TW: Discussions of serial killers, danny complaining about bad businesses
We all agree killing people is bad. Not to get political, but I feel like this is a pretty standard worldview, so I’m gonna generalize a little bit. Killing people is bad. Good. Great. Now that we’re on the same page, lets talk about serial killers.
Now, while I can pretty proudly say I am not disgustingly educated on serial killers, I do know quite a few. Like, the general few mostly. Big names like Ted Bundy, Jefferey Dhamer, Ed Gein, ect. I’m just not a big fan of true crime, which fascinates a large amount of people, and I just don’t get it. I don’t appreciate how victims and their families are reduced to a notch on a timeline in a 25 minute youtube video. Now, imagine that entire 25 minute youtube video is actually an hour and a half visit at a museum dedicated to death as a whole.
When I walked into the museum I expected, oh, I don’t know, the iron maiden and how it was actually not a real thing ever. Or mourning rings from the Victorian era. Or, in a city with such a rich history and culture surrounding the celebration of life rather than death, an exhibit on the actual city you’re located in… but, no. I got thinly veiled racism, sexism, and the glorification of Charles Manson of all people. An entire wall dedicated to the man, actually.
I’m not here to talk about the actual museum itself, but rather to talk about how bad it is to talk about serial killers like they’re the best thing since sliced bread. There was barely anything to actually educate someone on the Charles Manson wall, just dozens of pictures of his face and followers. It was more like a good three walls that, oh, I don’t know, could have been used for the 9/11 attacks that were shoved into a corner.
Now, don’t get me wrong on what I’m about to say. As a dear friend of mine put it, if your special interest is serial killers don’t hang pictures of them on your walls, and definitely don’t become one. If you’re interested in learning about serial killers I will not crucify you for it. It’s interesting to me, and I would love to learn more about it, but the problem is that I cannot find a singular source who cares to look into who the victims are, or are not deeply disrespectful to them and their families. A lot of the serial killer.. fandom? (gods, that sounds horrible). Changing my wording. True Crime listeners and people who feel drawn to learning about serial killers (too wordy, I’m using true crime fandom from now on) tend to forget that, hey. Real people died. Real people killed real people. This isn’t some funny, ha-ha. People died. People mourned them; people are mourning them. Owning a cardboard cutout of Charles Manson is weird. Calling Ted Bundy hot is worse. Writing cutesy poems about serial killers, even if bashing them, is WEIRD. Go through the process to sit down and recognize that real people were hurt and are hurting.
This is kind of a jump from what I usually post on my blog I think, and I really tried to keep it as non-graphic as possible, but I genuinely am sickened at how some people can idolize creatures that decide to kill others. It’s weird. It desensitizes us to things we need to be sensitive about. I’m angry because victims are so deeply ignored and discarded because, oh, they’re not important, right? I don’t know. Stream Shauna Dean Cokeland on spotify.
