Oh, you found smiley faces near the site of several drownings? You mean one of the simplist things, one of the first things children learn to draw? You mean the same symbol that children scrawl into window condensation for literally no reason? GEE I FLIPPING WONDER IF THERE COULD BE AN EXPLANATION MORE PLAUSIBLE THAN A SERIAL KILLER SYNDICATE AT WORK **WHARRRGBLE**
I live in Chicago and have accepted rides from strangers bc it was fucking cold and I was walking a long way home from work after missing the bus, and I didn't get kidnapped even a little bit. Sometimes midwesterners being nice are just midwesterners being nice. Most if not all of the people found in the lake, especially in warm weather, probably got drunk and drowned while hanging out by the lake. In even slightly choppy water it can be surprisingly easy to get overwhelmed by waves and have difficulty getting back out. I love the lake but drinking and swimming is playing with fire.
yeah!! i can't remember if i actually said it aloud in the video, but most of the official investigations into the deaths related to the smiley face conspiracy were usually found to be drunk people who stumbled into the water and drowned. still a tragic story nonetheless, but not anything related to a serial killer.
I almost drowned swimming in Lake Erie (caught in a rip, finally caught a sandbar about 100 yards from shore) and Lake Michigan (I lived in Milwaukee for about 20 years) scared me twice as much. They may say Gitcheegumee never gives up her dead, I say it's all of them. The Great Lakes are awesome in the most literal definition of the word.
sex trafficking victim here (took me years to even be able to write it like that) Nobody's gonna eat a bunch of chocolates and use the wrapper to "distract you" or whatever dumb bullshit these people think is happening. I was trafficked because I was a young drug addict, poor and doing sex work to even eat everyday. I thought a guy I knew was romantically interested in me, because I was in him. Turns out all he wanted was my meager SW money. So he sold me, beat the fuck out of me and threatened me every single day to make sure I wouldn't talk. And it worked. The fact similar stories are treated as entertainment is disgusting and it's even worse when you see how paranoid it makes privileged dunces when, really, there's no chance anything remotely close will ever happen to them. And the shit cherry on top of the shit cake is when it's used as a political point... Also, lucky me, I'm alive after all this, many aren't. Even more dubious to use THEM as entertainment. Good video tho, many great points I wish were mainstream understanding by now instead of the current state of things that constantly makes me lose faith in humanity a little bit more everyday....
Delighted I found this, really excellent analysis! I just wanted to jump in here with a recommendation: you mentioned Jack the Ripper, but the best book I’ve found connected to that case is The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by the historian Hallie Rubenhold. She does not discuss the perpetrator at all; instead, she relates the lives of the five “canonical” victims in detail. They are often treated as virtual unknowns, but she was able to find a huge amount of information about them in her extensive research. She also debunks a lot of common misinformation (for example, that the victims were sex workers-they weren’t). Most of all, she tells fascinating histories about people long left out of the discourse around these infamous crimes, with compassion and dignity. It doesn’t read at all like true crime, and is easily one of the best books I’ve read in the last few years.
ty!! and I think I HAVE heard of that book somewhere, i wish i could remember where haha. but it sounds so interesting, I'll have to see if i can find it and give it a shot!
whoa thank you so much for the video! Im not into true crime documentaries, but when I was elementary years I would obsessively "research" about kidnapping, murder, abuse and sexual assault news on the internet. I would watch youtube videos about women telling their stories of almost getting kidnapped, almost getting into danger by strangers on a train in the middle of the night etc. and i would scroll down the comments telling similar stories. and i was terrified of the world and i was paranoid that same thing mighr happen to me. rn i almost had a panic attack because i went out to the city in a long time w a friend, and I was suddenly paranoid about being killed, kidnapped on the street etc. i also have a paranoia about death, so that doesnt help at all it annoys me how much news media omits informations, like how most victims of any crimes know who the perpetuators are (partner, neighbour, family member, friend etc). it feels like we're living in a world where mean world syndrome is encouraged so ppl can make money off of paranoia, especially from paranoia of women, afab ppl, and other marginalized groups. its so insidious when i think about it. im planning to go outside more so I can unlearn from all the news and internet medias that I consumed. again, thank you so much!
True crime also helped me to develop more of an awareness that everyone could have stuff going on in their life that they don’t tell others. And that I’m not alone in what I experienced. It also made me even more aware of biases and what they can do in the case of “atypical” emotional processing, as it is often the case with neurodivergent and mentally ill people.
I think there is a healthy and responsible way to indulge in true crime media. You just have to be a specific type of person. I've come to realize I consume this content from essentially the perspective of an analytical criminal defense lawyer focused on rehabilitative justice and systemic reform. I try to engage in thoughtful and compassionate discussion in comment sections and am met more and more with rage and lack of compassion. It's been thoroughly wrecking me. I have begun to feel a bleakness about the world in an entirely different or even opposite way. It's exhausting. Thank you for this video. I feel relieved.
my issue with true crime is also how often youtubers just copy online articles and even wikipedia pages and don't give credit. hayley elizabeth was like 20 videos deep in true crime until she said 'oh i will start adding links to the articles i used soon. haha'. journalists who don't get paid enough for their work end up getting their work stolen by someone who easily rakes up 100k views and gets sponsorships all while whining about being demonetized so they use hihi haha words like grape or pdf file instead of accurate language. re the in case i go missing binder, john lordan has a video about it and made good points. also seeing how he handled maya milette case vs how kendal rae husband talked about it on his podcast... night and day. kendal rae also doesn't get enough heat for talking about conspiracy theories in a very validating way and not mentioning things like 'hey btw this theory has antisemitic roots'
oh, yeah, didn't even think about that aspect, either. a bulk of this video was written before hbomberguy's 4 hour plagiarism video, so looking at how true crime creators "credited" their sources didn't even come to mind. (and you saying that has reminded me to put a link to a document for all my sources too haha, thanks!) and i'm gonna check out that john lordan video about the in case i go missing binders-- thanks for letting me know :D
This was such a thoughtful and insightful video. True crime stories have always made me more distrustful of strangers, and I try to avoid them when possible for that reason. If you're looking for horror media that isn't about everyday violence, I'd highly suggest watching videos on cryptids. For me, cryptid stories fulfill that hunger for horror without intensifying my actual fears. There's just something about a spooky fireside story that will never get old for me. If you're looking for cryptid RUclipsrs, I'd recommend Wendigoon! His delivery is quite calming, and he has a few videos on cryptid icebergs and Appalachian stories that have been passed down by his grandfather. Wonderful video by the way, I can't wait to see what you make next!
omg yes cryptids!! i also found myself leaning towards cryptids a bit more after i started distancing myself from true crime, haha. i just think they're neat! and thanks for the recommendation!
I will say, I think ethical true crime could be really good for our society if we had more of it. Like, imagine a TC podcast that focuses on Innocence Project cases, where people had their lives ruined on insufficient evidence due to systemic problems. This could get attention focused where it might actually help people, as well as countering copaganda and increasing general knowledge of how to protect yourself from wrongful charges or convictions. The one TC thing I follow is the Let's Go To Court podcast, and while I'm not going to pretend it's activism, I do think it's helped me. I watched a lot of Law and Order growing up, used to think that asking for a lawyer was only something guilty people needed, and OH MY GOODNESS has this podcast cured me of that. I never fully understood how much damage "one bad apple" could cause, and I remember that everytime someone catastrophizes about how we need to be "tougher on crime". I'm not trying to contradict your point, in context podcasts like this one are the exceptions that prove the rule, I'm just saying that I think a lot of good could be accomplished with ethical true crime, if we could make true crime more ethical.
don't worry about contradicting my point-- you also have good points here, too! if there was a TC podcast/creator/thing focused on innocence project cases or helping wrongfully convicted people, we absolutely SHOULD encourage that! like i said with regards to the thin blue line, even if the techniques used in it were bad, inapprorpiate, and weird, it did net a positive outcome for the wrongfully convicted randall adams. and i hadn't heard about the let's go to court podcast, but my family had law and order on a lot in my house when i was younger, too (so much so that i started imitating the theme song when i was like, three)-- i'm definitely gonna check that out. i can't imagine what my childhood/teenagehood of watching true crime and crime procedurals has done to my brain haha
@@thealrightoddity I like it. It's not activism, and they cover some cases where the justice system doesn't suck, but they also cover cases where a horrific crime went unsolved for over a year because the victim lived next door to a woman who dated a low level drug dealer, and they basically focused exclusively on her because she'd been rude to the first officer who knocked on her door (you know, because the man she loved had been taken to jail for having a drug that was legal in several states), despite the fact that there was absolutely zero evidence or motive connecting her to the case. Long story short, as a previously-sheltered white lady, this and the BLM movement are why I now understand why we need police and justice system reform so badly. (Obviously BLM is more important in every way, I'm not trying to compare them, but when you're trying to de-copaganda yourself, every little bit helps.)
Thank you for your work, as always! I really enjoy your essays in general. I've also been wrestling with this one - one of the few things my mother and I bond over as adults has been true crime, and we've been trying to pivot towards something else to bring us together. Thank you for giving me something to show her that articulates what I've been trying to get through to her. Cheers!
tysm!! and yeah, one of the things my mom and i got into when i was younger was true crime/crime procedurals, too!. now if only I could convince her to stop watching so many crime things, too 😅
@@thealrightoddity I just wanted to update - I doubled down with my mum last night and pointed her towards your video directly. She was VERY receptive! Thank you again
i havent heard this angle re: true crime before but it's definitely resonant and TRULY WILD the way that some "creators" go about selling their true crime podcast is so gross too, they talk about the atrocities as if they /are/ fictional. the true crime ads are a huge reason why i just cant use spotify anymore (im not about to get premium lol). i've been turning to watching stuff about MLMs and cults - which i feel are among the same true crime niche but dont focus so much on one tragedy ? and with mlms and cults "spreading awareness" and defining red flags are genuinely helpful bc all these guys operate the same way also i like your frogs :)
yes!! the ads are rough sometimes. also i'd never thought of the MLM/cult angle for an alternative to true crime!! i don't watch too many anti-mlm things but it definitely feels like it could be a better alternative and thanks! 🐸🐸
Horror short stories have become a new favourite of mine! Gothic horror is thrilling. Shirley Jackson, Angela Carter, Daphne Du Maurier (apologies for the lack of diversity) are great authors to scratch the spookiness itch
Isn’t that almost worse? You’re just swapping irrational paranoia towards strangers for slightly less irrational paranoia towards those closest to you.
Also law enforcement. The first True Crime thing I ever watched was Unbelievable on Netflix, and while that one does veer into copaganda in later episodes, the first couple do an excellent job of explaining just WHY so many r*pe victims are so afraid to come forward. I watched it with a friend who used to think that victims had a moral obligation to come forward, to help prevent future victims, but after watching the first couple episodes and seeing how likely a victim is to be re-traumatized and how unlikely it is for the attacker to be caught, he changed his mind. There's also the Let's Go To Court podcast, which has some chilling examples of just how much damage "one bad apple" can do.
@@mikaylaeager7942 in fairness, people are more likely to have compassion and nuance for someone you know and love than for a random stranger, so maybe their paranoia is less likely to cause harm to anyone else, but it's definitely still not good for the paranoid person.
Sometimes i listen to true crime podcasts at the gym. It never rly crosses my mind that this stuff is actually common. Obviously serial killers are rare, and theres no point in me installing a security system in my downtown apartment - thats just paranoia.
Frankly, seems like she put the trash on her handle herself. Like she wanted to make a scary video, looked around, saw trash on the ground, and put it on her handle. Shes not even trying that hard.
Weirdly watching tv and true crime made me less afraid of others. Or not weirdly since I know how my brain works. But probably weird to others, if what you said in your video is true.
Let's flip the script, and instead of consuming content that has us eyeballing each other with paranoia, let's start profiling the criminal actions of the police and politicians instead, and make poscasts about that. True crime content is an unethical cesspool in general. Cool video, thank you!
i agree wholeheartedly on the message and what you're saying, just wanna add onto the whole "with respect" part. I think the exploitation of victims and their families is god awful, however, some families prefer the attention to help people like their family member. If that doesn't make sense, I mean in the way that there are foundations or calls for action to change bills that are spearheaded by victims and victim's families. I think true crime has its place in that. I think of how lore lodge covered Gabby Petito. Her brother contacted lore lodge specifically to address her disappearance and reach out to media, later going over the case in whole in order to pay respects to Gabby and her family as well as condemn brian and his family and offer possibilities, then promote the Gabby Petito foundation, a foundation meant to help victims of domestic violence. I think in instances where the family wants coverage like that, true crime has its place. Other than that, I don't see much of it.
i get this completely! honestly, if the families are fully on-board with being covered, and want to use it to either solve the cases or create something like the gabby petito foundation, i think that they can definitely use true crime to do good. unfortunately that doesn't happen in a lot of cases, at least, in my experience.
i think there is ethical content out there, i like when people like kendall rae bring family to tell their story compared to reenactment content. if the content is backed the victims families involved i feel like it’s less harmful. some channels link the donations or donate their merch funds towards communities. mean world syndrome is a really interesting topic though that i haven’t heard of in depth before this essay.
yeah! i've seen kendall rae mentioned a few times before; i think the work she does directly with the families of the victims is good, and can be positive sometimes, but unfortunately that isn't always the case. and yeah!! flexing my communications degree with mean world syndrome here haha
Modern true crime is so weird to me. I got into TC (especially forensic science) when I was around 11, so 2005-ish. Nowadays theres SO many creators, but so few who do quality research and work on ethical grounds. I understand that these things require a good amount of resources. But maybe TC should be exclusive to those who are able to do more than hook up a microphone and open Wikipedia. Especially the wave of gosspiy chat style content is utterly ...just puzzling to me. And that's coming from someone who absolutely spent their early teens on rotten and liveleak constantly because that's where a lot of TC content was.
yes!! i got into TC/forensics when i was younger and even wanted to get into it (though mine was in the early 2010s,s o much later than you) and a lot of what i enjoyed were the historical cases, but nowadays modern true crime just gives me a big Ick nowadays. i also just wish there were more people who did actual research and did it ethically and didn't gossip about Real Dead People with information they got off wikipedia!
I don't watch any docuseries on Netflix all of them are biased and lean a certain way or leave out facts if I wanted to watch a fictionalized version I'd wait for the actual movie
she never apologized for making fun of dead polish man's name and his partner pregnancy. she just quietly took down her mukbang true crime videos... even recently she was called out for misrepresenting girl group 5050 lawsuit. someone who thought eating food as you tell a story of someone dying is okay is a weirdo in my book
@@migoreng7789 this wasnt about her mukbang videos though? its about rotten mango. she does not eat in them and takes the investigations very seriously with her researchers.
When true crime is produced and presented respectfully cases that have lingered in ice for decades get solved. This is a question of critical thinking and digital literacy. Edie: The Elisa Lam story was especially disgusting. I have mental illness and I can attest that she was having a psychotic episode. Her toxicology report showed low levels of her prescribed drugs. To me, this suggests that she went off her meds and she didn't have her support system was near. The way they treated her family in the media was horrid.
yes!! i do think a true crime piece can be created ethically, as long as the victims are properly compensated or give their full consent. i know kendall rae, who creates tc media on youtube, often talked with the victims families and the like to help raise awareness, but i haven't followed her for years. she just happens to be one i hear about a bit labeled as a "good creator", though i'd disagree with some people on that. and yeah, elisa lam's story is horrible, even moreso with how the media and the internet treated the case. i tried to keep her story told as simply as i possibly could and focused more on the docuseries, cause i felt like there would be a lot of hypocrisy in me talking about a true crime case in a video complaining about true crime videos haha.
Oh, you found smiley faces near the site of several drownings? You mean one of the simplist things, one of the first things children learn to draw? You mean the same symbol that children scrawl into window condensation for literally no reason? GEE I FLIPPING WONDER IF THERE COULD BE AN EXPLANATION MORE PLAUSIBLE THAN A SERIAL KILLER SYNDICATE AT WORK **WHARRRGBLE**
I live in Chicago and have accepted rides from strangers bc it was fucking cold and I was walking a long way home from work after missing the bus, and I didn't get kidnapped even a little bit. Sometimes midwesterners being nice are just midwesterners being nice.
Most if not all of the people found in the lake, especially in warm weather, probably got drunk and drowned while hanging out by the lake. In even slightly choppy water it can be surprisingly easy to get overwhelmed by waves and have difficulty getting back out. I love the lake but drinking and swimming is playing with fire.
yeah!! i can't remember if i actually said it aloud in the video, but most of the official investigations into the deaths related to the smiley face conspiracy were usually found to be drunk people who stumbled into the water and drowned. still a tragic story nonetheless, but not anything related to a serial killer.
@@thealrightoddity If there is anything that people need to be more afraid of, it's Lake Michigan.
haha yeah, i recently moved to the midwest (if ohio counts as midwest) and i agree, the great lakes are something else 😅
I almost drowned swimming in Lake Erie (caught in a rip, finally caught a sandbar about 100 yards from shore) and Lake Michigan (I lived in Milwaukee for about 20 years) scared me twice as much.
They may say Gitcheegumee never gives up her dead, I say it's all of them. The Great Lakes are awesome in the most literal definition of the word.
sex trafficking victim here (took me years to even be able to write it like that)
Nobody's gonna eat a bunch of chocolates and use the wrapper to "distract you" or whatever dumb bullshit these people think is happening.
I was trafficked because I was a young drug addict, poor and doing sex work to even eat everyday. I thought a guy I knew was romantically interested in me, because I was in him. Turns out all he wanted was my meager SW money. So he sold me, beat the fuck out of me and threatened me every single day to make sure I wouldn't talk. And it worked.
The fact similar stories are treated as entertainment is disgusting and it's even worse when you see how paranoid it makes privileged dunces when, really, there's no chance anything remotely close will ever happen to them. And the shit cherry on top of the shit cake is when it's used as a political point...
Also, lucky me, I'm alive after all this, many aren't. Even more dubious to use THEM as entertainment.
Good video tho, many great points I wish were mainstream understanding by now instead of the current state of things that constantly makes me lose faith in humanity a little bit more everyday....
Thank you for this analysis, and for speaking up for Palestine. 💙
Do people ever think maybe that random stranger is staring at them because they were staring first? Lol
i'm sure haha!! i know i accidentally stare off into space directly at a person without meaning to a lot.
I’ve heard people whispering about me staring at them while working on my laptop. I’m not staring, you’re literally just in my field of view.
Delighted I found this, really excellent analysis! I just wanted to jump in here with a recommendation: you mentioned Jack the Ripper, but the best book I’ve found connected to that case is The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by the historian Hallie Rubenhold. She does not discuss the perpetrator at all; instead, she relates the lives of the five “canonical” victims in detail. They are often treated as virtual unknowns, but she was able to find a huge amount of information about them in her extensive research. She also debunks a lot of common misinformation (for example, that the victims were sex workers-they weren’t). Most of all, she tells fascinating histories about people long left out of the discourse around these infamous crimes, with compassion and dignity. It doesn’t read at all like true crime, and is easily one of the best books I’ve read in the last few years.
ty!! and I think I HAVE heard of that book somewhere, i wish i could remember where haha. but it sounds so interesting, I'll have to see if i can find it and give it a shot!
whoa thank you so much for the video!
Im not into true crime documentaries, but when I was elementary years I would obsessively "research" about kidnapping, murder, abuse and sexual assault news on the internet. I would watch youtube videos about women telling their stories of almost getting kidnapped, almost getting into danger by strangers on a train in the middle of the night etc. and i would scroll down the comments telling similar stories. and i was terrified of the world and i was paranoid that same thing mighr happen to me. rn i almost had a panic attack because i went out to the city in a long time w a friend, and I was suddenly paranoid about being killed, kidnapped on the street etc. i also have a paranoia about death, so that doesnt help at all
it annoys me how much news media omits informations, like how most victims of any crimes know who the perpetuators are (partner, neighbour, family member, friend etc). it feels like we're living in a world where mean world syndrome is encouraged so ppl can make money off of paranoia, especially from paranoia of women, afab ppl, and other marginalized groups. its so insidious when i think about it. im planning to go outside more so I can unlearn from all the news and internet medias that I consumed. again, thank you so much!
True crime also helped me to develop more of an awareness that everyone could have stuff going on in their life that they don’t tell others. And that I’m not alone in what I experienced.
It also made me even more aware of biases and what they can do in the case of “atypical” emotional processing, as it is often the case with neurodivergent and mentally ill people.
I think there is a healthy and responsible way to indulge in true crime media. You just have to be a specific type of person. I've come to realize I consume this content from essentially the perspective of an analytical criminal defense lawyer focused on rehabilitative justice and systemic reform. I try to engage in thoughtful and compassionate discussion in comment sections and am met more and more with rage and lack of compassion. It's been thoroughly wrecking me. I have begun to feel a bleakness about the world in an entirely different or even opposite way. It's exhausting.
Thank you for this video. I feel relieved.
my issue with true crime is also how often youtubers just copy online articles and even wikipedia pages and don't give credit. hayley elizabeth was like 20 videos deep in true crime until she said 'oh i will start adding links to the articles i used soon. haha'. journalists who don't get paid enough for their work end up getting their work stolen by someone who easily rakes up 100k views and gets sponsorships all while whining about being demonetized so they use hihi haha words like grape or pdf file instead of accurate language.
re the in case i go missing binder, john lordan has a video about it and made good points. also seeing how he handled maya milette case vs how kendal rae husband talked about it on his podcast... night and day. kendal rae also doesn't get enough heat for talking about conspiracy theories in a very validating way and not mentioning things like 'hey btw this theory has antisemitic roots'
oh, yeah, didn't even think about that aspect, either. a bulk of this video was written before hbomberguy's 4 hour plagiarism video, so looking at how true crime creators "credited" their sources didn't even come to mind. (and you saying that has reminded me to put a link to a document for all my sources too haha, thanks!)
and i'm gonna check out that john lordan video about the in case i go missing binders-- thanks for letting me know :D
This was such a thoughtful and insightful video. True crime stories have always made me more distrustful of strangers, and I try to avoid them when possible for that reason. If you're looking for horror media that isn't about everyday violence, I'd highly suggest watching videos on cryptids. For me, cryptid stories fulfill that hunger for horror without intensifying my actual fears. There's just something about a spooky fireside story that will never get old for me. If you're looking for cryptid RUclipsrs, I'd recommend Wendigoon! His delivery is quite calming, and he has a few videos on cryptid icebergs and Appalachian stories that have been passed down by his grandfather. Wonderful video by the way, I can't wait to see what you make next!
omg yes cryptids!! i also found myself leaning towards cryptids a bit more after i started distancing myself from true crime, haha. i just think they're neat! and thanks for the recommendation!
@@thealrightoddity Yeah of course! Keep up the good work!
I will say, I think ethical true crime could be really good for our society if we had more of it. Like, imagine a TC podcast that focuses on Innocence Project cases, where people had their lives ruined on insufficient evidence due to systemic problems. This could get attention focused where it might actually help people, as well as countering copaganda and increasing general knowledge of how to protect yourself from wrongful charges or convictions.
The one TC thing I follow is the Let's Go To Court podcast, and while I'm not going to pretend it's activism, I do think it's helped me. I watched a lot of Law and Order growing up, used to think that asking for a lawyer was only something guilty people needed, and OH MY GOODNESS has this podcast cured me of that. I never fully understood how much damage "one bad apple" could cause, and I remember that everytime someone catastrophizes about how we need to be "tougher on crime".
I'm not trying to contradict your point, in context podcasts like this one are the exceptions that prove the rule, I'm just saying that I think a lot of good could be accomplished with ethical true crime, if we could make true crime more ethical.
don't worry about contradicting my point-- you also have good points here, too! if there was a TC podcast/creator/thing focused on innocence project cases or helping wrongfully convicted people, we absolutely SHOULD encourage that! like i said with regards to the thin blue line, even if the techniques used in it were bad, inapprorpiate, and weird, it did net a positive outcome for the wrongfully convicted randall adams.
and i hadn't heard about the let's go to court podcast, but my family had law and order on a lot in my house when i was younger, too (so much so that i started imitating the theme song when i was like, three)-- i'm definitely gonna check that out. i can't imagine what my childhood/teenagehood of watching true crime and crime procedurals has done to my brain haha
@@thealrightoddity I like it. It's not activism, and they cover some cases where the justice system doesn't suck, but they also cover cases where a horrific crime went unsolved for over a year because the victim lived next door to a woman who dated a low level drug dealer, and they basically focused exclusively on her because she'd been rude to the first officer who knocked on her door (you know, because the man she loved had been taken to jail for having a drug that was legal in several states), despite the fact that there was absolutely zero evidence or motive connecting her to the case.
Long story short, as a previously-sheltered white lady, this and the BLM movement are why I now understand why we need police and justice system reform so badly. (Obviously BLM is more important in every way, I'm not trying to compare them, but when you're trying to de-copaganda yourself, every little bit helps.)
New sub sent by Swole. I’m staying for the calm in a storm vibe. And for the last few minutes. Thanks for speaking 🌻🇵🇸🖤
Thank you for your work, as always! I really enjoy your essays in general.
I've also been wrestling with this one - one of the few things my mother and I bond over as adults has been true crime, and we've been trying to pivot towards something else to bring us together. Thank you for giving me something to show her that articulates what I've been trying to get through to her. Cheers!
tysm!! and yeah, one of the things my mom and i got into when i was younger was true crime/crime procedurals, too!. now if only I could convince her to stop watching so many crime things, too 😅
@@thealrightoddity I just wanted to update - I doubled down with my mum last night and pointed her towards your video directly. She was VERY receptive! Thank you again
This is such a well put together video! Really interesting stuff 👍
thanks! 💛
i havent heard this angle re: true crime before but it's definitely resonant and TRULY WILD
the way that some "creators" go about selling their true crime podcast is so gross too, they talk about the atrocities as if they /are/ fictional. the true crime ads are a huge reason why i just cant use spotify anymore (im not about to get premium lol). i've been turning to watching stuff about MLMs and cults - which i feel are among the same true crime niche but dont focus so much on one tragedy ? and with mlms and cults "spreading awareness" and defining red flags are genuinely helpful bc all these guys operate the same way
also i like your frogs :)
yes!! the ads are rough sometimes.
also i'd never thought of the MLM/cult angle for an alternative to true crime!! i don't watch too many anti-mlm things but it definitely feels like it could be a better alternative
and thanks! 🐸🐸
I'm so glad I found your channel; you're incredible.
aww thank you! 😁💛
Horror short stories have become a new favourite of mine! Gothic horror is thrilling. Shirley Jackson, Angela Carter, Daphne Du Maurier (apologies for the lack of diversity) are great authors to scratch the spookiness itch
I like your passion, I could listen to you all day :) There was a small problem with the audio in some parts but I'm sure you are already aware of it.
ty!! and yeah, i'm aware of it-- unfortunately i clipped my mic awkwardly in a few shots, so it's catching the sound of my clothes when i move.
True Crime really should give the message to people that it's not strangers but the person sleeping next to you that you need to watch....
Isn’t that almost worse? You’re just swapping irrational paranoia towards strangers for slightly less irrational paranoia towards those closest to you.
Also law enforcement. The first True Crime thing I ever watched was Unbelievable on Netflix, and while that one does veer into copaganda in later episodes, the first couple do an excellent job of explaining just WHY so many r*pe victims are so afraid to come forward. I watched it with a friend who used to think that victims had a moral obligation to come forward, to help prevent future victims, but after watching the first couple episodes and seeing how likely a victim is to be re-traumatized and how unlikely it is for the attacker to be caught, he changed his mind.
There's also the Let's Go To Court podcast, which has some chilling examples of just how much damage "one bad apple" can do.
@@mikaylaeager7942 in fairness, people are more likely to have compassion and nuance for someone you know and love than for a random stranger, so maybe their paranoia is less likely to cause harm to anyone else, but it's definitely still not good for the paranoid person.
Sometimes i listen to true crime podcasts at the gym. It never rly crosses my mind that this stuff is actually common. Obviously serial killers are rare, and theres no point in me installing a security system in my downtown apartment - thats just paranoia.
Great job!
thank you! :D
Okay, my husband and I are watching this together rn and the bingo card made us both burst out laughing 😂
haha! i'm glad you both liked my bingo card bit! wasn't sure how it would land with people :D
so eloquently said. well done
thank you! 💛
Frankly, seems like she put the trash on her handle herself. Like she wanted to make a scary video, looked around, saw trash on the ground, and put it on her handle. Shes not even trying that hard.
oh most definitely. it's sad that she didn't even put in the effort to do it haha
Great video. Sending it to someone who needs it, however futile that may be...
thanks! and i hope it goes well!
Weirdly watching tv and true crime made me less afraid of others. Or not weirdly since I know how my brain works. But probably weird to others, if what you said in your video is true.
I love your frogs 🥺🐸
🐸🐸🐸
Yes, please tell people this, that no one is out to get them. This makes my life so much more fun and so much easier.
Try tahchin in a nonstick pan. The crispy golden brown part is the best
Let's flip the script, and instead of consuming content that has us eyeballing each other with paranoia, let's start profiling the criminal actions of the police and politicians instead, and make poscasts about that. True crime content is an unethical cesspool in general. Cool video, thank you!
i agree wholeheartedly on the message and what you're saying, just wanna add onto the whole "with respect" part. I think the exploitation of victims and their families is god awful, however, some families prefer the attention to help people like their family member. If that doesn't make sense, I mean in the way that there are foundations or calls for action to change bills that are spearheaded by victims and victim's families. I think true crime has its place in that. I think of how lore lodge covered Gabby Petito. Her brother contacted lore lodge specifically to address her disappearance and reach out to media, later going over the case in whole in order to pay respects to Gabby and her family as well as condemn brian and his family and offer possibilities, then promote the Gabby Petito foundation, a foundation meant to help victims of domestic violence. I think in instances where the family wants coverage like that, true crime has its place. Other than that, I don't see much of it.
i get this completely! honestly, if the families are fully on-board with being covered, and want to use it to either solve the cases or create something like the gabby petito foundation, i think that they can definitely use true crime to do good. unfortunately that doesn't happen in a lot of cases, at least, in my experience.
@@thealrightoddity yeah, much less often than not it isnt to help the families or advocate for a cause which sucks a lot
I need that bingo card 😂
I always wondered what people would do when every sicko and serial killer has been documentaried into oblivion. I guess we're here
While there are some points I disagree with in this video, I think it's really well done and interesting!
thank you! 💛
i think there is ethical content out there, i like when people like kendall rae bring family to tell their story compared to reenactment content. if the content is backed the victims families involved i feel like it’s less harmful. some channels link the donations or donate their merch funds towards communities. mean world syndrome is a really interesting topic though that i haven’t heard of in depth before this essay.
yeah! i've seen kendall rae mentioned a few times before; i think the work she does directly with the families of the victims is good, and can be positive sometimes, but unfortunately that isn't always the case.
and yeah!! flexing my communications degree with mean world syndrome here haha
Modern true crime is so weird to me. I got into TC (especially forensic science) when I was around 11, so 2005-ish. Nowadays theres SO many creators, but so few who do quality research and work on ethical grounds. I understand that these things require a good amount of resources. But maybe TC should be exclusive to those who are able to do more than hook up a microphone and open Wikipedia. Especially the wave of gosspiy chat style content is utterly ...just puzzling to me. And that's coming from someone who absolutely spent their early teens on rotten and liveleak constantly because that's where a lot of TC content was.
yes!! i got into TC/forensics when i was younger and even wanted to get into it (though mine was in the early 2010s,s o much later than you) and a lot of what i enjoyed were the historical cases, but nowadays modern true crime just gives me a big Ick nowadays. i also just wish there were more people who did actual research and did it ethically and didn't gossip about Real Dead People with information they got off wikipedia!
I don't watch any docuseries on Netflix all of them are biased and lean a certain way or leave out facts if I wanted to watch a fictionalized version I'd wait for the actual movie
Stephanie Soo ( Rotten Mango ) is not like those others?? Why include her in this video?
She's just as bad as the others
she never apologized for making fun of dead polish man's name and his partner pregnancy. she just quietly took down her mukbang true crime videos... even recently she was called out for misrepresenting girl group 5050 lawsuit. someone who thought eating food as you tell a story of someone dying is okay is a weirdo in my book
@@migoreng7789why is this any weirder than eating while you watch a true crime doc or a horror movie? Just because she’s making money and you’re not?
@@migoreng7789 this wasnt about her mukbang videos though? its about rotten mango. she does not eat in them and takes the investigations very seriously with her researchers.
When true crime is produced and presented respectfully cases that have lingered in ice for decades get solved. This is a question of critical thinking and digital literacy.
Edie: The Elisa Lam story was especially disgusting. I have mental illness and I can attest that she was having a psychotic episode. Her toxicology report showed low levels of her prescribed drugs. To me, this suggests that she went off her meds and she didn't have her support system was near. The way they treated her family in the media was horrid.
yes!! i do think a true crime piece can be created ethically, as long as the victims are properly compensated or give their full consent. i know kendall rae, who creates tc media on youtube, often talked with the victims families and the like to help raise awareness, but i haven't followed her for years. she just happens to be one i hear about a bit labeled as a "good creator", though i'd disagree with some people on that.
and yeah, elisa lam's story is horrible, even moreso with how the media and the internet treated the case. i tried to keep her story told as simply as i possibly could and focused more on the docuseries, cause i felt like there would be a lot of hypocrisy in me talking about a true crime case in a video complaining about true crime videos haha.