Talk:True Crime Community

Balance re fans of true crime

I think a distinction should be made between aficionados of famous criminals and serial killer, and people interested in true crime as a genre of nonfiction or documentary film. I am in the latter category.

I have often visited a site called The Casebook of Jack the Ripper, where the discussion boards are full of people discussing the Whitechapel Murders. Because a definite solution was not found, many people interested in mysteries and puzzles come to read and contribute their comments and thoughts.

Also, remember that many today podcasts and TV documentaries cover historical and recent murder cases. There are actual conventions where fans of these TV shows attend to see and hear authors, detectives, psychologists, podcast presenters and others speak about their work and past experiences with research.

Finally, those involved with WebSleuths are ordinary people trying to help with clues or details on ongoing missing people or unsolved murders. I recommend the recent TV documentary "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" about the woman who wrote the book of the same title. She researched the serial rapist and killer known as "The East Side Rapist", the "Original Night Stalker", and eventually "The Golden State Killer". I don't think she glamorized his horrific deeds, but was driven by a desire to help his surviving victims to get justice and find closure. Pcdfanwriter (talk) 00:50, 7 September 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for highlighting this page. I don't think I've come across it before. I added a small bit of info on My favourite murderer fandom and murderinos to the Serial Killer page, but it'd would be more relevant here. Do you have any suggestions on how this page could provide a better overview of the types of true crime fans and different fan activities? I do think the subsections that currently don't have any content should be removed. They can be re-added later if other editors want to provide info.--Auntags (talk) 20:18, 7 September 2020 (UTC)

I agree on needing to make a distinction. It's a bit odd to see fans who write BuzzFeed Unsolved RPF being equated with serial killer fans. Also, they may not be true crime fans at all. The fans I've seen talking about it are interested in other YouTube fandoms or BuzzFeed shows. Another problem with this page is that the goal of Fanlore is to document fan communities that create and consume fanworks, so a page that focuses on amateur internet sleuths is out of bounds for Fanlore.--aethel (talk) 22:56, 17 April 2022 (UTC)

Permission to delete the Controversy section?

I've touched on some of the controversies and criticisms in the Fandom section, and I feel the controversy section is extremely biased against fans of this genre. I think it was what Pcdfanwriter was referring to when they questioned the balance of this page. It has no citations, no mention of any particular controversy related to a certain community or source material. So I don't think it particularly fannish either. (If there's no objection in the next few weeks, I'll delete that section) --Auntags (talk) 16:06, 14 September 2020 (UTC)

Thank you all for responding. When I read the True Crime community page it seemed very biased indeed. There are many true crime tv shows on cable now, and the book publishers have put out true crime books for years. Many amateurs have podcasts and YouTube programs on true crimes. What little I know of all of these things is that they don't glamorize the criminals. Jack the Ripper and other historical killers may be a different thing indeed. There are many pro books and films about The Ripper. H.H. Holmes is another getting a good deal of publicity lately. The people at the "Casebook of Jack the Ripper" forums could be considered a type of "fan" as there are meeting groups and conventions for "Ripperologists", and some fanworks are produced and shared on the forums. Mostly art and writings (I shared a series of poems I wrote, one for each victim). Jack the Ripper inspires fiction because he (most likely a he) has not been identified in over a century. Again, I think it is curiosity and interest, not really "worshipping" the serial killer. The Controversy section needs to prove true crime fans are unhealthy in their fandom (citations) or should be deleted, yes. Thanks.-- Pcdfanwriter Pcdfanwriter (talk) 21:11, 14 September 2020 (UTC)

I've gone ahead and removed the content from the controversy section since it's unsubstantiated, there's consensus about removing it on the talk page, and it's written like everyone agrees with the editor who put it in. I'm including the content below as a quote though because some of it could be added back in with references & indication of who believes this.

The True Crime Community and related fandoms are extremely controversial because, evidently, these fans are showing support for murderers. Those in the TCC rarely engage with the many arguments against their interests. They either simply do not care about the people who have committed crimes, or find reasons to downplay or justify a criminal's actions. Mental illness is often used to defend a criminal's actions in order to argue that the criminal was not responsible for his actions or was also suffering. Fans generally avoid addressing the suffering of those victimized and murdered. There are others who believe that these people are not actually criminals, subscribing to conspiracy theories that these people were forced by law enforcement or others to admit to crimes they did not commit. In some rare cases, fans of infamous criminals will commit (or plan to commit) crimes of their own, claiming to be inspired by their infamous predecessors. The phenomenon of copycat killers has received some media attention. TCC fans' acceptance of crimes is based on the romanticization of their actions. Fans have a generally abnormal perception of the severity and effects of violence. They often focus on the emotions and "passion" of the criminals. Statistically, the majority of serial killers and mass murderers are white males, who are often driven by misogyny or racism. Victims of these people are disproportionately female; along with women, people of color are often specifically targeted. These people often have a history of violent sexual behavior. In addition, many of the criminals are known to have had an interest in Nazism and related ideologies of white supremacy. Fans are accused of feeding into the established patriarchy and white supremacy of society by holding white men less accountable for their actions, and by dismissing the suffering of non-white and non-male victims.

-- Error cascade (talk) 02:04, 11 March 2024 (UTC)