True Crime for Catholics?

[DiscerningTheTruth]

There has been a huge increase in popularity of the true crime genre of entertainment in recent years. I personally do not enjoy this type of entertainment, I just find it disturbing. But, is it wrong, perhaps even sinful, to enjoy this entertainment? Could it be seen, in the Catholic perspective, as glorifying evil?

 

[Irishmom2]

I watch a lot of those crime shows. Not because I enjoy gore. I do like the detective aspect and the psychology involved. Nothing wrong with watching. Also, most of those shows do not show actual blood and gore scenes very often. I do not think they glorify evil.

 

[ThomasMT]

If you seek a more traditional Catholic perspective, you may benefit from reading St. Augustine’s views on such “entertainment.”

 

[puer.dei]

Could it be seen, in the Catholic perspective, as glorifying evil?

I don’t see how it “glorifies” evil. In most of these shows and books, the criminal is identified and caught. It’s not as though they were shown getting away with it.

But, this genre does seem to become an unhealthy obsession for some, so I would suggest being careful of that.

 

[Limoncello4021]

Not at all sure what you mean because most “true crime” books and films are about the search to solve the crime and bring the criminals to justice. Why would that “glorify evil?” It is something the police and FBI, etc. do all day long.

 

[DiscerningTheTruth]

I guess the glorifying evil part for me comes when people have “favorite” serial killers, cases etc. I know of one individual who has gone so far as to have a well known serial killer’s portrait tattooed on their body.

 

[Limoncello4021]

Well, ok, I agree with you there! I like true crime myself but have never had a “favorite” serial killer (yuk!) and the person you mention with the tattoo has gone too far overboard.

 

[Irishmom2]

Ok, that is something entirely different than watching a true crime show though.

 

[Pitcairn17]

If you seek a more traditional Catholic perspective, you may benefit from reading St. Augustine’s views on such “entertainment.”

It would be interesting to know just what “entertainment” existed in Augustine’s day that was analogous to viewing how crimes were solved and perpetrators captured.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

But, is it wrong, perhaps even sinful, to enjoy this entertainment? Could it be seen, in the Catholic perspective, as glorifying evil?

Depends on what you are reading and watching it for.

I’ve been a true crime fan since way before it was popular. I read my first true crime books in high school. I used to read crime stories in the newspaper as a child and teen. My mother would try to hide the paper from me when I was a child because she didn’t want me to get bad dreams from reading gory murder stories, but I never got bad dreams. At this point I’ve read literally hundreds of books, watched literally hundreds of documentaries, and belong to a very large true crime discussion group.

I credit my interest in true crime with influencing me to go back to school in my 30s and become a lawyer. I learned a lot about the legal system reading those books (there weren’t many documentaries then, nor were there dedicated cable channels for true crime shows then).

I see nothing wrong with reading/ watching it in order to know more about how criminals think or how investigators and police work, or how society deals with difficult issues of justice, or to learn how to better protect yourself and your family from threats.

If you’re reading/ watching it because you get excited reading about gory murders, or gory executions, or it’s tempting you to go out and commit crimes yourself, then stop.

This is like every other thread on “is it okay for a Catholic to read/ watch this.” Some of us do just fine with it and other people might be led into bad temptations. It’s a matter of prudential judgment.

Incidentally, if you think true crime “glorifies evil”, then that makes me think you have not read or watched very much of the genre. There is much more glorification of evil in the fictionalized gangster/ thief/ superhero/ horror etc movies than there is in reading the cold hard facts of what actually happened and how it affected real live people.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I guess the glorifying evil part for me comes when people have “favorite” serial killers, cases etc. I know of one individual who has gone so far as to have a well known serial killer’s portrait tattooed on their body.

As I said, I belong to discussion groups with hundreds of true crime fans.

What you are describing is not your average true crime fan. What you are describing is a person who appears to have some sick obsession or psychosis, and would be shunned by the group or else placed on some kind of creepy person watch list in case they might decide to emulate their “favorite” serial killer.

One might have a “favorite” criminal or set of crimes that one finds most interesting to read about. That is hardly the same thing as idolizing the person or having him tattooed on one’s body. I have a friend who enjoys reading about the Manson family and has even visited some of the historical sites associated with them, but he doesn’t think Charlie is awesome or anything. He thinks Charlie is a sicko.

 

[Bithynian]

It would be interesting to know just what “entertainment” existed in Augustine’s day that was analogous to viewing how crimes were solved and perpetrators captured.

I surmise the reference is to Augustine’s City of God, Chapter 12, wherein he discusses his perspective of Roman theatre, particularly those depicting pre-Christian gods engaging in criminal activity (adultery, murder, etc.).

The issue is that Augustine had a very negative view of theatre in general: he would have treated Shakespeare’s King Lear, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Medieval Christian Passion plays in the same way that he excorciated late Roman theatre. He saw theatre as, essentially, emotional catfishing: using ‘fake’ (as it were) emotions of the actors to elicit ‘real’ emotions from the audience.

 

[ThomasMT]

I only read “Confessions,” but clearly the sentiment is expressed in more than one of his works.

 

[redbetta]

People can have this sort of unhealthy situation over anything. It’s usually a very small minority and not representative of the community/subject as a whole.

 

[RolandThompsonGunner]

This is like every other thread on “is it okay for a Catholic to read/ watch this.” Some of us do just fine with it and other people might be led into bad temptations. It’s a matter of prudential judgment.

Yup. It’s like asking “will this amount of alcohol get me drunk?” Depends on you. If you’re a 90 pound teetotaler, probably. If you’re a hard-drinking 300 pound linebacker, probably not.

Whether something is bad for you depends on you and your knowledge of your own quirks and weaknesses. What might be fine for one person might be a source of real harm to another.

 

[Tina.Kamira]

I personally enjoy true crime, but I steer away from the shows and podcasts that talk about criminals in ways that seem to glorify their actions. There’s a popular podcast called “My Favorite Murder” and I refuse to listen to it because no murders should be a “favorite.”

 

[JanR]

I’ve always liked whodunnits. The fascination is seeing how detectives and police go about solving the cases. Some of the outcomes are truly surprising – the least person or persons I would have suspected.

I like the books written by Ann Rule. They are true stories. But, I also like fictional mysteries.

The only time I find these stories disturbing is when the police blow off a concerned parent when their child goes missing, and tell them to wait 24 hours, assuming the kid is just a runaway. That smacks of laziness and indifference, like they don’t want to be bothered. Then, when they do finally take it seriously, it’s often too late. How many child abduction deaths could be avoided if a decent effort was made right from the beginning to find the kid? I don’t like that policy that so many police departments have of blowing off missing kids until a full day passes and they still don’t turn up.

 

[RolandThompsonGunner]

There’s a popular podcast called “My Favorite Murder” and I refuse to listen to it because no murders should be a “favorite.”

Isn’t that the one where the point is to mock the murderer for committing an easily solvable crime? I don’t think it’s using “favorite” literally.