Embedded Files
By Kaden Fazio-Vives
What makes us so obsessed with serial killers? Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Richard Ramirez, Ted Bundy- all famous serial killers with the details of their horrific crimes one click away. Yet, society continues to shamelessly romanticize these killers, while the families of their victims have to relive their trauma through dramatized articles, movies, and TV shows. This rampant glamorization of serial killers is due to the desensitization of murders that true crime media causes.
Serial killers are innately interesting because humans have always been attracted to mystery. These stories need to be told, but when simply discussing famous cases of killers morphs into glamorization, it becomes concerning. So, what makes us romanticize serial killers? Jordan Peterson, a clinical psychologist, argues that humans “are infatuated with serial killers and true crime…because they weave the fundamental narrative of good versus evil, allowing us to understand 'good’ through observing 'evil.’” This theory makes sense, given that the narrative of “good” versus “evil” has been hammered over our heads since childhood. However, the lines become blurred once the disturbing past or underlying mental conditions of serial killers are revealed. Hearing about someone’s traumatic past instantly gives us sympathy for them, and in the case of killers, justifies their actions. Empathy is a natural feeling, but when it comes to serial killers, taking a step back is necessary. Nothing could ever justify senselessly killing innocent people.
Media representations of serial killers are often inaccurate, yet immensely influential to viewers. The majority of slasher movies involve a killer who is loosely based on a real person. However, it’s easy to say that romanticizing fictional killers is okay because they aren’t real. While the glamorization of these characters isn’t directly harming anyone else, it can be harmful to the viewer. Horror movies become addictive because of the adrenaline rush they give us, and watching extremely violent films regularly causes viewers to become desensitized to real violence around them. Arguably, some of the most harmful forms of true crime media are dramatized true crime movies and TV shows. These types of films and shows typically cast an attractive actor to play the role of the killer, and delve into the backstory of their life leading up to their killings. They sometimes include heavily graphic scenes that are extremely disturbing, yet hard to turn off. The primary reason this type of media can be so harmful is that famous actors often play the killer, making it incredibly easy for viewers to romanticize the killer due to the actors’ looks or status. Another harmful element of dramatized true crime media is that it is typically from the perspective of the killer instead of the victims, often including scenes from their childhood or traumatic past. These factors contribute to desensitization to violence, a heightened attraction to killers, and, most importantly, distraction from victims who should be honored and respected.
Image from Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Image of Jeffrey Dahmer
Image from Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
A prime example of the romanticization of serial killers is the crime drama series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. This series became Netflix’s most-watched new show within a week of its release, with many quickly becoming enthralled with Evan Peters, who plays Dahmer. Peters has portrayed violent characters before and is known throughout social media for his attractiveness. The show also focused primarily on Dahmer, which naturally caused viewers to empathize with him. This is the main reason why this show is so harmful. Dahmer’s 17 victims had names and identities: Steven Hicks (18 years old), Steven Tuomi (24), Jamie Doxtator (14), Richard Guerrero (25), Anthony Sears (26), Ricky Beeks (33), Edward Smith (28), Ernest Miller (22), David Thomas (23), Curtis Straughter (18), Errol Lindsey (19), Anthony Hughes (31), Konerak Sinthasomphone (14), Matt Turner (20), Jeremiah Weinberger (23), Oliver Lacy (23) and Joseph Bradehoft (25). The series reduced them to their deaths and included incredibly gruesome reenactments of their murders while leaving out who the victims actually were. This mimics exactly how Dahmer himself viewed his victims: bodies to control for his own use, instead of individual people with loved ones. Furthermore, this series has manifested suicidal and homicidal ideations in teens who watched it. According to a case report from 2024, “a 15-year-old girl with no formal psychiatric history or history of aggressive behavior presented to the ED for intrusive thoughts, including suicidal and homicidal ideation. She reported that these thoughts began after she viewed Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story 5 days before her presentation to the ED.” Another case occurred in which a 15-year-old boy “endorsed homicidal ideation with thoughts of cutting people up, decomposing their body parts, and engaging in cannibalism. Both the patient and his mother reported that these thoughts began after he stayed up all night and watched Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.” The graphic scenes in this series caused children to experience a potentially dangerous reaction: ideations of replicating the actions portrayed in the show.
This isn’t the only way in which Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has negatively affected others. Shortly after the release of the series, many websites began to sell Halloween costumes of Dahmer. While many sites took action to remove these costumes, many had already been dressing up as Dahmer or continued to do so. Shirley Hughes, the mother of Tony Hughes, who was murdered by Dahmer at 31, has been vocal about these costumes, saying, “It’s already super triggering to see a hit Netflix series about the serial killer, much less folks dressing like the killer.” So, not only had the horrific murders of Dahmer’s victims been sensationalized, but Dahmer himself had begun to be idolized. While Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was receiving glorious praise and being spread throughout social media, the families of his victims were forced to relive their traumatic experiences. Rita Isbell, the sister of Errol Lindsey, who was murdered by Dahmer when he was 19, has spoken out since the release of the show. She says, “If the show benefited [the victims’ families] 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.” She also spoke about an episode of the show where her victim impact statement given during Dahmer’s sentencing was reenacted, saying, “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.” The series exploited the experiences of several family members of Dahmer’s victims, and somehow went on to become wildly successful. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was a distasteful, romanticized representation of one of the most horrific serial killers in American history.
Image of John Wayne Gacy
Image from Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy
So, how can the romanticization of serial killers be stopped without ending the production of true crime media? Well, this issue will never completely go away, given that the mere existence of serial killers is enough to start an obsession for some individuals. However, there are ways to portray true crime stories in the media to prevent them from being glamorized easily, such as the series Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy. This series sensitively approaches the John Wayne Gacy case by focusing on his victims and their stories leading up to their murders. The show names and introduces Gacy’s 33 victims: Timothy Jack McCoy, John Butkovich, Francis Wayne Alexander, Darrel Samson, Samuel Stapleton, Randall Reffett, Michael Bonnin, William Carroll, Jimmy Haakenson, Rick Johnston, William George Bundy, Kenneth Parker, Gregory Godzik, John Szyc, Jon Prestidge, Matthew Bowman, Robert Gilroy, John Mowery, Russell Nelson, Robert Winch, Tommy Boling, David Talsma, Bill Kindred, Timothy O’Rourke, Frank Landingin, James Mazzara, and Robert Piest, ranging in age from 14 to 21. There are no graphic murder or assault scenes, just small hints of the events leading up to the killings and the aftermath, beginning with Gacy’s arrest. This series differs from Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story because it decenters Gacy and portrays him as what he really was: a sadistic serial killer.
Image from Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy
True crime media is partially responsible for the widespread romanticization of serial killers. But it is up to you not to worsen this issue. Idolizing serial killers causes harmful ideations, desensitization to murders, and shows disrespect to the families of victims. We need to start making better choices when consuming true crime media and end the glamorization of cold-blooded killers.
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