Because we’re Murder Meme Coin, much of what we talk about is true crime involving murderers, serial killers, and mass killings.
It’s important to remember that true crime is meant to be a form of arts and entertainment.
Before we start creating a lot of content about the people who commit heinous crimes and their unsuspecting victims, I want to look at the meaning of true crime, origins, genres, and types of true crime.
True Crime Meaning
True crime is a non-fiction genre of arts and entertainment that focuses on people who committed real-life crimes. It can be presented in many forms, including books, podcasts, TV shows, and documentaries.
True crime most commonly focuses on violent crimes such as murders, kidnappings, and robberies, but some shows focus on things like police arrests for DUIs, drugs, and other events.
The aspect that interests me most is the deviant psychology often associated with criminal acts.
True Crime Origins
The earliest instances of true crime were likely ancient mythology and religious stories meant to teach people morals, but it is difficult to prove rather those are real or fictitious.
In the 1500s, songs and spoken word was commonly used.
During the 1600s, English clergymen and town leaders started using crimes to emphasize that just being religious is not enough to receive God’s forgiveness. These were converted into books like John Reynolds’ The Triumphs of Gods Revenge Against the Crying & Execrable Sinne of Willful, & Premeditated Murther.
As new media formats were released, the true crime genre expanded to other formats, which we’ll describe next.
Types of True Crime
You can find true crime in various formats including documentaries, news, shows, podcasts, and books. Let’s look at each of these.
True Crime Documentaries
True crime documentaries attempt to accurately tell the story of an event in a way that captures the attention of the audience while staying as close to the facts of the events as possible.
Modern day documentaries often blur the lines between fact and fiction though.
At MRDR Meme Coin, we will often stick close to the basic facts, but may dive into some opinions, which we’ll make as obvious as possible. Despite that don’t expect documentaries to be our focus,
True Crime News
The nightly news and websites like True Crime News seek to report the facts in a quick, straightforward format, but like everything today, they have been somewhat sensationalized.
True Crime Shows
True crime shows use different formats to cover crimes. These will normally be on television, or online through streaming services as a tv series or movie.
These often take substantial liberty with the truth.
While many of the major events may be based on fact there are also elements of fiction to make the shows more entertaining.
Murder mysteries like Unsolved Mysteries are popular for highlighting cases that have not been solved and often help new evidence come to light.
True Crime Podcasts
A true crime podcast is similar to an old radio show. You’ll have one or multiple hosts talking about a case.
True Crime Books
Many books have also been written about true crime. People spend over $728.2 million on books about crime and mystery.
True Crime Genres
Regardless of which media format you prefer for fulfilling your fascination, you might want to consider the different genres available in true crime.
Some of the specific ways people explore true crime is through the following methods.
Focus on Criminal
Investigative
Focus on Victim
Psychological
Who Dun It?
Focus on Criminal
True crime often focuses on the criminal because they are the notorious one.
For instance, many people like Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy are infamous and make a much better story than any one of their crimes.
Investigative
There’s three sides to every crime. The criminal’s, victim’s, and investigators’.
Many people prefer true crime that focus on the investigation because it is easier to enjoy the story rather than be disgusted with the killer or sympathize with the victim(s).
Focus on Victim
Focusing on the victim in true crime can help when the victim is more well known or the criminal hasn’t been identified.
This type of crime genre will normally seek to build a connection between the victim and the audience to help create sympathy and will include a call to action if the criminal has not been found.
Psychological
Looking at the psychology or forensics of a case can help criminal profilers, investigators, or internet sleuths better understand what occurs in the mind of a criminal.
Who Dun It?
This genre can be both real-life unsolved cases or pure fiction.
It focuses on the knowledge that a crime has been committed, but no one (or at least the audience) knows who did it.
These will normally be unsolved cases when it’s non-fiction, but many fictional cases are loosely based on real-life situations.
Why Do Women Like True Crime?
A higher percentage of women like true crime. There are many reasons they might like it including:
Women are more vulnerable.
Fear releases endorphins.
Intellectual curiosity.
Maternal instincts.
Women are more vulnerable.
Women tend to be smaller in physique and therefore be more vulnerable prey to people looking to harm others.
While more men are targeted by criminals, women tend to have more injuries or death when they are targeted.
Fear releases endorphins.
People like the chemicals released by fear like dopamine, cortisol, and adrenaline.
When combined with the increased blood pressure, blood flow, and breathing, the chemicals can create similar results to what we feel when aroused.
Intellectual curiosity.
Some people just want to understand what happened and why. It’s natural to be curious in both a professional and recreational level.
Maternal instincts.
I suspect that part of why women enjoy true crime is because many tend to be more nurturing and empathetic.
Understanding what occurred can help them protect their loved ones.
Conclusion
Regardless of why you have an interest in true crime, it’s ok to seek out information. Just please don’t use it to kill people.
We discussed the true crime definition, how it’s evolved throughout the years, different types of true crime, and why it’s more heavily consumed by women.
We hoped you enjoyed this article. What types of true crime do you enjoy most?
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