Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
camcorder on blue background
camcorder on blue background
Photo by Thomas William on Unsplash
Culture

Timing Your Documentary: A Critical Consideration

Lauren Omer
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCF chapter.

On Aug. 30, 2023, YouTube vlogger Ruby Franke was taken into custody on child abuse charges and, on Feb.20, she was sentenced to four consecutive prison terms. On Sept. 9, Lifetime announced its program’s docuseries on the case, which was then released on Oct. 26, 2024. 

People online have expressed feelings of distaste towards the documentary, considering four of Franke’s six children are still minors. Not to mention, the sentencing was ushered only eight months ago. The Franke case and docuseries release begs the question of when it is too soon to serialize modern cases. 

Franke began vlogging in 2015, posting family-oriented videos on the now-deleted “8 Passengers” YouTube channel. At the time the channel was taken down, it had approximately 2.5 million subscribers. In 2020, the family began receiving wellness checks, and Franke stated on social media she would stop uploading videos in 2021. 

Social media has ignited a rise in child exploitation for monetary gain and internet fame. The Franke case has brought light to other family vloggers and accounts. Another account recently on my feed was a mother-daughter duo whose content revolves around the four-year-old daughter’s fashion and the food she eats in a day. This particular account sparked controversy about how the mother was portraying her daughter. Using suggestive thumbnails and provocative outfits, the duo has harbored the wrong kind of attention. After a lot of backlash for the promotion of her child, the social media accounts were eventually privatized. 

This circles back to the Franke case, as it seems social media parents and the media have yet to learn from these issues. The case details can be found easily online with one Google search. However, the Lifetime documentary is not doing what it claims to be doing—making an authentic and truthful documentary. 

According to the Oxford Language Dictionary, a documentary is defined as “a movie or a television or radio program that provides a factual record or report.” 

When the documentary came out, Franke’s eldest daughter, Shari Franke, 21, said the documentary was a disservice to her mother’s victims, her siblings. Shari Franke expressed in a statement regarding the documentary that neither she nor her siblings are receiving any sort of compensation for their stories. Furthermore, none of them were even contacted before the documentary’s production for approval. 

This proves to be quite problematic, as the story does not detail any personal stories or accounts of the victims involved in the case. Four of Franke’s six children are still minors, and none of their names or personal details were censored. 

Coincidentally, the film was released just two weeks after Shari Franke announced her memoir. Chad Franke, 19, stated on a Snapchat post that he is incredibly proud of his sister and that everything in the memoir mentioning him was preapproved before it was sent to publishing. 

Many people on social media are criticizing the Lifetime documentary for using Franke’s children’s names when several news sources have been censoring them, specifically for the protection of the minors involved. One user on Reddit said they were appalled by the blatant disrespect, as she felt it painted the events differently than they had occurred. Another user commented on TikTok saying the documentary felt plain wrong to watch. 

Lifetime has not released any statements on the documentary or the sources of its information. It relies on the disclaimer at the beginning of the documentary as enough warning to the viewer that the film. While based on real events, it utilizes some alterations to the truth for the sole purpose of dramatization. Overall, the consensus about the film demonstrates it is banking on the one thing it has set out to fight against- exploitation. 

A documentary’s purpose is to inform, and while the Lifetime story does do that, it also dramatizes events in a way that is a disservice to the victims of the case. It does not bring light to the conversation of family vloggers and child exploitation within the loophole of child labor laws—instead, it contributes further to the issue. 

Lauren Omer is a journalism major with a minor in creative writing, and she is pursuing a certificate in editing and publishing at the University of Central Florida. She is expected to graduate Fall of 2025. Her love for literature and writing is evident in her passion for storytelling and emotional connections. She plans to pursue a career as a fiction novel editor, but her ultimate aspiration is to be a successful novelist. Outside of the professional sphere, Lauren loves going to local music shows, film festivals, and arts and crafts fairs and markets.