Is It Odd to Have a Fascination With Murder and Crime?

Why are we so fascinated with danger, violence, crime and murder? There are a plethora of television shows and books about true-crime and not-so-true crime out there for us to consume. There is no shortage of fans of this genre either. I have to admit a certain amount of guilt on this as well. I read murder mysteries, true-crime novels, and watch television shows like Law & Order Criminal Intent. There is such an abundance of murder-related shows and books that it can hardly be an eccentric minority that is interested in this. So why do we find murder so fascinating?

For my part I can say that it is the mystery aspect of a murder that makes it so interesting. Even the most ordinary person turns into a detective when reading a mystery or watching a show like CSI. Presented with the facts of the case and the people involved an observer quickly builds their own list of suspects and devises their own theory of what really happened. These armchair detectives don’t need any special training or degree to accomplish their task and often speculate based on opinion alone. It's a fun and entertaining past-time that keeps the mind active.

However, it isn't just fictional murder mysteries that engage our attention. Shows like Dateline NBC, The First 48, and Forensic Files detail the circumstances of real murders and based off their popularity, that's what the public wants to hear. On HLN or CNN we follow the trials of Casey Anthony, Amanda Knox, and others with great attention. Not only do we watch and read the coverage but we have strong feelings and opinions on these topics. Oftentimes the public's reaction to a suspected murderer is to wish murder upon them in return with emphatic words one would expect to hear from the audience of a medieval public execution. So why get so involved in a situation that we can have little effect upon? Obviously a huge public outcry can make a difference in some situations but once a trial is underway there's little the public can do to sway the jury in making their decision (nor would it be legal to try). High profile cases often become cause for much speculation, allowing anyone and everyone the opportunity to develop a theory as to what actually happened.

One could argue that there are many ways to exercise the mind without focusing on something as heinous as murder. But it's likely that a more mundane problem or investigation wouldn’t have the same allure to an armchair detective. Why? Cultural analyst David Schmid speculates that murder is an outlet for an ordinary person to escape their boring lives for a bit and experience the exciting. This would explain why we are not only fascinated by murder, but by anything out of the ordinary or weird. It shouldn’t be too upsetting to us that murder stories are so attractive. After all, if it is the rareness of murder that makes it so appealing, that is a good thing.