10/2023 23:59

Passepartoute · 15/10/2023 14:46

How far do you take that? Can we not watch, say, any of Shakespeare's history plays because they feature actual deaths and murders? If we can watch those, how do you define the cut-off point?

Show quote history

Nice try at the straw man…but it’s pretty easy… Are the relatives going to see depictions of themselves or their murdered love one be turned into entertainment?

That’s my line. You really should read what it was like for someone to be victimized again. The below bit is just a snippet

https://www.insider.com/rita-isbell-sister-jeffrey-dahmer-victim-talks-about-netflix-show-2022-9

When I saw some of the show, it bothered me, especially when I saw myself — when I saw my name come across the screen and this lady saying verbatim exactly what I said.
If I didn't know any better, I would've thought it was me. Her hair was like mine, she had on the same clothes. That's why it felt like reliving it all over again. It brought back all the emotions I was feeling back then.
I was never contacted about the show. I feel like Netflix should've asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn't ask me anything. They just did it.
But I'm not money hungry, and that's what this show is about, Netflix trying to get paid.
I could even understand it if they gave some of the money to the victims' children. Not necessarily their families. I mean, I'm old. I'm very, very comfortable. But the victims have children and grandchildren. If the show benefited them in some way, it wouldn't feel so harsh and careless.
It's sad that they're just making money off of this tragedy. That's just greed.

My brother was murdered by Jeffrey Dahmer. Here's what it was like watching the Netflix show that recreated the emotional statement I gave in court.

Rita Isbell told Insider what it was like to watch Netflix's "Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" and the recreation of her emotional court statement.

https://www.insider.com/rita-isbell-sister-jeffrey-dahmer-victim-talks-about-netflix-show-2022-9

LetsPlayShadowlands · 16/10/2023 01:14

Is "ghoulish" the true crime equivalent of "unhinged" 😂

saltinesandcoffeecups · 16/10/2023 01:49

LetsPlayShadowlands · 16/10/2023 01:14

Is "ghoulish" the true crime equivalent of "unhinged" 😂

Would you like to watch a dramatization of yourself giving a witness impact statement in your brothers killer’s sentencing hearing?

You’re right she should be happy that everyone got some entertainment for a few minutes…what is she bitching about wanting to be consulted.

saltinesandcoffeecups · 16/10/2023 01:57

RhymesWithTangerine · 15/10/2023 11:10

You are all on a thread about a true crime drama. You’re interested! It’s no good primly calling other people ‘ghouls’ - we are fascinated by crime.

And that’s rightly so because it has a huge impact on us emotionally and socially, tapping into deep instincts.

That’s an odd take. Are all the people posting in the Israel/Hamas threads warmongers who have their popcorn out watching footage of death and destruction?

MidnightOnceMore · 16/10/2023 07:08

There are an awful lot. There were many who went to watch executions!

I think the interest is in some ways natural, as a way of trying to understand a frightening feature of human society.

However some of the tone in discussions gets distasteful. I feel like consumption of true crime as though it were entertainment isn't healthy.

I worry about the adaptations and podcasts that don't have family input.

MidnightOnceMore · 16/10/2023 07:15

InterFactual · 15/10/2023 18:17

YANBU. I was really shocked to see Steve Coogan playing Jimmy Saville. I'm sure it was a well made production but how utterly vile to give that man any more air time. The worst punishment for him is to be forgotten, he so loved the attention that it seems fitting to exile him to the history books and never speak his name again. He is an insignificant nobody, he doesn't deserve a dramatisation even if it's a negative one.

He wasn't an insignificant nobody, and how he was feted and promoted despite serious concerns being known is one of the key learning points.

His victims were involved in that piece, which is an important feature - not only in the dramatisation but speaking as the people they are now.

Tambatamba · 16/10/2023 07:27

CeeceeBloomingdale · 14/10/2023 00:25

It's a good watch, you're making assumptions. Also remember Maxine was in an abusive relationship and her crime was giving a false alibi yet the public treated her akin to Myra Hindley and she was granted life long anonymity due to the public's reaction.

I agree with this.

IsThatTheTimeAlready · 16/10/2023 07:34

I thought The Reckoning was very well done. Steve Coogan played Savile brilliantly.
It showed Savile for the creepy, lying, egoistic, paedophilic sex offender that he was.
If anything, it made me feel even more sympathetic towards his victims.
Call me what you like, but I love a true crime / murder, be it a book or on TV.

Jewelspun · 16/10/2023 07:42

Code of a killer is an excellent film/mini series and deals with the victims and their families very well.

StasisMom · 16/10/2023 07:53

Surely it's more your feelings when watching something like this, which count more? I watch a lot of crime programmes, I never "enjoy" them specifically but I find them interesting. And my overall feeling is sympathy for the victims and families, and anger/hatred for the perpetrators.