As someone who identifies as Gen Z, I would like to say that among many attributes we are a curious and empathetic group of people. To be fair, we grew up watching horrific 9/11 clips every year in school, our news feeds are flooded with mass shooting headlines and we are invested in geopolitical war. We have grown up desensitized to violence which is something that previous generations cannot relate to. Rather than shy away from mental health and deem all criminals as monsters, Gen Z is invested in researching the “why” people do what they do; “They accept it as part of life, something to learn about and understand rather than turn away from.” Some see this idea of sympathy as radical but how else can we respond when it is all we see and talk about online?Â
The back end to this conversation is the extremism that has been unfortunate- like idolizing criminals like Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy. In 2019 people objectified Ted Bundy after Zac Efron’s portrayal in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. I wrote an article about the newly strange obsessions with serial killers back in 2022 and why people should not dress up as them for Halloween. We see now with Gypsy Rose and the Menendez brothers social media’s unwavering support for these people who were victims to abuse and suffered consequences. Last December the internet was consumed with the possibility of Gypsy Rose being freed from prison early following the release of The Act starring Joey King and Patricia Arquette. Over the last few weeks, my feed has been flooded with content from the new Menendez brothers’ Netflix drama and clips from their case have resurfaced resulting in many narratives about their innocence. I’m sure we are all familiar with the thirst traps that have even been made of not only the actors portraying the brothers but photos and videos from the real boys back from the 1990s. All the buzz around their case and hyping them up them as eye candy has stirred up the country while we tune in to see if a judge will offer them a new sentence during their hearing on November 29th. Kim Kardashian and many Gen Z supporters have voiced their advocacy and pleaded to #freethemenendezbrothers.Â
Gen Z and younger generation’s online presence can be sarcastic and has tones of dark humor. Throughout the Gypsy Rose release saga, Gen Z especially commented very unseriously about her story and made many jokes about her introduction to the modern world. Vogue Australia even noted that Gen Z compared her release from prison to an album release, and even showcased a TikTok countdown. Modern culture presents itself as unserious on the internet and turn a lot of things into jokes. However, is this the attitude we need to make others understand these complex cases? It may be an attempt to talk about dark topics and make them more digestible in hopes of receiving justice? Do we feel sympathy for criminals because of documentaries like “Monsters: Jeffrey Dahmer Story” and Gypsy Rose’s reality show? Is it idolization or an effort of humanization?
I believe that we are all a product of our generation and culture, therefore, Gen Z is no different. Our passion for political justice is strong because we have a newfound voice on the internet which has reached audiences broader than ever before. I think that our sympathy for cases like the ones mentioned above are fostered from obsessing with true crime news and our need for control. The last twenty years in the United States has developed a generation who is passionate, loud and sympathetic. These characteristics can present themselves as obsessive although the emotional investment that Gen Z identifies with has encouraged the release of wrongly convicted prisoners for the sake of justice.