Jefferey Dahmer depicted based off his arrest mugshot from Milwaukee Police Department in 1991. Dahmer was a notorious serial killer, and has been the subject of several documentaries and podcasts in recent years. Graphic by Kimmie Johansen
By Elaine Engel
The portrayal of serial killers in the media is facing increasing criticism for the alleged romanization of their crimes.
Because of countless shows and podcats over the years, the true crime genre has flooded pop culture, and with it, a possible glamorization of brutal murder. Though mass killers have existed for centuries, the term "serial killer" has solidified its place in the public's conscience over the past couple of decades.
"This concept of serial killings and serial murder really crystallized in the 1970s," Paul Renfro, an associate professor of political and cultural history at Florida State University said.
In the present day, true crime has flooded all forms of media. Shows, both fictional and real, podcasts, videos, TikToks and even songs, have become popular among the general public.
Recently released serial killer documentaries like “Dahmer” have received criticism for perceived insensitivity to the victims' families as well as a romanticization of the crimes committed. Forensic science teacher Barbara Blanton-Glorioso feels that sometimes the executives creating true crime content sacrifice factual integrity for a more attractive version of events to increase viewership.
“Whenever they put in a famous person, it's a handsome person if it's a male killer. Then I think they are glamourising it with that kind of actor or actress,” Blanton-Glorioso said. “In Hollywood if they have picked a good looking guy to be the star, to be the killer, that I feel is glamourising it.”
She also feels there are certain characteristics portrayed in the media about serial killers that some young people may want to embody.
“They portray the person as being smart, like for example in ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ they [pardon someone like] Hannibal Lecter [because] ‘he was a doctor, he was smart.’” Blanton-Glorioso said. “It comes across as this is the kind of thing that smart people do. They're chasing back, they're idolizing, they're making these points and he gets away.”
Serial murdered has now been turned into entertainment with some like freshman Emily Spiker feeling this type of content is disrespectful to the victims.
"They focus so much on the actual serial killer that they don't understand how horrible they actually are," Spiker said.
"There's too much concentration on the actual perpetrator instead of the victim, it's almost like dehumanizing the victims"
While the perceptions are contributing to this glamorization, the portrayal is everything and the portrayal of these killers is no accident in Blanton-Glorioso’s mind.
"Everything is done based on money," Blanton-Glorioso said. "They pick the best-looking guys to be the killers, so what happens is you're looking at this [character] and you know the killer, but you know him as the actor and you like him."
For Spiker, the worst part of this idealization is the way it erases the victims from the stories.
"There's too much concentration on the actual perpetrator instead of the victim," Spiker said. "It's almost like dehumanizing the victims."
Though the amount of media about serial killers could lead one to believe they are haunting every corner and grocery aisle, in actuality, serial murders make up about 1% of U.S. homicides. One idea as to why they receive so much attention comes from Renfro, who believes we focus on serial murder as a form of collective avoidance.
"I would argue that maybe it distracts us from larger sorts of problems,” Renfro said. “I think a lot of people are comforted by the idea that it's a set of monsters or people who are outside the bounds of humanity who do these sorts of things.”