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Tis_Bearself
Patron
On the one hand it’s a bit interesting because I have always liked true crime books for many decades, and when true crime TV shows became popular I’ve watched a good many of them.
On the other hand, the quality of most true crime shows and documentaries made in USA these days is poor in my opinion, especially for these “miniseries” like “Making a Murderer” and one from a couple years ago dealing with an Innocence Project case. I think these are designed to appeal to people with very little knowledge of the criminal or legal process and also slanted to provoke an emotional response from the audience and get maximum publicity for the filmmaker rather than being any sort of balanced or unbiased presentation of the issues. I’d rather watch a good episode of “American Justice”, now there was a crime show.
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USMC_Convert
Guest
No!
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7_Sorrows
Guest
is it just a documentary or will it be in episodes. I started watching Making of a Murderer with a relative and never got past episode 3.
It takes too long.
Tis_Bearself
Patron
It’s a “docuseries” - 7 episodes. I agree with you that is too long. Most crimes and criminal investigations short of something huge like Watergate are just not interesting enough to have a doc running longer than 2 hours.
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Crusaderbear
Guest
Don’t do netflix - waste of my time.
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ToeInTheWater
Guest
Most of them aren’t interesting enough to even fill up an hour – hence why many of the ID “true crime” shows that take an hour, fill up much of the time by showing re-enactments not just of what actually happened (or at least, most likely happened), but of the many alternative theories the investigators considered. Unusual Suspects always shows the many scenarios featuring the “usual suspects” before revealing the real killer.
Disappeared does this as well, showing re-enactments of possible scenarios, but that’s actually my favorite show on that channel, because many of the episodes ends with the disappearance still unsolved, the people making that show don’t feel the need to wrap everything up in a neat package with a bow.
I must admit I used to be obsessed with such shows but I’ve gone off them a bit these days. Especially because many of the ID shows focus on the sensational aspects, and some come close to actually glamorizing the crime or insinuating the victim deserved their fate.
What really made me cut back, was one show featuring a woman from the former USSR marrying an American solely to get a green card and openly “dating” another man. Eventually her husband murders her, and while I certainly don’t think “adultery deserves death”, I found her to be very unsympathetic, especially when they kept interviewing people who justified her adulterous actions.
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7_Sorrows
Guest
Disappeared is one of my favorite shows along with See No Evil which relies on
surveillance cameras to help solve the crimes. I am getting disappointed though because I am finding lately some of the shows say " New", but they are actually retelling of a murder I have seen presented before on another show or channel. It is getting frustrating. Or they put a generic title instead of the name of a regular show, but it is something I have seen before.
Lieutenant Kenda is one of my favorites. I am not crazy about Reasonable Doubt. If I really cared about a loved one getting a fair trial I wouldn’t sit down with these two.
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ToeInTheWater
Guest
Oh, I see we are fellow “ID Addicts”! I do like *See No Evil * as it does show a side of crime solving that is not usually discussed, except when civil libertarians protest the use of the cameras. The shows are also very tasteful and respectful to the victims and their families. Same with Disappeared.
Some of the more sensational shows like “Scorned: Love Kills” or “Wives with Knives” I haven’t even watched, because the titles and the promos given an impression they are just going to be focusing on the salacious details.
I used to like the “Evil Women” series as the first season wasn’t that tawdry, but it quickly turned into a very sensational over the top series.
Some of the ID shows also cover crimes covered decades ago on the Forensic Files when CourtTV was still CourtTV. (And BTW I do miss CourtTV. They did sensationalize some of the more high-profile cases, but they also covered a lot of cases that weren’t as famous and did so in a low key manner.)
I like the Kenda shows, too. Most of the crimes are fairly ordinary compared to the more sensational ones many of the other shows cover. He gives off a vibe of a somewhat hardened, jaded man who has seen much of the depraved side of humanity, and is far from Politically Correct, but does still care about the victims deep down. The man who plays the younger Kenda in the re-enactments, Carl Marino, is pretty good, too and I recently found it he is actually a former LEO himself and that probably explains a lot.
eveningtribune.com/news/20160208/hornells-marino-becomes-homicide-hunter-on-investigation-discovery-hit
“
In general I don’t like the more speculative shows such as Reasonable Doubt, and I felt no urge at all to check out of the “is OJ Innocent” documentary. I was totally OJ’d out by all the coverage the first time around. Same for the JonBenet and Casey Anthony cases.
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oneofmany
Guest
I watched most of it tonight. It’s 7 parts about an hour each so one can watch it fairly fast if you binge watch.
Some parts are questionable but some are believable.
Bad thing is some will think it shows another Church cover-up. My DIL is hyped to see it as she says, “Another Catholic Church cover up----I’m all in to watch.” She isn’t a Catholic.
I never knew there were so many types of shows like this on TV but I don’t watch much TV.
Some parts are questionable but some are believable.
Bad thing is some will think it shows another Church cover-up. My DIL is hyped to see it as she says, “Another Catholic Church cover up----I’m all in to watch.” She isn’t a Catholic.
I never knew there were so many types of shows like this on TV but I don’t watch much TV.
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7_Sorrows
Guest
I am definitely an ID addict! I don’t like the sensational shows either. On Mother’s Day they were actually airing shows where mothers killed their children. I thought that
was very tasteless. One I really like is Crimes to Remember. Evil Stepmothers, the two shows you mentioned I rarely watch. Swamp Murders is one I find interesting.
Sometimes I need to take a break because it is just disturbing to see what humans can
do to other humans.
I wasn’t interested in the OJ shows or Casey Anthony. Sometimes Vanity Fair Confidential is good. Fear Thy Neighbor is disturbing too. The ultimate nightmare would be being murdered by your neighbor!
I like the young guy who plays Lt. Kenda too. He is good. I did know he has law enforcement experience. I have seen him in a commercial about snoring.
I wonder if anyone wins their contests?
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Catholic1954
Guest
I think I will skip it. It looks like 20% murder investigation and 80% the-same-ol’-Catholic-bashing-boost-the-ratings formula.
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Padres1969
Guest
Watching it with my wife right now. This far I have to say it seems quite probable.
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oneofmany
Guest
We finished it tonight. 7 episodes in all.
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7_Sorrows
Guest
How was it?
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oneofmany
Guest
Interesting but creepy.
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7_Sorrows
Guest
OK, thanks. I thought Making of a Murderer was creepy too, but I only watched
3 or 4 episodes.
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Luna_Lovecraft
Guest
Unlike other true crime docuseries and podcasts, this is a victim-centered crime series, which makes it very different and very special. Here, we get the perspective of crime survivors and families of the dead - including the family of Joyce Malecki, a young woman who was killed just days after Sr. Cesnik in the same neighborhood, and was a parishioner of Fr. Maskell’s. Here, there are no narratives about hero cops, but a stark representation of how survivors are often failed in extraordinary ways.
Watching The Keepers, I was (and remain) awed by the tenacious courage of abuse survivors, even as I am angry that they have been obliged to be courageous, and of the woman who was likely killed for being their advocate.
Watching The Keepers, I was (and remain) awed by the tenacious courage of abuse survivors, even as I am angry that they have been obliged to be courageous, and of the woman who was likely killed for being their advocate.
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Shining_star86
Guest
I binge-watched the series over the weekend and was left utterly disgusted. For years now, I have been very intrigued by the Catholic Church and have felt an urge to possibly commit myself to it because nothing else has ever made sense. But crimes such as what are depicted in the series keep me questioning. Unlike what one poster said about it being Catholic-bashing, well, I didn’t get that vibe at all. Speaking the truth is not anti-Catholic.
Now I know that this happens anywhere humans reside because we are all sinners, and it’s not only one religion or denomination. I’m just very concerned of the coverup aspect that continues to go on. How do devout Catholics such as yourselves not stop and wonder who all is covering things like this up? Does it not cause your faith to waver? Why even cover it up? That’s what I do not understand. Hope you guys don’t mind my questions
and I don’t mean to derail the thread, but I’ve been wanting to post for a while and then this came up.
Now I know that this happens anywhere humans reside because we are all sinners, and it’s not only one religion or denomination. I’m just very concerned of the coverup aspect that continues to go on. How do devout Catholics such as yourselves not stop and wonder who all is covering things like this up? Does it not cause your faith to waver? Why even cover it up? That’s what I do not understand. Hope you guys don’t mind my questions
and I don’t mean to derail the thread, but I’ve been wanting to post for a while and then this came up. Tis_Bearself
Patron
I wouldn’t say it’s “continuing to go on”. This case is 50 years old. Plus, Netflix is running a documentary about it and the newspapers in Baltimore run articles about it. It’s not exactly being hushed up. Also, the documentary is to some degree speculative and designed to provoke a reaction/ get viewers. The absolute truth of what happened may never be known.
In recent years, when Catholic clergy have been charged with crimes in my area (at least 2 such cases in the last 5 years - one priest involved with child pornography and one who was illegally taking money from his institution’s account), it’s been quite public, with newspaper coverage, etc.
I think maybe 40 or 50 years ago there was more tendency for clergy crimes to be hushed up than nowadays, in the wake of the pedophile scandal.
Finally, I think the majority of clergy, like the majority of humans on earth, are good people who do not run around committing crimes or covering them up. But in any event, my concept of “the Church” revolves around God, the Trinity, Jesus, the sacraments, the Blessed Mother, etc. It doesn’t revolve around the actions of a particular group of human administrators; if it did, it would always fail because humans always have failings. It’s like if my loyalty to the USA was based on who was in office and whether they were committing good or bad acts. The USA is founded on a set of higher principles and concepts that is meant to withstand the failings of any humans who happen to be carrying them out.
If you think of “the Church” as some institution run by priestly “managers” rather than something spiritual that transcends these human activities, then you’re kind of missing the point of joining or why one belongs, IMHO.
In recent years, when Catholic clergy have been charged with crimes in my area (at least 2 such cases in the last 5 years - one priest involved with child pornography and one who was illegally taking money from his institution’s account), it’s been quite public, with newspaper coverage, etc.
I think maybe 40 or 50 years ago there was more tendency for clergy crimes to be hushed up than nowadays, in the wake of the pedophile scandal.
Finally, I think the majority of clergy, like the majority of humans on earth, are good people who do not run around committing crimes or covering them up. But in any event, my concept of “the Church” revolves around God, the Trinity, Jesus, the sacraments, the Blessed Mother, etc. It doesn’t revolve around the actions of a particular group of human administrators; if it did, it would always fail because humans always have failings. It’s like if my loyalty to the USA was based on who was in office and whether they were committing good or bad acts. The USA is founded on a set of higher principles and concepts that is meant to withstand the failings of any humans who happen to be carrying them out.
If you think of “the Church” as some institution run by priestly “managers” rather than something spiritual that transcends these human activities, then you’re kind of missing the point of joining or why one belongs, IMHO.
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