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We know you did it: The perks pf crime dramas

Why are we so obsessed with other people's deaths?

By Ruth BradburyPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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We know you did it: The perks pf crime dramas
Photo by Josefina Di Battista on Unsplash

‘We know you did it’: The perks of crime dramas

My idea of heaven on a weeknight is to sit down after dinner with a hot drink and watch a murder. Now this may sound odd. But crime dramas have been around for decades and have only proliferated in popularity, thanks to the likes of such gems as Luther and Line of Duty in the UK and long-running favourites such as Criminal Minds, Law and Order: SVU and CSI in America. In Australia, the crime drama obsession reached its real-world peak when the first season of Underbelly (detailing Carl William’s involvement in the underworld) was banned from screening in Victoria as the trial was still ongoing and potential jurors may have been be ‘unduly influenced’ by the show.

True crime has become the new black. Podcasts, documentaries, YouTube channels- the list goes on. However, there is a lot to be said for the straight, old-fashioned whodunnit. The nuances of modern crime authors such as Peter Robinson and Elizabeth George mean that nowadays, stories are often more of a character study than anything else. Nevertheless, the appeal of the classic murder mystery remains. The queens of the Golden Age of detective fiction- Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers- understood this very well. You have a small group of people. A murder happens. Then another one. The appeal for the reader is the attempt to solve the mystery (without skipping to the end of the book for a sneak peek) and the ultimate satisfaction of everything being explained and resolved. Other detective fiction writers approached this in different ways. John Dickson Carr (Carr Dickson) was known for his ‘locked room’ plots, while even earlier, the fascination with Sherlock Holmes saw Arthur Conan Doyle reluctantly resurrect his protagonist due to popular demand.

So what is it about crime dramas that we love so much? Personally, I think it has to do with the natural propensity of humans to be interested in shocking stories and want to solve problems. I don’t know how many times I’ve yelled at the screen, ‘It’s him! He’s the murderer!’ only to be proved wrong by a last second plot twist. The world of police and detectives is fascinating to so many people. I couldn’t tell you my basic legal rights in Australia, but I know the British Miranda by heart and have learned a lot of other facts which will only help me if I get arrested for murder in Britain or decide to join their police force. Not a useful skill set, I know.

But I think it is this desire to explain and comprehend awful human behaviour which drives this genre. People want to understand why criminals commit terrible crimes. We want the backstory. With so many horrific crimes having occurred and been reported on over the last century, it’s only natural that your average Joe might want to know why? Why do people behave this way? How do murderers get away with it? How do the detectives and forensics team actually solve these complex crimes? It’s a topic that I think taps into our collective psyche. Something awful has happened. Who did it and why? It’s a basic communal human instinct to want to know. Maybe it stems from our roots as members of small communities, where any out-of-the-ordinary occurrence provokes both outrage and intense curiosity (it’s no coincidence that many of the most successful crime dramas, such as Midsomer Murders, are set in small villages or towns).

Ultimately, for me at least, the cosiness of a crime drama lies in the knowledge that the mystery will be resolved. It’s a thriller with a generally satisfying conclusion. The murderer is unmasked. The vigilante detectives use their own unorthodox methods but within a fifty minute episode they nick the right person. Order is restored, until the next episode. It’s a neat little bundle that both intrigues and satisfies the human brain. Our brains like order and resolution, so it’s no wonder this genre is so popular.

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