For once, the girls were the center of the screen.
The Netflix movie Lost Girls did something very few true crime movies and TV shows did: it showcased the struggle of Mari Gilbert, the mother of Shannan Gilbert, and the families of the Long Island Serial Killer’s (LISK) victims with an apathetic police department that failed to hunt down their loved ones’ killer.
Given the recent killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd at the hands of police, the laziness and sexism of the Long Island Police Department, a department that dismissed the victims as hookers, is more relevant than ever.
True crime has surged in popularity through the recent months; from Netflix’s Tiger King to indie podcasts, millions of listeners and viewers tune in to hear the stories of the missing, murdered, and unidentified. Many popular shows, however, victim blame, glorify the perpetrator and the associated acts of violence, and disproportionately showcase the cases of middle and upper class white females. How can we change true crime shows so that they serve as a tool for bringing justice to underserved communities instead of a tool for exploitation of the victims’ grief by the media? How do we ensure that we preserve the humanity of the victims?
Victim Blaming
Many shows are guilty of victim blaming, insinuating that whatever tragedy happened to the victim was solely the victim’s fault, whether it be due to race, social class, or lifestyle. For the episode featuring the disappearance of Nancy Moyer, TV show Crime Watch Daily featured an interview with a detective that expressed great “shock” and “dismay” when he found her collection of sex toys, implying that her “wild” lifestyle may have caused her disappearance when there is very little evidence to say so. As seen in Lost Girls, law enforcement failed to promptly look for Shannan Gilbert once she was reported missing, claiming that she may have “run away” as part of her “high-risk lifestyle” as a “prostitute.” While many victims may have struggled with substance abuse, poverty, and prostitution, their choices and status in society do not render them less worthy of justice. They deserve to be found or have their murderer brought to justice just by simple virtue of the fact that they are human. Therefore, these shows should be careful to avoid meaningless value judgments and instead discuss the victim’s life with dignity.
Glorifying The Perpetrator and Violence
Part of why true crime shows have become popular is society’s fascination with the morbid, dark, and inhumane. People are fascinated by these shows because they want to figure out just what exactly makes hardcore criminals tick, the piece of humanity that is missing within them. However, these shows often cross the line between story telling and perpetrator glorification. Several popular TV crime series show crime scenes in gory detail without much discussion of the victims’ lives. The Netflix movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile portrays Ted Bundy as a handsome ladies’ man, focusing on his role as a caring father to his girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepher’s daughter, his charm as he wins over Liz, Carole Ann Boone, and his fangirls in court, and his so-called wit as he plays lawyer in the courtroom. What is missing from this narrative is the deaths of more than 30 victims, all young females who were brutally tortured and murdered. They only appear at the end of the movie as names on a black screen. These girls and women are not just names on a screen. They were daughters, sisters, students, and mothers who deserve to have their humanity shared in more significant ways than listing their names. Likewise, serial killers such as Bundy should not steal the spotlight and be portrayed for who they truly are: soulless murderers.
Lack of Diversity
Have you wondered why you keep hearing about the same true crime stories over and over again? Have you wondered why many of the widely publicized stories involve missing or murdered middle or upper class White women? Why is it that Laci Peterson and Jayme Closs have their cases featured across multiple major news outlets, but Evelyn Hernandez and Arianna Fitts have barely gotten any attention? This effect is often known as missing white woman syndrome, in which the media disproportionately focuses on the cases of missing White women instead of men, people of color, the LGBTQ community, and people from lower socioeconomic classes. Minorities also suffer from violent crimes, as Black children make up about 35% of missing children cases in the FBI database. Despite this, their cases account for only 7% of nationwide media coverage. The style of reporting also differs between the groups: stories on white women focus on their roles as mothers and daughters, whereas stories on women of color are more likely to focus on the victim’s personal problems. Given that crime is just as problematic to minority communities as it is to white ones, and that major crime shows have millions of viewers across the United States, these shows should feature more lesser known cases involving minority victims. More importantly, there should be discussion of the justice system’s systemic bias and how that prevents minority victims from getting justice, along with potential solutions to help these communities. Many Black missing children fail to be properly reported as missing or be actively searched for due to distrust of the police and the myth that they are all “runaways.” The missing and murdered indigenous women epidemic exists due to the intersection of political and economic oppression that are byproducts of colonialism. Intimate partner violence is of concern to Asian American communities, yet many victims have difficulties getting help due to language and cultural barriers. These issues have been swept under the rug by true crime shows, and it is time for them to use their platforms as voices of solidarity, not oppression.
Shannan Gilbert, Mari Gilbert, and the victims and families of the LISK victims were not perfect. Shannan struggled to make ends meet as a sex worker in order to pay for her education. Mari juggled working a low pay job in construction with the demands of searching for a missing daughter and caring for a mentally ill one. The other victims were also trapped within the confines of poverty, substance abuse, and the sex trade. Yet, the imperfection of these characters was Lost Girls’ strength. The show served as a reminder that a victim does not have to be a pillar of the community to deserve justice. All victims have their humanity, and that should be reason enough.
Resources to Support
u/TrifleTruffles on Reddit, who helps raise awareness of lesser known minority cases
Our Black Girls, whose founder Erika Marie helps raise awareness of missing and murdered Black girls and women
Black and Missing, which helps bring cases of missing Black Americans to the public’s attention
Peas in Their Pods, which created the Rilya Alert for missing children who don’t meet the criteria for an Amber Alert