Do “true crime” stories glorify violence? — Transcript

Andre Keuck explores whether true crime stories glorify violence by analyzing creators' intent and character portrayal in films like Monster and Halloween.

Key Takeaways

True crime media does not inherently glorify violence; intent and portrayal matter.
Creators aim to depict realistic trauma and consequences rather than celebrate criminals.
Fictional horror like Halloween uses violence for scares, not realistic glorification.
Audience should critically assess the creator's intent and character portrayal.
Artistry and journalistic elements combine to shape how violence is communicated.

Summary

Andre Keuck discusses the rapid growth of his channel and thanks viewers for their support.
He addresses the debate on whether true crime media glorifies violence or criminal acts.
The importance of understanding the creator's intent behind true crime stories is emphasized.
Two films, Monster (2003) and Halloween (1978), are analyzed to illustrate different approaches to depicting violence.
Monster portrays Aileen Wuornos as a complex human shaped by trauma, not glorifying her crimes.
Halloween uses a fictional, psychologically traumatized killer as a horror device without realistic character depth.
True crime works aim to reflect reality and trauma rather than celebrate or heroize criminals.
The portrayal style, such as avoiding dramatic or glorifying cinematography, helps signal intent.
Creators balance artistry and journalistic elements to communicate messages about violence and its causes.
Audience understanding of character realism helps prevent misinterpretation as glorification.

Chapters

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

Hey, what's up guys? Welcome to the channel. Andre here. Before we get started with today's video, I just wanted to take a quick minute to say thank you to everybody who showed up in the last ten days and everyone who had shown up before that.

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before that quite frankly I had absolutely no idea that the channel was gonna more than double in size after posting that 1:02 Q&A video so thank you everybody who watched it shared it liked it and is now here because of it one of

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Quite frankly, I had absolutely no idea that the channel was going to more than double in size after posting that 1:02 Q&A video. So thank you to everybody who watched it, shared it, liked it, and is now here because of it. One of

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shooting or a cult or serial killer I am in somewhat of a unique position to be able to comment on that being sort of the face of at least one true crime property obscure though it may be so in

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the questions I got was how I feel about the idea that some of these true crime stories, whether it's a movie like Zero Day or a podcast or a book, can be perceived as glorification of the events in question, whether that's a school

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try to figure out what their agenda is [Music] one of the very first things to look at in this subject is artists intent I think it's important to understand what it is that the people creating the works the work consuming are actually trying

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shooting or a cult or serial killer. I am in somewhat of a unique position to be able to comment on that, being sort of the face of at least one true crime property, obscure though it may be. So in

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person to say that they are creating a piece of art but a journalist probably wouldn't say that it's art because that makes it sound subjective but at the end of the day they're taking video and audio and mixing them together selecting

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today's video, we're going to be talking about whether or not the true crime genre in general celebrates and glorifies these types of actions and activities, and what to look for in a book or a movie or podcast to kind of

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glorification or celebration of violence or some other horrific action the first step in my mind at least is to stop and look at what it is the Creator was trying to do so to illustrate this we're gonna take a look at two movies the

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try to figure out what their agenda is. [Music] One of the very first things to look at in this subject is artist's intent. I think it's important to understand what it is that the people creating the works, the work consuming, are actually trying

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traumas and the difficulties that she experiences in her life up to and including being sexually assaulted this movie is never intending to convince you that you should go play with Aileen Wuornos action figures they're not trying to celebrate her and say what a

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to convey and communicate, whether that's a book or a movie or a podcast. It doesn't really matter. People who are involved in creating those products are exhibiting some form of artistry. A film director will probably be the first

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for being a serial killer it's one thing to look at someone's life and understand where they came from and how they ended up where they went it's quite another to look at that and say hurrah let's all be

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person to say that they are creating a piece of art, but a journalist probably wouldn't say that it's art because that makes it sound subjective. But at the end of the day, they're taking video and audio and mixing them together, selecting

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or celebrating them as heroes now we're gonna contrast this to another movie that involves murder perpetrated by a psychologically traumatized individual and that is john carpenter's 1978 jump-scare classic Halloween nobody in their right mind would call this a true

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the pieces that you get to see here in order to convey a certain message and narrative. We have to understand that there's an intent behind what's being communicated. So if you're trying to look at a piece of work to decide if it's a

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hero quite the contrary Mike Myers is a character doesn't really have a lot of background exposition and you're not meant to identify with Mike Myers Mike Myers is essentially just a proxy for you know a cartoon monster that inspires

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glorification or celebration of violence or some other horrific action, the first step in my mind at least is to stop and look at what it is the creator was trying to do. So to illustrate this, we're going to take a look at two movies. The

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stabby kill guy sorry Mike this is a hugely reductivist analysis of these movies they are completely different genres made by completely different creative teams at different eras and history they have completely very clearly different intents but the reason

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first one is the 2003 Patty Jenkins-directed, Charlize Theron-starring vehicle Monster. In this movie, Charlize Theron plays the first recognized female serial killer, Aileen Wuornos. Wuornos, I think that's how you pronounce it. We're introduced to her and able to see the

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that the person whose life you are depicting whether it's Aileen Wuornos or you know the fictionalized characters and zero-day is that they have to be people who exist in a realistic world in order to adequately convey the horror of

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traumas and the difficulties that she experiences in her life, up to and including being sexually assaulted. This movie is never intending to convince you that you should go play with Aileen Wuornos action figures. They're not trying to celebrate her and say what a

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like them that way quite the contrary the more you're able to identify with elements of these characters or find something in them that you like or find charming or the more horrific their actions will be when they finally take them at the end

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hero she was or excuse the things that she did, but they're trying to hold up a mirror to her experiences in her life and say these are the things she went through, these are the things that led her to the end result that we know her

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characters seem like they could exist in a world that we live in because unfortunately they do so this brings me to the second element that I would look for in one of these stories and that is the portrayal of the characters and the

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for being a serial killer. It's one thing to look at someone's life and understand where they came from and how they ended up where they went. It's quite another to look at that and say hurrah, let's all be

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devil's advocate or are they very very sort of low in simmering like pretty much anything Ben Foster has ever done by extension to that if you have big swooping Michael Bay style crane shots and these really huge epic rising

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like that. In this case, the movie does a really good job. In fact, it won an Oscar for Charlize there and showing us the horrors that can lead somebody to doing something terrible, but at the same time not lionizing them

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you don't see those big elaborate shots of slow-motion people you know running like you would in a Michael Bay Transformers movie because that's not the intent that's not how the world and the characters should be portrayed and all of those things amount to the

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or celebrating them as heroes. Now we're going to contrast this to another movie that involves murder perpetrated by a psychologically traumatized individual, and that is John Carpenter's 1978 jump-scare classic Halloween. Nobody in their right mind would call this a true

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be a sign that something a little problematic DeAndre and Cal characters in zero-day are not intended to be role models they are not people that anyone should look up to by any means so through their words and their actions

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crime movie or suggest that it's an accurate depiction of anything. No one would say that Mike Myers is in any way, shape, or form, you know, a fleshed-out character that you're meant to sympathize with or recognize as a

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them as realistic characters by looking at Aileen Wuornos and understanding all of the traumas that she went through and making her a more fully fleshed out human being we're more able to understand the reality of the world in

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hero. Quite the contrary, Mike Myers is a character that doesn't really have a lot of background exposition, and you're not meant to identify with Mike Myers. Mike Myers is essentially just a proxy for, you know, a cartoon monster that inspires

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subject matter and insensitive to the victims frankly because it would take it out of the realm of a realistic depiction and it would denigrate the events that took place and to go back to a character like Michael Myers in

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jump scares. The fact that it features a homicidal rampage is almost incidental. The whole point of the movie is just to scare teenagers on date night. I think it's Michael Myers, actually. Mike Myers is Wayne, and Michael Myers is this stabby

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isn't founded in any kind of rules of a world that we live in so we automatically are able to suspend disbelief and say okay I'm gonna buy into this as sort of a silly jump-scare but I don't expect to go out into the

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stabby kill guy. Sorry, Mike. This is a hugely reductivist analysis of these movies. They are completely different genres made by completely different creative teams at different eras and history. They have completely, very clearly different intents. But the reason

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day or like monster the intent is to depict those events in the world as being as accurate and true to life as possible because the audience is meant to recognize the reality of the story so ultimately it's that overall combination

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that it's a useful comparison is because they contain similar story elements that are taken in very, very different directions. When your intent is to examine the reality of these situations, like they did in Monster, one of the things that you need to do is understand

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bottom line the too long didn't read too long shouldn't have watched whatever it happens to be is no I don't think that the vast majority of true crime movies podcasts stories in general are glorification or celebration of the

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that the person whose life you are depicting, whether it's Aileen Wuornos or, you know, the fictionalized characters in Zero Day, is that they have to be people who exist in a realistic world in order to adequately convey the horror of

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the next several weeks and months you're going to start to see some changes backgrounds gonna change locations gonna change and the content and sort of direction of the channel is going to be evolving and growing in different ways

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what they're doing. So to bring it back to Zero Day, when we were making that movie, the intent was not to say these characters need to be likable so that the audience will condone their actions. They're not good dudes. You should not

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being out in the world or in in-studio which is right now my living room so anyway hit the like button hit the subscribe button and as usual you will see me in the next video

Topics:true crimeglorification of violenceAndre KeuckMonster movieHalloween movieAileen Wuornoscreator's intentcharacter portrayaltrue crime mediaviolence depiction

Frequently Asked Questions

Do true crime stories glorify violence according to the video?

The video argues that true crime stories do not inherently glorify violence; it depends on the creator's intent and how characters and events are portrayed.

What examples does Andre Keuck use to illustrate his points?

He contrasts the 2003 film Monster, which humanizes a real serial killer without glorifying her, with the fictional 1978 horror film Halloween, which uses violence primarily for scares.

What should viewers consider when consuming true crime media?

Viewers should consider the creator's intent, the portrayal of characters, and whether the work aims to realistically depict trauma or simply entertain, to avoid misinterpreting glorification.

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