Reel cruelty: Voyeurism and extra-juridical punishment in true-crime documentaries

Abstract

This paper takes as its point of departure the newly resurgent controversy about whether the possible civic or pedagogical functions of true-crime documentaries outweigh the harm they are occasionally known to inflict. Although supporters of true-crime documentaries tend to downplay their potential to create or exacerbate trauma, their arguments, like those of the subgenre’s critics, presuppose that trauma functions as an unwanted byproduct. This paper maintains that while this assumption buttresses belief in a shared moral universe of what qualifies as the just administration of law or authority it also conceals the dual possibility: (1) that the design of certain true-crime documentaries constitute an exercise of extra-juridical punitive power; and (2) that viewers are capable of deriving pleasure from such an exercise. To that end, the paper examines three recent, critically acclaimed true-crime documentaries— The Thin Blue Line, Tickled, and The Act of Killing—identifying in each a specific form of technologically enabled retribution: interrogation, surveillance, and torture, respectively. It argues that insofar as the films succeed as entertainments and elicit pleasure from audiences, they engender and maintain subjective adherence to extra-juridical practices of retributive justice, at both a cognitive and affective level.

‘My Favourite Genre Is Missing People’: Exploring How Listeners Experience True Crime Podcasts in Australia

“…For example, these surveys have found that listeners primarily regard TCPs as entertaining, compelling and exciting (Boling and Hull 2018;Vitis and Ryan 2021). These findings align with the extant literature on true crime narratives, which indicates that true crime is uniquely designed to create feelings of disgust, rage and pleasure by creating an affective economy for audiences to enjoy experiences of hatred, judgement and vengeance (Punnett 2018;Stoneman and Packer 2021). These findings also align with examinations of contemporary TCP narratives, which have shown that podcasts routinely evoke anger and disgust, particularly when narrating cases that fail to produce a criminal legal outcome (Yardley, Kelly and Robinson-Edwards 2019).…”

“…Despite the proliferation of these (mostly) freely accessible sources, TCPs have received limited attention in criminological media research. While criminologists have engaged extensively with crime in cinema and television (Goyes and Franko 2022;Rafter and Brown 2011;Stoneman and Packer 2021;Young 2009), empirical explorations of crime media in Australia have focused on the content of news media and highlighted how news values prioritise sensationalist, inaccurate and racialised accounts of crime (Evans 2021;McGregor 2017;Our Watch 2015). Additionally, where public perspectives on crime media have been sought, Australian research has focused on how television, radio and tabloid media consumption shape perceptions In Australia, the public is increasingly accessing stories about crime, violence and harm via true crime podcasts (TCPs).…”