With Netflix’s release of the first season of “DAHMER – The Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” a glaring spotlight was put on both true crime and its effects on its audience. The show accumulated over 700 million hours of watch time and is the fourth most-viewed show of all time on Netflix.

The series gained popularity since it features the victims rather than the killer, unlike many other true crime anthologies or documentaries that tend to focus mainly on the attacker. In this show, the producers decided to focus on how, in a world full of racism and homophobia, the victims were failed by the police time and time again. 

True crime can provide insight for viewers because it allows people to see inside the mind of a serial killer, exposes the trauma of their past and gives the audience knowledge of how killers commit their crimes. However, there’s another side: instead of identifying and allying with the victims, audience members can become obsessed with true crime, leading them to form an empathetic attitude towards the wrongdoer. So, who’s to blame here when talking about true crime and the recent obsession over it?

The exploitation of empathy

When a person watches a TV show or a movie, they spend an extensive amount of time seeing the character’s story unravel. In many true crime documentaries, the producers or writers explore the killer’s traumatic childhood, giving viewers room to empathize with the character. After being exposed to these producers’ manipulative tactics, the viewer more easily justifies the character’s horrifying actions. 

Take “DAHMER – The Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” for example. The biographical crime drama anthology series was released Sept. 21. Since then, many audience members have taken this story — a story originally meant to show how terrible of a person this racist serial killer, rapist and cannibal is — as an opportunity to romanticize Dahmer’s actions without any regards for the still-alive family of the victims. 

For the victims’ families, the series is an unwelcome way of reliving what Dahmer did to their loved ones. Netflix included the experiences of the victims’ families without asking their permission. During the 11th episode, the series recreated a scene where victim Errol Lindsey’s sister, Rita Isbell, gave her impact statement. In this statement, the defendant conveys the crimes’ impact on their life. 

“When I saw some of the show, it bothered me, especially when I saw myself. It felt like reliving it all over again. It brought back all the emotions I was feeling back then,” Isbell said in an interview with Jackie Strause. “I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn’t ask me anything. It’s sad that they’re just making money off of this tragedy. That’s just greed.”

As someone that has lost multiple loved ones by murder, I’ll be the first to say that there is a huge gap between losing someone in a gruesome way and losing someone from old age in a peaceful way. Losing a close family member is never something I would ever want to re-live. Displaying that pain in front of the world would open a wound that I had already healed and restart the mourning process. It would be even more painful if the person who took my family away was being romanticized and worshiped the way that viewers are doing with Dahmer.  

The hashtag #jeffreydahmer has nine billion views on the TikTok platform, with many videos making edits and jokes about the serial killer. Some are going as far as saying that Dahmer “wasn’t a monster” and was “really attractive physically.” 

In reality, he wasn’t the ‘aesthetic’ sad boy with a tragic past like Dahmer defenders paint him. He was a monster. As a result of brutally killing 17 men, Dahmer was dubbed the ‘Milwaukee Cannibal’ or the ‘Milwaukee Monster.’ His youngest victim, Konerak Sinthasomphone, was only 14 years old when Dahmer sexually assaulted and murdered him. 

Too often, shows and their viewers dehumanize victims and demonstrate blatant disrespect for victims’ families in favor of romanticizing a character. This displays the negative effects that viewers can have by creating connections with characters like Dahmer. This manipulated connection blurs the line of empathy and wrong versus right as more true crime series teach viewers to empathize with these killers. 

So what is the appeal of true crime?

In short, curiosity killed the cat. Human beings are naturally curious; they crave understanding. The human phenomenon of murder is grotesquely fascinating, and it’s natural to want to comprehend why it happens. Normal people want to know what drove a person to the point of killing and what went through their head while committing the act.

Fear is also an appeal. When people feel fear, dopamine — a feel-good chemical — is released into the body. Just like jumping off an airplane or riding a thrilling roller coaster, the adrenaline that violence produces in our brain is the same — the difference being with true crime, we get to experience it from the safety of our home.

“It’s the violence of it all that draws me in, what keeps me coming back for more. There’s always something more, something behind the crime, and it’s fun figuring it out,” sophomore Faryal Khurshid said.

Furthermore, watching true crime gives viewers — especially women — an opportunity to learn about self-defense strategies. Since one in every six women becomes a victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime, and women make up most of the serial killers’ victims, it makes sense for most true crime podcast listeners to be females. While many believe that men — the more aggressive sex — are more attracted to true crime, a study showed that women are more drawn to true crime, specifically true crime books that teach them how to defend themselves in the case of being attacked. These books are seen as a framework for detecting potential abusers as they show how the crime was perpetrated, what triggered the attacker and potentially how the victim escaped. 

For women, true crime teaches warnings and caution signs that could be valuable in being attacked. However, everyone’s brain can feel the exhilaration of true crime, making us all prone to consume the genre from time to time.

Why is the obsession something to get rid of?

Despite the adrenaline and impression of safety that true crime provides, true crime can often create a sense of paranoia and an increase in anxiety. Becoming fearful of leaving home is a sign that a true crime habit is becoming an unhealthy obsession. 

Too much alcohol, too much time spent online, and too much of anything can be harmful. When I research crime cases, spiraling down a rabbit hole of cases is inevitable, consuming tragedy after tragedy, each more gruesome than the last. 

“For me, true crime is part of my daily life. It’s so compelling, but it’s terrible. Even though it overrides your sense of judgment and morality, something about the violence is so addicting,” Khurshid said. “It does make me paranoid, though, less trusting.” 

There’s nothing inherently wrong with watching true crime — I love it. However, viewers need to find a balance between the enjoyment of true crime and still being able to feel empathy. We must reconsider our obsession with these terrorizing stories and understand their adverse impacts on mental health early on. Otherwise, it may take away from our day-to-day lives and lead to romanticizing the people who have done more harm than good.