Another year, another serial killer for people to be obsessed with. Yes. You read that right. It seems like with the constant releases of serial killer documentaries and biopics, people have become increasingly obsessed with serial killers. Now I understand enjoying watching these true crime pieces because they can be fascinating, but that’s where the fascination needs to end.
In 2019 it was Ted Bundy after the release of Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile, starring Zac Efron as the world’s most prolific serial killer. I watched the movie and enjoyed it, but I saw other people my age obsessing over it and expressing their condolences to TED BUNDY, not the victims.This also could be because they cast such an attractive actor to play a violently unattractive man.
Then during quarantine, my TikTok was inundated with people supporting the Menendez brothers, who killed their parents and blew through their multi-million dollar inheritance. These accounts were run by children younger than me; most were not even alive during the murders. Many people expressed that the brothers killed them in self-defense because they were being abused, which is true, but these accounts were boasting that they did nothing wrong and did not deserve jail.
Over the summer, I found an entire Twitter community with accounts dedicated to school shooters like Nikolas Cruz and the Columbine shooters. These accounts were run by school-aged children showing their support for the criminals and discussing how they think they’re innocent and were misunderstood. This is mind-boggling to me because anyone old enough to have social media was alive during the Parkland massacre and witnessed firsthand the destruction and devastation that Cruz caused. I cannot understand how anyone could sympathize with him.
Now obsessions with Jeffrey Dahmer and Charles Manson have overtaken my social media. With the release of the Netflix show Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, starring Evan Peters as the title killer, people everywhere dressed up as him for Halloween and obsessed over him and his actions. The same goes for Charles Manson, who has one of the biggest cult followings of fans I have ever seen. One of the songs Manson made in 1968 is trending on TikTok, with people excusing his actions. I recently saw someone with a Manson t-shirt on while I coincidentally was wearing a Sharon Tate t-shirt–an actress in 1960s Hollywood that he was responsible for killing. The fact that he still has followers to me is insane. These followers have even ambushed Tate’s family while visiting her grave over fifty years later.
This true crime obsession can also make people think they are detectives. In November, four Idaho college students were viciously murdered in their home. The case started a national frenzy of people trying to solve it and bring justice to the victims. This “crusade for justice” would lead to a complete dumpster fire, with online users accusing the victim’s friends, family, and classmates of the quadruple murder. These people received death threats and had to go into hiding because people who had never had any detective experience decided that they solved the case. To everyone’s dismay, the detectives arrested a suspect six weeks after the murders, one who was not on any of these TikTok detective’s radars, a 28-year-old man named Bryan Kohberger. There is a plethora of evidence against him, and there is no doubt in my mind that he is the monster responsible for this, but unfortunately, I will not be surprised when the obsessions over him begin.
So what is it with Gen Z and their obsessions with serial killers? Is it the fact that most of us were born after 9/11 and are so desensitized to violence that we don’t see the problem? Is it the prevalence of social media? Gen Z’s obsession with serial killers is truly disturbing. If we start excusing the most heinous actions, what’s next?