Why we Romanticize Serial Killers
By Yamilet Chabla Urgiles ('25)
Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to another segment of pop culture and its infatuation with serial killers in the media. Serial killer representation has been apparent in the media for a couple of decades. The serial killer persona is powerful and intriguing; its portrayals have been found in novels, true crime, cinema, television, podcasts, and other types of media. These personas are all well-known as a character type throughout the world. The serial killer is deranged and preying on the vulnerable people of society. So why would this persona be intriguing to people? And why is it so ingrained in our culture today?
According to David Schmid, ‘’the serial killer is as quintessentially American a figure as the cowboy’’. They represent American individualism and cross boundaries to achieve status. Yet one can not comprehend how there is an allure to this persona when their real life counterparts have left many families without answers to their loved ones’ whereabouts and deaths.
This cultural interest started when the term ‘’serial killer" was first coined back in the 1960's, but it wasn’t as widely used until the 1980's. The term dates back to the 1880's, when it was first used during a major case, from one of the first recorded serial killers, Jack the Ripper, who had murdered five women in London’s Whitechapel neighborhood. This case blew up and received mass media coverage all over the world in European countries and in America. All reported on this anonymous killer that was deemed ‘’barbarous‘' and ‘’evil." There were many assumptions about Jack’s identity, but the common perception of him was of a middle-class white male preying on vulnerable, marginalized women. Some American critics found the idea that Jack the Ripper could have made Americans disturbingly joyous, since that would make America first in everything, even crime.
A sketch of senarios people have thought Jack the Ripper must of been in.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Photo courtesy of Reddit
The fame and glamorization of Jack the Ripper serves as an example of the world’s obsession with serial killer personas. These killers are even depicted in the media as humorous. For example, in an episode of the American series F is for Family, the little boy is represented as American serial killer, Jeffery Dahmer.
Serial killers and many other criminals were first depicted in books and movies. The public became even more intrigued with these figures when Jeffrey Dahmer’s house was found in Milwaukee in 1991, and television rights to his crimes and narrative were being negotiated within the hour. One of the most infamous serial killers, Ted Bundy, contrasted with others with his more gothic and gory crimes. American serial killer John Wayne Gacy said that ‘’these killers grow powerful in their brands.’’ They are capitalizing off heinous crimes.
Photo courtesy of Netflix
There is a notion that there could be a serial killer among us and that everyone had a bit of a killer in them. Serial killers are often more focused on their lives than their crimes. From now on, film producers should focus on the victim's story, so they can be heard, and should ask for permission from victims' families, which many have failed to do. We should address these problems as a society rather than focus on the perpetrator and give justice to the victim.
Cover photo courtesy of Pinterest
Banner photo courtesy of Delaware Online