Ramifications for romanticization

While there will always be a market for this topic, there has been a surge in popular media that portrays serial killers in this way. This gives people an easy pathway to this content without actively seeking it out. Being more conscious about what an ordinary person would see, rather than the intention, even if it is good. 

In a survey conducted by Morning Consult, the majority of U.S. adults reported that they have seen, read, or heard about Jeffrey Dahmer, while a quarter “said they have watched Netflix’s Dahmer series and enjoyed it.”

“There are people who like watching for the story rather than watching for the psychological or serious aspect,” said Addie Rozenzon, a sophomore at Niwot High School who plans to study criminology. 

The line also blurs between real-life serial killers and fictional serial killers. 

Different types of shows are more appealing than others, like a documentary with reliable sources, compared to a more dramatized version of events with shorter episodes. 

Documentaries only account for 7.4% of the U.S. popular demand, while drama and action account for 28.3% and 5.3%, respectively, according to a 2021 report.

According to Bonn, how the media portrays these serial killers is significant.

“There is a myth that most serial killers are young white males, who are kind of dysfunctional life by themselves, sort of loners, isolationists, and rather awkward and antisocial. And that’s just not the case. You have serial killers of every shape, size, variety, race, sexual orientation, religion, gender, that there is, but rarely are they portrayed that way,” Bonn said.

Rozenzon also mentioned that some media outlets, such as the Dahmer series, produce content irresponsibly. 

“Some people try to get it right, while some don’t,” Rozenzon said, describing how it can be hard not to romanticize a killer because of how they are depicted.

This situation may not be a problem in itself. But it can reflect the broader implications of the consumption of media.

“Here’s something that I often ask my students: do you know who Ted Bundy is? Oh, well, he killed 36 women. Can you name one of them? You know, name one of the 36 women that he killed, and nobody can, so we have done a great job of sensationalizing and promoting Ted Bundy, but we have not done a very good job of telling the stories of the individuals that he killed, and all the lives he destroyed along the way,” Bonn said.