To think it’s weird how murder is just normal telly entertainment?

[SnugShaker]

It hit me the other day, most of the shows we casually binge are about murder. True crime, detective dramas, serial killer documentaries… it’s everywhere. We’d find it unsettling if someone obsessed over real-life murders in conversation but when it’s on Netflix or ITV, it’s just normal evening viewing.

I get that it’s interesting but isn’t it a bit strange how desensitised we are to watching stories about people being killed for entertainment?

@CantDecorateWontDecorate

In many murder dramas the victim is known to the killer too. Random murders are the most terrifying to us because theoretically we could all become victims, so stories where there is a clear relationship and motivation are comforting in a way.

And as you say, it also reassures viewers if they can see the victim making a ‘mistake’ - a young woman choosing to reject the offer of a lift from a friend and going off into the night etc. We think ‘I’d never do that!’ And again, it’s strangely comforting.

The most shocking killings from a TV point of view would be random ones in which the victim was just going about their life as most people would - say, a drive-by shooting or a terrorist attack, but this is extremely unusual from what I can remember.

I watch a lot of true crime, and actually I think it’s more for the solving the puzzle aspect, and the police procedure which I find fascinating.

I don’t like gory horror movies or unsolved mysteries. Maybe it is a comfort knowing there’s a resolution and punishment for the criminal.

Like others have pointed out, historically it was very popular to watch hangings etc. so it isn’t a new phenomenon, but because of media saturation it seems like it’s everywhere.

This.
I just don’t get it.

I have no desire to watch any of it.

I cannot watch horror TV or film - even thrillers are hit and miss, I find them scary, exhausting, not enjoyable at all.

But I listen to true crime podcasts to relax. Always have one on if I'm doing chores.

It makes no sense!

Oh I love all the true crime stuff. It’s how I get myself to drift off to sleep, stick a good true crime show on with a grisly murder and reeeeelax.

No, this is how we process dark and terrible things that can happen. It's also a way that humans explore morality and social convention in a safe way.

People used to go and watch gladiators fight lions and be torn to death.

I've always read lots of detective fiction so naturally I enjoy tv versions too. But more recently realise I prefer true crime. Detective stories usually end neatly with perpetrators dead or punished and at least one deserving soul saved from their potential fate. Really versions of fairy tales.

But I find real life more interesting these days - the motives of the killer, the way forensics build up a picture of what happened and how it was done. I especially like it where there's ambiguity - e.g unsure who did it or, if they did, whether they had 'good' reasons to do so. I suppose the killing aspect equally appalls and fascinates me and also the psychological aspects driving the murderer. Detective stories are unrealistic as often any character could be a murderer, which I don't believe is true of the average person in real life.

I find it interesting how the police start to find evidence at a crime scene and then work to trace those responsible

It gives us an inside look at their job

people like to feel emotion from entertainment. Whether that be laughing, shock, nervous etc. I think we are sometimes entertained also by what we don’t meet day to day. And I’d hope murder falls into that category.

If only they did - a lot of innocent people would not have been jailed for decades.

I absolutely hated the first episode because of the relentless shootings. I couldn’t work out whether it was meant to be funny, I just found it appalling.

I think this is why I found 77 minutes so disturbing, families in McDonald's massacred and the ones who survived had to play dead for over an hour before police shot him. Terrifying

I like a detective drama or murder mystery film but I do find true-crime ‘entertainment’ grizzly and ghoulish and never watch it.

It is weird. I quite like a bit of Midsummer murders or Murder she wrote but some of the dramas are very gratuitous which is disturbing.

True crime can be good if done sensitively but a lot is fodder which is pretty insulting for the victims & their families.

With the true crime podcasts, I think it's the psychology and behaviour that is so fascinating.

Isn't (fictional) Midsummer considered the most dangerous place to live in England and where you are most likely to be murdered?
There's a real town called Midsummer Norton. A few years ago I was on a coach trip to the seaside. The coach next to ours was from there. When their driver opened the luggage door I was very disappointed a dead body didn't roll out 😂

It never seems to occur to most of these places that they have an awful lot of murders.

There’s a series by Lilian Jackson Braun set in & around a remote small town in the US, where they pride themselves on their lack of crime compared to the big cities & nobody ever says ‘But look at all these murders that happening.’

Edited to add that the Amelia Peabody books are an exception. One of the characters greets the regular murders with the complaint ‘Another dead body…’

Isn't (fictional) Midsummer considered the most dangerous place to live in England and where you are most likely to be murdered?

The amount of murders are ridiculous. In real life no one would live there and house prices would plummet.

The detectives are actually really shit too, there are usually at least a few murders per episode before they catch the killer 😂