True Crime (Genre)

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True Crime is a sub-genre of non-fiction that is now mainly used in the media such as podcasts or magazines , in books and also in the theater ( reading staging ). Because it is themed on television in the form of series , it is also a film or television genre .

It is dedicated to the presentation of real criminal cases , predominantly murder or other criminal offenses, which are suitable for staging as a true crime story either because of their particular severity or because of a particularly unusual, perfidious, horrible or otherwise sensational approach by the perpetrators . While the hunt for serial perpetrators (especially serial killers ) and their crimes are particularly often the subject of the actual stories, regular works (e.g. magazines) also analyze current (e.g. legal ) problems in short reports - mostly in socially critical form or cases that are currently enjoying general media interest. It is also customary to give the reader insights into the work of the criminal police in special sections , into the systematic investigation of a crime ( forensics ), into means and methods for combating individual criminal offenses ( criminalistics ) or into the analysis of the perpetrator in sociological and psychological terms ( criminology ) to give. These scientific aspects, which have to be assessed differently from case to case, do not play an insignificant role in the main contributions either.

history

The Frankfurter Allgemeine mentions the novel Kaltblütig (in the original: In Cold Blood ) (1965) by Truman Capote as "establishing the genre". It ranks second on the list of best-selling true crime books, just behind Vincent Bugliosi's and Curt Gentry's Helter Skelter (1974) , which deals with the history of the Manson murders .

Today, a large part of the genre takes place on the Internet, more precisely: in numerous podcasts and forums , which often have millions of users (example: Serial , a true crime podcast with over 50 million subscribers). Such platforms give laypeople the opportunity to set up their own theories on (unexplained) criminal cases and analyze them together with other users. There are already cases which, based on the findings of such online communities , have been reopened and consequently even clarified by the responsible authorities. This was the case with the Golden State Killer , which not only owes its name to the author and “hobby investigator” Michelle McNamara , but also to a certain extent the clarification of its crimes .

With the entry of television into the genre, it happens more and more that these “narratives” are based on real cases, but are increasingly embellished with dialogues or other details that are not necessarily proven to have happened in reality. Producers usually hope to appeal to a broader audience and to achieve greater audience loyalty through more excitement compared to conventional documentaries or reports. One series that received above-average reviews with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 98% is the Netflix- produced series Making a Murderer , which is about the case of the innocent rape American Steven Avery . One of the most famous and oldest at the same television programs in German-speaking attributable this genre is also reference number XY ... unsolved , the% until July 2018 19.8 Total market share a new (since 1967) rates -High import since, 2015. The success of the format, which has lasted for decades, can be used as indicative of the entire genre, which is currently experiencing a kind of “boom”.

Relatively new on the market are magazines, which as a rule endeavor to provide a factual, journalistic analysis of a few selected cases that is more compact than books, but nevertheless as detailed as possible. A well-known example for the German-speaking area is the Stern Crime magazine published by Gruner + Jahr , which has been published every two months since June 2015; the first edition had a circulation of 150,000 copies. Also , the time has in spring 2018 with the launch of its magazine crimes for the first time thoroughly examined selected criminal cases. The first edition of the podcast of the same name also went online in April 2018, in which Sabine Rückert , who works as a crime reporter at the time , presents a new case every 14 days in dialogue with Andreas Sentker , who heads the knowledge department there.

On 27 August 2018, the celebrated magazine program Crime Report of the German premiere. In it, the moderator Judith Rakers presents a number of real criminal cases that have nationwide relevance; the program also wants to provide insights into the background and the investigation work. In contrast to file number XY , the program is not primarily intended to help solve crimes, but rather to warn viewers of potential dangers in the interests of crime prevention and provide tips for emergencies (e.g. in fraud such as “ fake shops ”).

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Timon Karl Kaleyta: Boom in the true crime genre: crime is worth it. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine . June 5, 2018, accessed August 20, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b Stern Crime: The silent success of the journal for murders and other crimes. In: Meedia . October 16, 2015, accessed August 20, 2018 .
  3. ↑ 'In Cold Blood' revisited. In: "Cranbrook Daily Townsman". February 19, 2016, accessed May 12, 2018 .
  4. ^ Carey Purcell: Why Charles Manson And Helter Skelter Still Fascinate America After Almost 50 Years. In: Forbes . January 22, 2018, accessed May 12, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Michelle McNamara : The Phantom . The hunt for the "Golden State Killer". In: Gruner + Jahr (ed.): Stern Crime . No. 20 August / September 2018, ISSN  2364-7930 , p. 44-58 .
  6. ↑ Making a Murderer. In: Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved August 20, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Sidney Schering: Top numbers for "Aktenzeichen XY": It has not been so good for years. In : quotemeter.de . July 5, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018 .
  8. ^ A b Claudia Tieschky: "True Crime" trend: Sometimes real is too real. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . August 24, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Hans Holzhaider: Magazine 'Stern Crime': True Blood. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . June 5, 2015, accessed August 20, 2018 .
  10. ↑ ZEIT Verlag launches the crime magazine ZEIT VERBRECHEN. In: Zeitverlag (press release). April 23, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Alina Fichter: A podcast about crime - and what they tell about humanity. In: The time . April 24, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018 .