When did the rise of true crime documentaries start? Honestly, I think we as a society have always been fascinated by the darker side of humanity. Something about the adrenaline, the mystery, and maybe the desire to protect ourselves from being naive draws us in. Back in college, I wrote a 20-page paper on serial killers for my journalism degree. It explored how the media sensationalized them in the '80s, giving them villain names like the Zodiac Killer, Son of Sam, or BTK, and plastering their faces across front pages for weeks. I theorized that the media frenzy fueled an entire era of serial killers.
Fast forward to today, and streaming platforms have turned this obsession into a full-blown genre. We're not just hooked on the classic true crime docs like Making a Murderer or The Staircase, we've fallen hard for niche mind-benders like Three Identical Strangers (my personal favorite), McMillions, and even Pepsi, Where's My Jet? These documentaries make real life feel stranger than fiction. And it's addicting.
So, in honor of our collective love for documentaries (and maybe a little to laugh through the darkness) here are 21 memes that poke fun at our obsession with all things true crime.
