If you’ve been on any social media platforms lately, you’ve probably heard about the latest documentary on Netflix, Making A Murderer. The ten episode docu-series follows the story of a man named Steven Avery who was wrongly imprisoned for eighteen years, only to be accused of murder shortly after his exoneration.
The two directors of the show, Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, appeared on The Late Show last Tuesday to talk to Stephen Colbert about the series they spent ten years working on. The women discussed how, although most viewers think of the series as a “whodunnit,” it was intended to be more of a “howdunnit.” The documentary follows Avery and his family through the American justice system and focuses more on how a murder trial can become corrupt rather than pointing fingers at people to see who’s guilty.
Stephen tells Laura and Moira how their work has started a movement that opened many peoples’ eyes to how dishonest something as trusted as the police force and judicial system could become. Stephen raises the question, “Is it the idea that we’ve got guilty and not guilty in our system as opposed to proven or not proven?” Is Steven Avery guilty, or was the prosecution just able to prove—by their standards, at least—that he was? Both Laura and Moira agree that this is a detail that affects how people think when it comes to trials like Stephen Avery’s because of the many technicalities in the judicial system.
You can watch the video below and see how Laura and Moira further explain their motives behind filming the series. What are your opinions on the trial, collegiettes?