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What are some non-sensationalist, analytical true-crime documentaries?
Partly because of the nature of the subject, most true-crime documentaries tend to emphasize dread. Some of them employ formal devices similar to horror movies, such as ominous soundtracks, dark lightning, and moody camera movements. My interest in the problem of evil is philosophical, and the constant attempts to induce fear are distracting.
I'm interested in documentaries that are more like case studies, with a clinical, speculative or even scientifical approach to the problem of evil embodied in criminal acts.
Any suggestions?
I fully agree with your sentiments; my wife and I watch a fair share of true crime documentaries, and we always think of this podcasting couple from the recent Halloween reboot (which wasn't great, mind you)-- wherein they'd gone around with a mic and dramatized/emphasized the gruesome details of the crime scenes in such poor taste (on purpose, I assume, as you are not meant to like them) to an almost ridiculous degree.
There's a lot of times where the filmmakers/podcasters/etc. seem to not understand there's more to be had from focusing on the humanity of true crime and the victims more than just treating it like yet another pulp thriller novel. They often do a little victim-blaming or have a dismissive tone, especially in regards to sex workers.
That said, the ones that felt a little more ethical to me have been (within my memory/may come back to edit this later):
The non-documentary ones:
I'll look into those, thanks!
American Crime Story is awesome. I watched the OJ Simpson one, and started the second season. I need to finish it.