Exploratory Essay

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Bret Schwardt
Ms. Dinwiddie
EN 102
12 February 2021
Exploratory Essay: Pop Culture’s Obsession with Murder
Along with everyone else in the world, I needed something to fill my endless free time
during quarantine. I quickly developed into a Netflix-binging zombie, watching anything that
caught my attention. Something I noticed quickly was that a large number of “Netflix Original”
series, which are series directly funded and advertised by Netflix, concerned a particularly
macabre and disturbing subject matter. I found myself watching hours and hours of docuseries
about the world’s most famous serial killers. From a detailed, long form documentary about the
lives Ted Bundy viciously ended, to a drama style movie where former High School Musical
heartthrob Zach Efron stars as the notorious killer. I wondered why Netflix would be so willing
to attach their name to such potentially upsetting content, however these topics stay towards
the top of Netflix’s Top Ten most watched rankings. The phenomena is nothing new. There is
even a medical term for those who fall in love with someone because they’re a murderer or
rapist; hybristophilia. The most brutal crimes have always commanded the most attention, but
how does public hatred towards these killers turn into morbid curiosity and even idolization? If I
could understand this, maybe I wouldn’t feel guilty for liking Criminal Minds so much.
The novel Dark Thoughts: Philosophic Reflections on Cinematic Horror is a series of
essays by philosophers pondering much the same question as I have posed. From pages 198-
205, Cynthia A Freeland writes an essay titled “The Slasher’s Blood Lust.” In spite of it’s dramatic
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title, the work is actually a review of the 1986 film Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, based on
Henry Lee Lucas, a convicted murderer who is also the subject of Netflix’s The Confession Killer.
Henry Lee Lucas’ story is a confusing one, as after he was initially arrested for 2 murders that he
is widely accepted to be guilty of, he confessed to any other murder case that detectives would
allow him to, leading to major controversy about the legitimacy of any of his confessions, and
confusing countless families who lost loved ones.
The 1986 film depicts Henry as he said he was, a ruthless killer who could murder
anyone at any time. Even though this film depicts the worst-case scenario of Henry Lucas’ life,
Freeland writes, “…it takes the moral high ground in suggesting narratively that Henry is banal
and uninteresting, but undercuts this message through its visual depiction of an attractive, sexy,
and “interesting” rebellious killer.” This is certainly a strange way for a film to depict a man who
killed his own mother and had almost no teeth. Hollywood actors and actresses often
unconsciously beautify characters for movies, but shouldn’t glorify their actions. In the film,
Henry has a sort-of Bonnie and Clyde relationship with the character Becky, loosely based on his
underaged girlfriend who he was arrested for killing. The author notes the sexism in
characterizing Henry this way; “what is most striking is that Becky begins to eroticize Henry just
when she learns he is a killer—but isn’t this the source of our fascination too?” Romanticizing
the lives of sadists and killers is no way to pay real respect to their victims, and the names of the
victims are often forgotten by the public much sooner than that of the murderer. Cynthia
Freeland concludes her argument by saying that there is no surefire way to stop people from
considering people like Henry Lee Lucas as “extraordinary or monstrous.” She instead says you
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should enjoy your slasher film by seeing it for what it is, an exaggerated dramatization of real
events.
This source would be useful to a research paper about this topic because it goes into
detail about the ways that media chooses to portray serial killers in film. Because of our
collective fascination with murder stories, some of the most despicable people in history are
being portrayed in fiction as sympathetic or even attractive characters. To continue research on
this topic I would find sources and information about the aforementioned mental affliction,
hybristophilia. Henry Lee Lucas is also involved in a famous example of such a relationship. I
could also try to find the early examples of massive interest in these cases, such as the famous
Jack the Ripper or H.H. Holmes. To further my argument about the popularity of these killers, I
could find statistics about the amount of people that watch the most popular media of this
genre, such as Criminal Minds, which has remained successful for over 15 years.
In conclusion, I am fascinated by the phenomena of society’s interest in serial killers. As
someone who can’t help but watch with morbid curiosity whenever Netflix drops a new
docuseries about the worst crimes imaginable, I hope that those who are watching like me see
this grim subject matter for the atrocities they were and remember how lucky they are that
their lives won’t turn out the same way. Understanding what separates men from monsters
might help keep people from falling into such dark lives.
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Works Cited
Gajanan, Mahita. “The Story Behind the Netflix Series 'The Confession Killer'.” Time, Time, 6
Dec. 2019, time.com/5745028/the-confession-killer-henry-lee-lucas-netflix/.
Schneider, Steven Jay, and Cynthia A Freeland. “The Slasher's Blood Lust.” Dark Thoughts:
Philosophic Reflections on Cinematic Horror, The Scarecrow Press, 2003, pp. 198–205.

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Exploratory Essay: Pop Culture’s Obsession with Murder

The novel Dark Thoughts: Philosophic Reflections on Cinematic Horror is a series of

confusing countless families who lost loved ones.

being portrayed in fiction as sympathetic or even attractive characters. To continue research on

In conclusion, I am fascinated by the phenomena of society’s interest in serial killers. As

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