Page 68 - Time Magazine-November 05, 2018

cannot: they can express skepticism
or empathy during interviews. Some
documentarians, in their determina-
Criminal minds tion to remain objective, run the risk
of removing themselves from the nar-
After Serial and Making a Murderer rative to their own detriment. Making
won over millions of amateur sleuths, a Murderer’s creators use a montage of
podcast producers, writers and
filmmakers found new ways to bring newscasters debating the ethics of their
true crime to the masses. show, but they stop short of responding
to that criticism themselves.

By contrast, the Peabody-winning
podcast In the Dark feels allergic to sen-
sationalism. For the second season, re-
leased this summer, the creators moved
to Winona, Miss., to investigate the case
of Curtis Flowers. A white prosecutor
DIRTY JOHN convicted Flowers, a black man, of the
Journalist Christopher Goffard first same murder six times—with the first
reported on a Newport Beach resident
whose romance with a mysterious five trials ending in either overturned
man turned disastrously sour in the convictions or mistrial. Over 11 epi-
Los Angeles Times. Goffard turned sodes, host Madeleine Baran thoroughly
those stories into a 2017 podcast, dismantles the case. But the off-the-cuff
which inspired an upcoming Bravo attitude of some of her interviewees
series starring Connie Britton
and Eric Bana. speaks volumes.
In one episode, a former Mississippi
supreme-court justice argues that Flow-
ers’ case proves the system works: every
season of Making a Murderer struggles time he was convicted, the ruling was
to find the right balance. Avery’s post- overturned. When Baran points out that
conviction lawyer Kathleen Zellner Flowers has been in prison for years as
combs through every potential lead— the prosecutor pursued the case again
including the personal life of victim and again, the former judge replies,
Teresa Halbach—to find other possible THE STAIRCASE “While his specific physical situation
perpetrators. She’s doing her job. But in The 2005 true-crime docuseries might not change much, his status as a
centered on Michael Peterson, a
front of the cameras, her work can feel novelist who seemed suspiciously convicted felon vs. his status as an in-
tasteless, even reckless. laid-back while being tried for his carcerated person awaiting trial has ...
Making a Murderer is also muddied wife’s murder. Director Jean-Xavier de There is a big distinction.” He may be
by the media frenzy it created. The Lestrade’s film featured mind-boggling technically correct, but the reality for
filmmakers often interrupt Avery’s ap- twists and turns. He added three new Flowers is devastating.
peals process to show his onetime fi- episodes to Netflix this year. Systemic racism haunts In the Dark
ancée soliciting relationship advice on and Serial. Judges and lawyers speak in
Dr. Phil, or the man who prosecuted dog whistles. African Americans hesi-
AVERY, PETERSON: NETFLIX; BANA, BRIT TON, MCNAMARA: GET T Y IMAGES PREVIOUS PAGE: AVERY: NETFLIX, SYED: CARLOS BARRIA — REUTERS; THESE PAGES: mentary with Laura Ricciardi. “How do murderer who terrorized the state for after Serial’s first season rarely ad-
Avery promoting his book on Dateline.
tate to call the police because of a lack
of trust.
“It all became a part of the story,” says
Moira Demos, who co-created the docu-
The true-crime podcasts that came
headlines compare to what’s really hap-
dressed topics like this. But in an era
pening on the ground?” But these side
when so many Americans feel that injus-
I’LL BE GONE IN THE DARK
tice is the norm and truth is subjective,
plots distract from the very real obsta-
Writer Michelle McNamara became
cles Avery faces.
these stories have a greater responsi-
obsessed with investigating the
The visual nature of the medium
bility not only to report on the craziest
Golden State Killer, a rapist and
cases but also to say something mean-
doesn’t help. Cameras tend to linger on
more than 10 years. Her book on his
bloodstains. Though some podcasts in-
ingful about how daily instances of dis-
crimes was published posthumously
dulge in lengthy descriptions of corpses,
crimination and corruption poison soci-
this year, as was a podcast about
ety. In their new installments, Serial and
the audio format feels less prurient.
her investigation.
In the Dark demonstrate that true crime
And podcast hosts can establish an inti-
macy with the listener that filmmakers
can be more than just a guilty pleasure. 
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