For the past few weeks on TikTok, all I have seen is people talking about the recently released Dahmer series, “Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.”  Many of them talk about how they have binged the show in one day and felt nothing towards his victims or the romanticization of Jeffery Dahmer himself and his crimes. Social media stars, parents and even celebrities defend their action because they think it’s interesting.

Lots of people even go as far as saying they enjoy watching true crime because they find it interesting to watch people commit crimes they could never see themselves committing. People have also said they enjoy it because they are intrigued by a potentially dangerous situation. I think it is so eye-opening and heartbreaking as a society that we tend to excuse the inhumane actions of someone and turn them into our own entertainment.

A popular trend I have noticed in the past year with true crime becoming popular entertainment is the tendency of others to start integrating references of serial killers and turn them into memes, songs and jokes without thinking about the repercussions.

One of the awful effects is that with the release of these series many of the families are not told or compensated for the capitalization of their trauma.

While I think it is great that we talk about their stories and try to bring attention to them, many film producers often times create them with inaccurate information that dramatizes and strays away from the truths of the victims. Not only does this set us back as a society, but it also affects those who have been hurt by the actions of the killer.

As someone who avidly enjoys reading and listening to true crime, the recently released media is very insensitive to these victims and their families. Many of these families have asked these big companies to stop making these films because it forces them to relive that trauma over and over again.

Although most of society has encouraged the worst parts I have seen very few people hold accountable producers and artists such as Ke$ha, Katy Perry and Eminem are now apologizing for the use of serial killers in their music. Even directors have apologized for over-dramatizing and romanticizing some of these stories.

I believe to effectively prevent the promotion of these killers we should put laws in place preventing them and the public from benefitting from these crimes. In New York City, they enacted the Son of Sam Laws. These laws prohibit criminals from profiting from writings or shows about their crimes. The purpose of the law is to “prevent those accused or convicted of a crime from profiting from the exploitation of their crimes by contracting for the production of books, movies, magazine articles, television shows and the like in which their crime is reenacted” or in which the “person’s thoughts, feelings, opinions or emotions” about the crime are expressed.

Enacting these laws in other states saves families from the constant heartbreak of reliving the loss of a loved one. I think that it is great that we are holding people accountable for their actions, and I hope as a society we continue.