onymous

i used to think people interested in true crime (as in, mostly infamous past crimes and criminals) were simply morbid, creepy and perhaps sick and disturbed.

later on, when i noticed some were also into cold cases or cases of wrongful conviction, i thought perhaps they were people who were interested in solving mysteries but either didn't think they were cut out to be police or lawyers, or for whatever reasons, ended up in different careers. but they still had a strong interest in such topics.

more recently, for example, during the petito case, i observed a lot of people claiming to be part of that genre truly wanting to help. however, during the same past few years, i've also observed that most people watching actual trials (or police interviews, etc. - official proceedings involving the accused) do so to feel superior to the criminals. and everyone accused is the criminal. (if not, it's to feel superior to the lying, false accuser, similarly determined before said trial even begins.) it seems to be a lot of people's outlet for vengeance and bloodlust, and there doesn't seem to be much knowledge of or interest in the law or detection or investigation - despite making a hobby out of watching trials. (you'd think they'd pick some things up along the way, and retain them from one case to the next, but most apparently don't.) another bizarre motivation, for some, appears to be to make an exaggerated display of supposedly caring for complete strangers, the crime victims, though when people are talking about their own suffering and traumas and experiences as crime victims, outside the context of a publicised court case (and even within that context, a lot of times), online compassion and empathy is still sparse on the ground. better than in previous eras, but still sparse.

taking the premise that most or some people follow along with cases, prior to the trial stage, out of some sort of desire to help, it would follow that they think the police got it wrong (if it's an old case, or could get it wrong on a current case). either by making mistakes or giving up too soon and letting the case grow cold, through laziness, pursuing or even framing the wrong suspect, covering up for the actual culprit, perhaps being involved in the crime themselves, something. so, one could say, people do think they can do a better job. or would like to try to, anyway.

in the context of current, ongoing cases, there does seem to be a strong element of wanting to figure a mystery out before the police do. then, either checking personal results against the official results, to see if one 'got it right', or just trusting one's own judgment over any official narrative, until it's proven to you personally otherwise.

i'm very curious about what i see going on these days. youtube's population has grown conservative or right wing (or whatever label one prefers) over the years. across the board. such people tend to be authoritarian. the true crime genre is filled with them, both on the content creator side and in the comments sections (as are all genres of youtube these days). it didn't really make sense to me how people who tend to revere law enforcement would fit into such a genre. surely, from that perspective, you should just believe whatever the police and prosecutors say, trust their judgment, and wait for them to tell you what happened. so what is there for you to contribute? how can you help, exactly?

i've been somewhat surprised to watch these people ironically grapple with the same dilemma. a lot of them seem physically incapable of saying the words or even thinking the thoughts that the police (or prosecutors) might be wrong, lying, incompetent, covering up for real criminals, framing innocent people. i've literally sat and watched people struggle to get their words out, then give up and opt not to say it after all. turn red in the face. spend countless hours apologising in advance (for the words that aren't coming out), swearing to anyone listening that they're not anti-police. they want to speculate, and form their own theories, but they're also deeply afraid to do so. it's somewhat horrific - and extremely frustrating - to watch people all twisted up with cognitive dissonance like this.

(it also pisses me off to be honest. it's like they didn't watch any news coverage at all 2-3 years ago in the wake of the george floyd murder, when the mainstream media was covering case after case after case, ad nauseam, of police being every negative thing listed above. or, more recently, any coverage of the uvalde case. in addition to having no life experience or education prior to that period of time. are there really rocks big enough for this many people to hide under?)

moving a bit beyond that though, it makes me think authoritarian people are also not up to investigating or otherwise looking at cases properly. being regular citizens following along, the starting line obviously is what officials and mainstream news media tell the public about the case. the internet can fill things out a bit - surprisingly often, with true and accurate information. but even the most resourceful researchers eventually hit the point where they don't have the authority to dig any further. even the few content creators from youtube who actually try their hand at physically going out and doing journalism themselves, independently, reach the point where they're risking their own arrest (or intimidation/retaliation from people involved in the case) because they don't have the authority to cross certain lines physically or conversationally. then, it's back to waiting for officials sources to give an update (though it may or may not be believed when they do). what happens in the meantime is endless hours (weeks) of trying to keep an 'open mind' within an extremely narrow framework, and just talking in circles. no matter how ridiculous or fraught with lies the official narrative is, authoritarian people will try to put parameters around their own thought process based on that narrative.

(perhaps this is another reason why there are so many failings in actual law enforcement to begin with.)


i cannot be the only person who has noticed this, so if you watch any true crime genre material on yt or elsewhere online...