Consuming True Crime Intentionally: What to Follow and What to Avoid
With an endless supply of true crime content, I personally believe it is both moral and necessary to understand where you are getting your true crime content from, and how that content is affecting the real-life people involved.
Choose your true crime content wisely. There are certain programs and producers of true crime content looking to benefit from horrific stories without proper consent from the victims, causing additional grief and inappropriate attention towards the victim’s families. Fans of true crime often forget they are listening to stories that happened to real people in this real world and in turn, lack sympathy and respect for all involved in a case.
Because the plethora of true crime content can become overwhelming and confusing regarding victim exploitation instead of victim advocacy, I have put together a list of true crime content to follow, and a list of true crime content to avoid.
By Austin Price, Staff Writer
With an endless supply of true crime content, I personally believe it is both moral and necessary to understand where you are getting your true crime content from, and how that content is affecting the real-life people involved.
Choose your true crime content wisely. There are certain programs and producers of true crime content looking to benefit from horrific stories without proper consent from the victims, causing additional grief and inappropriate attention towards the victim’s families. Fans of true crime often forget they are listening to stories that happened to real people in this real world and in turn, lack sympathy and respect for all involved in a case.
Because the plethora of true crime content can become overwhelming and confusing regarding victim exploitation instead of victim advocacy, I have put together a list of true crime content to follow, and a list of true crime content to avoid.
Often, the true crime content creators that fight for victim advocacy and basic human decency are smaller entertainers with a smaller audience base. Here are some of my personal favorites to check out:
Podcasts
RedHanded – A True Crime Podcast hosted by Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala
https://redhandedpodcast.com/home-1
Murder With My Husband – A True Crime Podcast hosted by Payton and Garrett Moreland
https://murderwithmyhusband.com/
True Crime Couple – A True Crime Podcast hosted by Kay and John
https://audioboom.com/channels/4914727
Killer Queens – A True Crime Podcast hosted by Tyrella Slemp and Tori Tobi
https://www.killerqueenspodcast.com/
Documentaries
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996) - A documentary focusing on the wrongfully convicted individuals in the triple homicide of three eight-year-old boys
Where to watch: Spectrum TV, Prime Video or Apple TV
At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal (2019) - A documentary exploiting the sexual abuse of female gymnasts by Dr. Larry Nassar.
Where to watch: Hulu, HBO Max, Sky NOW
Children of God: Lost and Found (2007) - A documentary covering the cult “Children of God” and its crimes.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Prime Video
For Heaven’s Sake (2021) - A compelling documentary featuring the members of the victim’s family.
Where to watch: Paramount Plus, CBC Gem
Books
Playing Dead – A memoir of terror and survival by the victim herself, Monique Faison Ross.
Where to purchase: Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble
Dead in the Water – A forty-year long search for my brother’s killer by Penny Farmer
Where to purchase: Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble
AVOID
Now on the other hand, here are some true crime sources to avoid due to their exploitation and disrespect of victims and their families:
Stephanie Soo – True Crime Youtuber and Mukbang Fanatic
Stephanie combines her two loves, gruesome murder and the overconsumption of food together in this warped YouTube channel, based on disrespect and ignorance.
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story – A Netflix series nominated for four Golden Globes and winner of one.
This series shows the murders of Dahmer's victims graphically with no remorse or sensitivity for those affected by these deaths. The families of the victims have spoken out since the show's release, after many of the family members have been portrayed on screen without their consent.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness – A Netflix docuseries that rose to fame amidst the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
While advertised as a docuseries with murder plots, arch nemeses, exotic animals, and larger than life characters, whereas the series is actually a story of labor trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Crime Junkie – A True Crime podcast designed to be a money maker without following basic human rights.
A true crime podcast that has become a central place for victim shaming and produces a revenue-generating podcast that has been downloaded millions of times without the consent of victim’s families leading to skewed stories and countless misconceptions.
Making A Murderer – A Netflix docuseries centered around the gruesome murder of Teresa Halbach.
The docuseries focuses on the killer and their history, rather than honoring the victim herself, Teresa Halbach.
In conclusion, if you’re like me and true crime is your thing, go for it. Enjoy the content through respectful platforms giving honor and dignity to the victims while recognizing the impact this content is having on your personal health. Real true crime enthusiasts listen/read/watch to better understand the human mind, and the impact of death and murder on the lives of so many. They do not enjoy shaming or blaming victims or survivors and they do not target hatred or inappropriate exposure towards the prey in the case, but rather they shine a light on the predators and hold them accountable for their sins. Approach true crime the same way you approach academic research, keep your options open, choose sources you both agree and disagree with, allow variety in your search, and most importantly, show some respect.
Mean Things Come in Threes
By Sandra Vo, Staff Writer
Picture this. You’re a clumsy girl who’s never quite fit in, and you’ve just transferred high schools (again) and now you find yourself trying to navigate this unfamiliar environment with all of your textbooks held tightly against your chest. Due to an unfortunate accident just before your first day of school, your thick glasses have been cracked and taped back together with masking tape you pulled from your father’s toolbox. You feel alone in the swarm of people, the misfit of them all.
Then you fall. For seemingly no reason at all, you trip dramatically in the middle of the hallway during passing period, and your books and papers tumble out of your hands and onto the floor. Heat floods your cheeks. Embarrassment can’t even come close to describing the pure humiliation and shame you feel. As expected in a typical high school, there are plenty of snickers and a complete lack of helping hands. Just as you reach for your chemistry textbook, a hot pink Louboutin heel steps right on top of it. You look up, your lips parting in horror.
Here she is. The head honcho of the high school hallway, the princess of the pubescent people, the tyrant of the teenage throng. “Oh ew, I just stepped in nerd,” she sneers, triggering giggles from all around you. It’s the popular mean girl and her two lackeys.
And she’s just marked you as her target.
When people talk about mean girls, the movie Mean Girls rightfully comes to mind. It’s the prime example of a popular girl with skewed morals who seeks to dominate the high school social scene through terrible misguided actions. As always, her two followers echo every word she speaks as if it’s gospel, but why do we see this trope across so many different films and television series? What could possibly be the appeal of an evil version of the Three Musketeers?
By Sandra Vo, Staff Writer
Picture this. You’re a clumsy girl who’s never quite fit in, and you’ve just transferred high schools (again) and now you find yourself trying to navigate this unfamiliar environment with all of your textbooks held tightly against your chest. Due to an unfortunate accident just before your first day of school, your thick glasses have been cracked and taped back together with masking tape you pulled from your father’s toolbox. You feel alone in the swarm of people, the misfit of them all.
Then you fall. For seemingly no reason at all, you trip dramatically in the middle of the hallway during passing period, and your books and papers tumble out of your hands and onto the floor. Heat floods your cheeks. Embarrassment can’t even come close to describing the pure humiliation and shame you feel. As expected in a typical high school, there are plenty of snickers and a complete lack of helping hands. Just as you reach for your chemistry textbook, a hot pink Louboutin heel steps right on top of it. You look up, your lips parting in horror.
Here she is. The head honcho of the high school hallway, the princess of the pubescent people, the tyrant of the teenage throng. “Oh ew, I just stepped in nerd,” she sneers, triggering giggles from all around you. It’s the popular mean girl and her two lackeys.
And she’s just marked you as her target.
When people talk about mean girls, the movie Mean Girls rightfully comes to mind. It’s the prime example of a popular girl with skewed morals who seeks to dominate the high school social scene through terrible misguided actions. As always, her two followers echo every word she speaks as if it’s gospel, but why do we see this trope across so many different films and television series? What could possibly be the appeal of an evil version of the Three Musketeers?
In the eyes of the writers, this trope might be seen as an easy way to create an antagonist. Sure, it might not be the most original thing in the world, but the box office ratings have proved time and time again that people will still watch the movie. That proves true in Heathers, The Princess Diaries, and Camp Rock. The existence of the two followers adds to an antagonist’s overall power, since nobody would watch a movie if it looked like the antagonist appeared easily dismissible.
Even the motives behind all the mean girls seem to be lacking in creativity as well. Many of them are jealous of the main character’s talent, rising popularity, or even just because the male lead (that the mean girl usually has a crush on as well) happens to have fallen for the main character. It’s always the same story every time. A group of three girls bully the main character right up until the ending, where they get their dues by public humiliation or falling into a cake or pool (which seems to happen an awful lot).
Isn’t this a waste of the mean girls trope’s potential? The benefits of having tangible antagonists is that they can develop characters of their own, and thus go through their own character development as the story progresses. Why limit them to staying as the three mean girls forever?
For example, take a common situation. The head mean girl is crouching down so that she’s eye-to-eye with the main character, who is kneeling down on the ground after having been freshly humiliated in front of the entire school. The two girls are close enough for the mean girl to maliciously whisper something to the main character without anyone else overhearing. Most writers view this as the main confrontation that will lead to the eventual climax of the story, but doesn’t it also build up something else?
Doesn’t it reek of sexual tension?
However, the relationship between the main character and the mean girls can also safely morph into a platonic one. For every antagonist created, there is potential for a redemption arc as well. Writers could even make the mean girls form a pact with the main character by introducing a different villain that forces them to unite together.
There’s isn’t necessarily anything wrong with having three mean girls in a story, but their potential never seems to hit the heights that it could reach. Just because mean things come in threes doesn’t mean they always have to end that way.
Must Watch Christmas Movies and TV shows on Netflix
By Sofia Flores, Staff Photographer
I don’t know about y’all, but Christmas is definitely my favorite time of the year! What’s not to love about the smell of freshly baked Christmas cookies, dressing the beautifully bare evergreen tree, snowball fights, quality time with friends and family, and not to mention… CHRISTMAS DINNER! But the one thing that effortlessly gets me into the holiday spirit without a doubt is Christmas movies! Ever since I was a kid, every year I would look forward to gathering into the living room with my family and watching a classic like Home Alone or Elf.
Trust me…I know the struggle. It’s hard to find the perfect movie or TV show on Netflix. It’s like no matter how hard you look, you can never seem to find the perfect choice. It’s almost as if you wished you had a list you can turn to or some kind of generator…
That’s where I come in! Sadly, I do not have a Netflix Christmas Generator, but I do have a list! I have compiled a Christmas themed list filled with movies and TV shows that you MUST watch on Netflix. So, kick back, relax, grab a cozy blanket, your favorite snack, and enjoy!
When you need a laugh…
1. Unaccompanied Minors
This film will always be a classic. If you love pure, innocent fun and mischievousness, then this is definitely the choice for you! If I could only explain it using a couple of phrases it would be airport, Christmas, group of kids, freedom, and trouble.
2. Love Hard
I would hands down give this movie a 10000000/10. This movie made me laugh out loud about 20 times throughout the whole film. This is a movie that would make you do the same, guaranteed! Want a romantic comedy that is genuinely comedic? This is the perfect match for you!
3. Let it Snow
I think this is a movie that we would all be able to relate to, no matter what situation you find yourselves in this Christmas. Not only does it include a great deal of laughs, but it also gives you a great message that you cannot miss. Of course, I can’t spoil that for you! I guess you’ll just have to watch to find out…
When you’re in the baking spirit…
1. The Great British Baking Show:
Holidays I have to admit… I SUCK at baking. Unlike my boyfriend, I can never seem to have a successful baking attempt, even if I follow the directions step by step. However, one thing I am great at is watching baking shows. And what’s more perfect than watching Christmas baking shows!
2. Sugar Rush: Christmas
If you like the first choice, then you’re definitely going to love this one! Let the Christmas Baking continue!
3. The Great British Baking Show
I know, I know…this is not a Christmas themed show, but I just HAD to include this in our list, my friends. What’s one thing we instantly feel when it comes to Christmas: cozy! That’s exactly the vibes that this show gives off. Just picture it: fireplace crackling, you’re all wrapped up in your most soft blanket, hot chocolate in your hand, and The Great British Baking Show is playing on the TV. Who wouldn’t love this?
When you’re feeling in love…
1. Dash & Lily
Dash & Lily is by far one of the most amazing treasures I have had the honor of stumbling upon. You’re probably thinking this is just another cheesy, rom com of a show. Well dear reader, I hate to be the one to tell you that you’re wrong. It’s a show that includes two perspectives of Christmas: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” and “It’s the worst time of the year.” If you’re looking for an intriguing, thrilling, romantic show; look no further!
2. A Christmas Prince
Is this movie cheesy? Maybe a little bit. Is it amazing? Yes! Will it put you into the romantic Christmas Spirit? Heck yes! I admit, I was a bit skeptical when I first watched this movie but once I started watching it, I did not regret it a single bit. It’s a beautiful film that not only includes wonderful nuggets of wisdom, but a story of unexpected love!
3. The Knight Before Christmas
This movie is definitely one of my favorite Christmas romance movies. It makes you fall in love with love, much like A Christmas Prince. Does that make sense? Probably not, but you get what I mean.
When you’re looking for something to enjoy with the family…
1. Klaus
This film is a work of art, to say the least. The animation is absolutely beautiful, and the story line is even better. This is definitely a movie that you will enjoy with your family. It is the perfect way to keep the spirit of Christmas alive throughout the holiday season!
2. The Princess Switch
One characteristic that is always correlated to the Christmas season is love. There is love being spread every second from partner to partner, friend to friend, and family to family. This movie is a perfect embodiment of that. It shows us that love is what connects us all together.
3. The Holiday Calendar
This is a movie filled with…MAGIC! I have always thought of the Christmas season to be magical, and in this movie, it literally is! If there’s anything I have learned from this movie it's that there is always magic floating in the air, but it’s our job to notice it.
The Highlander’s Favorite Halloween/ Spooky Season Movies
It is spooky season, y’all! Here are the Highlander’s staff picks for what Halloween movies you ought to watch to celebrate.
Alaina Valdespino, Staff Writer/ Photographer:
As an avid horror movie lover, it would be a crime for me to not recommend the classics. So, if you're looking for a good scare, then Halloween (1978 film), The Shining (1980), and It (the original 1990 film) would be my three absolute go to horror movies for the spooky season. That said, if horror isn’t your thing, I’d definitely make it a point to watch Disney’s Hocus Pocus. This film is my family's go to Halloween film because it’s perfect for getting you into the Halloween spirit.
Madelynn Loring, Staff Writer:
Personally, I tend to be more of a drink-a-pumpkin-spice-latte-and jump-in-leaves type of fall person, so I’m not the one to go to for horror. However, the one Halloween movie I cannot praise enough is The Nightmare Before Christmas. It is classic, visually and aesthetically pleasing, and overall a delightful watch. Also, it qualifies as both a Halloween and Christmas movie, so it is seasonally appropriate to watch it twice a year!
Sandra Vo, Staff Writer:
With full honesty, I admit that I am a complete scaredy-cat and that I hate any and all horror movies. As a result, my recommendations come from the much more family-friendly end, and a few of my favorite classics It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and Spooky Buddies. Both of these movies are wonderful if you’re looking to sleep the following night!
Morgan Jacobus, Editor in Chief:
As a nostalgic child at heart, I have a special place in my heart for Disney Halloween movies. For instance, I recommend the Halloweentown movies (there are four in total). My roommate and I watched them last year on Halloween during the day (since our plans weren’t until night). I mean, it has Halloween right in the name so you can’t go wrong with those movies this spooky season. I also enjoy The Haunted Mansion with Eddie Murphy, and I have fond memories of watching that on Disney Channel back in the day. If you have Disney+, you can stream childhood favorites like the ones I mentioned, as well as both Twitches movies, Hocus Pocus, and the Nightmare Before Christmas. A non-Disney childhood throwback for me is Monster House, which you can stream on Netflix.
Vivian Pham, Staff Writer
I personally felt like not everybody enjoys scary movies, especially when it’s Halloween season and all the Anabelle and The Conjuring trailers start to show up if you don’t pay for that pricey YouTube Premium. So, I’d highly recommend one of my all-time favorite Tim Burton’s classic Halloween movies, Corpse Bride - an animated dark romance genre for those who are looking for a heart-broken movie night but still fit in with the vibe of the Halloween season. Be prepared not for a blanket to cover over your head and contain your scream, but a box of tissues to soak up those tears when Victor, the main character, is torn apart to make the right decisions.
Must watch Netflix shows/movies for break
Photo source: broknowsmovies.files.wordpress.com
By: Rose Ferrie, Staff Reporter
Rose’s Picks:
Queer Eye
Stardust
Friday
Parks and Recreation
New Girl
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Merlin
Big Mouth
Fullmetal Alchemist- Brotherhood
Sense 8
Coming Soon:
The Bird Box
Comedy Specials:
Trevor Noah- Son of Patricia
John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City
Bert Kreischer- Secret Time
Hasan Minhaj- Homecoming King
Ali Wong- Baby Cobra
Hero Movies/Shows:
Black Panther
Guardians of The Galaxy (1 and 2)
Thor Ragnarok
The Defenders (and all of their seperate TV Shows)
Rom-Coms:
Sixteen Candles
#realityhigh
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
The Kissing Booth
Set It Up
Holiday movies:
The Princess Switch
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Love Actually
A Very Murray Christmas
Disney movies:
Emperor’s New Groove
Beauty and the Beast
Moana
Coco
Lilo & Stitch
Atlantis The Lost Empire
Tarzan
Hercules
Mulan