Let’s Dial Down on Murder Porn
In 1869, Jean-Baptiste Troppmann murdered the Kinck family in cold blood. He did so deliberately, premeditatedly, dragging out the killings over the course of nearly a month.
It all started with the father, Jean Kinck, a wealthy businessman that Troppmann befriended under malicious intent. The motive? Greed. He concocted a fake business venture to spark Kinck's interest and lure him into the mountains of Alsace, where he poisoned him with prussic acid. The body was buried near the ruins of Herrenfluh Castle and the victim's papers, identity and bank notes were officially in Troppmann's custody. But his greed had not yet been satisfied; he expected Kinck to carry a much larger sum of money, so he needed a new plan. Troppmann sent a letter to the victim's family requesting money, but his plan once again backfired due to a failed bank transfer caused by verification issues.
He subsequently convinced Kinck's wife to send their 16-year-old son to Paris with money, under the false pretense of reuniting with his father. On September 15, Troppmann met him at the train station, lured him into a field in Pantin, took the money and stabbed him to death. Then he sent an urgent message summoning Madame Kinck and their remaining children to Paris under the pretext that her husband had requested their presence. They arrived on the night of September 19 to the same dark field where he attacked and slaughtered them with shovels, knives and cords. Troppmann buried them afterward in a shallow trench before fleeing. His alleged motive? To eliminate potential witnesses. The story broke on September 21 after Jean Langlois, a farmer, found the victims' bodies when he went to work in his alfalfa field. Le Petit Journal published the news across its front page as a "Horrible Tragedy." Le Figaro called it a "Horrible Massacre."
The very same day the news broke, people flooded the scene. According to La Grande Bibliothèque du Droit, this was the first time a case was covered entirely in "real time." The sensationalism proved quite effective. As people swarmed the crime scene, others decided to make a buck out of the occasion by setting up food stands nearby, creating a carnivalesque ambiance.
The Troppmann murders make clear one thing: crime always sells. Le Petit Journal confirmed this by reporting the case in real time and serializing it, doubling their sales from 250,000 to 500,000 copies in six months.
True crime obsession is not new; from legends to lore, from novels to reporting, it seems to be embedded in our culture. In the almost one hundred and fifty years following the Troppmann killings, people's interactions with true crime and tragedy have evolved significantly. From parasocial behavior like falling in love with Ted Bundy, to internet sleuths inserting themselves into the case by acting as detectives and harassing the victims' families. Mere curiosity has evolved into obsession. The true crime industry has boomed into a multi-million-dollar business, with 84% of the American population having consumed some sort of true crime media. Netflix has a full genre section dedicated to it with Zac Efron playing Ted Bundy and Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer. High-profile actors compete for the opportunity to portray a serial killer; monsters are fetishized and victims are re-victimized.
Social media forums arise where people theorize about unsolved mysteries, going as far as actually helping law enforcement. An example of this is the "Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer" case, which can also be streamed on Netflix. The documentary shows how a group of self-proclaimed internet sleuths helped identify a criminal. There is no real question regarding our inclination toward morbid curiosity; it exists. The real questions are where this obsession comes from and if there are limits to the exposure to these kinds of stories. Doctor Pamela B. Rutledge argues that true crime media fulfills psychological needs like safety, mastery and emotional regulation. She says this goes far beyond morbid curiosity, deriving instead from evolutionary responses for survival. By approaching crime from a safe distance, people get a sense of control; by dissecting what went wrong, there is a sense of preparation. Doctor Kevin Bennett seconds this theory, stating that humans are naturally drawn to stories that evoke strong emotions and provide a sense of excitement and catharsis.
There is another reason that seems to resonate even more: benign hedonic masochism. Michael Arntfield draws on Paul Rozin's theory perfectly in his article, describing it as "paradoxical psychological condition through which people acquire pleasure from simulated aversive experiences that generate fear, anxiety and emotional discomfort, all while remaining fundamentally safe."
True crime offers a controlled way to experience danger and moral disorder while in a safe space, where the audience is in control of the content. It is an accepted way to give way to everyday anxieties, uncertainty and the heightened perception of crime. AUP students are not immune to the hype of true crime. One female graduate student stated: "I like true crime because it brings new perspectives on human nature, especially in criminal psychology and makes me question why people commit crimes. I also watch them to gain some knowledge about existing crimes, to be more cautious for my safety. These shows bring a very dark and interesting side of human nature to light. Some true crime shows or documentaries can be biased as well, but I like to differentiate myself: I do my own research and form my own opinions on the specific cases that interest me."
A male student said he just "couldn't look away" but doesn't consider himself a true crime fanatic. As for our very own Peacock Managing Editor, Lana Scibona, she explained that she is interested in psychology, how the mind works and is especially drawn to true crime content that focuses on cults. There is a pattern of curiosity and the need to understand human behavior. This could be the surface-level interest that arises from true crime, while we crave the psychological release of watching gore, revulsion can lead to ease and anxiety can bring reassurance. Once again, the human mind presents us with ironic contradictions.
Like cautionary tales and legends, true crime serves a purpose in our psyche. The problem is not the morbid curiosity when properly directed; it is the industry behind the production of true crime content.
It has become a product of mass consumption and therefore production. The effect is an oversaturation of morbid content and a deep obsession with murder porn.
It is no longer about fascination; it has shifted into extraction, another player battling inside the attention economy. This means targeted advertising and an increase in exposure to this type of content, but when does gore transform into too much porn?
The Cleveland Clinic wrote an article saying there might be negative psychological effects from the overconsumption of true crime. Even though each person may have a different reaction to this type of content, there are signs that this content is harmful. Increased anxiety and paranoia, for example, can be experienced since the brain is tricked into thinking the world is more dangerous than it actually is. It makes sense that consuming this kind of content constantly sends baseline signals that point toward danger, and therefore, hypervigilance.
Moreover, avid watchers can also experience sleep disruption due to an increase in adrenaline before bed while watching this content, especially those who choose ASMR true crime podcasts to fall asleep (I would recommend switching to a history one). It can also cause a need for isolation, thinking everyone is a potential aggressor, diminishing trust and social interactions within their community. Or even a sense of dread, from the loss of trust in humanity as a species. These are just some of the potential effects, not to mention how dramatization can create morally forgiving fan bases in favor of the perpetrator.
Here, too, moderation is protection. It is not about going cold turkey; it is about knowing when to stop.
The habit of binge-watching for the sake of short-term satisfaction or adrenaline-chasing in everyday life can be harmful to mental health. We already established that there is a reason we are drawn to this type of content, but compulsive consumption might not be necessary. There is no need to actively seek content that increases anxiety and distrust even more; the constant state of the world does that without any help. So ask yourself if you might be experiencing these symptoms and if it might be time to dial down the murder porn.
