Makeup, mukbangs and murder: The ethics of true crime influencers
Clare Gibb / V Mag at UVA
From 90s classics, such as “Dateline” or “Forensic Files,” to streaming smash hits, such as Netflix’s “Making a Murderer,” true crime shows have long captured the American cultural consciousness and have become ubiquitous in the media we consume. With the rise of social media, the emergence of “influencers” in this area seems like the logical next step in the morbid fascination consumers have with true crime.
As these creators rise in popularity, many critics are concerned about the ethics of true crime content. Stories often center around, and even glamorize, perpetrators, leading to victims being overlooked or disrespected. Coupled with the monetization of true crime content, it is no wonder that critics are calling for a reevaluation of society’s views surrounding the genre.
Often cited by critics as a prime example of problematic true crime content, Bailey Sarian is a YouTuber with over seven million subscribers and a series called “Murder Mystery & Makeup.” In these videos, Sarian discusses true crime cases with a casual, conversational tone while applying makeup, juxtaposing mugshots with glamor shots in her heavily stylized thumbnails. These videos are immensely popular, often raking in over ten million views — her most watched video about Jeffrey Dahmer, the American serial killer and sex offender convicted of murdering and mutilating 17 men between 1978 and 1991, currently has 26 million views.
Though most comments on her videos are popular, some YouTubers and journalists argue that the format of these videos are highly disrespectful to victims and their families, especially given how Sarian often profits off the trauma of others. Her Dahmer video opens with a Casetify brand deal and includes a list of affiliate links and tagged products, while all her videos also remain monetized and receive adsense revenue from Youtube.
Sarian also sells merchandise on her website. Viewers can buy $64 hoodies and $54 sweatpants emblazoned with catchphrases like her trademark “suspish” — short for suspicious — that Sarian developed while discussing the tragic deaths of innocent victims.
Stephanie Soo is another true crime YouTuber who has put her own unique spin on the genre — she discusses cases while conducting mukbangs, videos where viewers watch her eat and review copious amounts of food. Her video on Rosemary Kennedy, a member of the famous Kennedy family who was the tragic victim of a botched lobotomy, is titled “He stuck a HAMMER into her BRAIN to ‘FIX’ her and this is what happened l Mexican Food Mukbang.” The thumbnail includes a before picture of Kennedy and an “after” picture, a stock image of a woman covered in blood a la Carrie White.
Soo begins the video with a detailed description on the origins of her food, beginning an actual discussion of the case about a quarter of the way through the 41 minute video. The video itself is monetized and includes an Express VPN sponsorship. Amidst jokes, giggles and chewing, Soo discusses case details, miming a lobotomy with a chopstick throughout the chillingly casual video.
Fans of Sarian and Soo often have commented that watching the videos feels like talking to a friend, likely further encouraging these creators to continue their casual style. To many others, however, it feels wholly inappropriate to sacrifice respect for the sake of audience engagement. The risk of retraumatizing family members or even surviving victims should be the guiding concern of any creator seeking to make true crime content, especially if they profit off of these stories, as Sarian and Soo do.
True crime content critic and University of Oregon media studies professor Whitney Phillips also highlights the danger that casual treatment of a serious topic can have on actual, ongoing cases. Phillips argues that it encourages the rise of citizen sleuths, who take to their own social media to provide their own theories and often derail investigations. In the recent case of Gabby Petito, a young van-life influencer murdered by her fiance Brian Laundrie in August 2021, investigators struggled with massive social media attention and the proliferation of false narratives.
With the rise of short form video content, true crime influencers have continued to expand and innovate. A relative newcomer to the true crime scene is Josh Slavin. Across his Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok accounts, his series “Ranking EVERY Final Meal Request,” where he recreates, eats and ranks the last meals of notorious murderers, has raked in millions of views across his three platforms. Slavin abandons any pretense of telling victims stories or paying respects to their families, instead layering food and true crime content in a way that seems apathetic at best.
The videos are overlaid with dramatic music, and he uses a variety of sound effects to highlight both grisly murder details and the appearance of a Whopper on screen. His nonchalance and gratuitous use of the typical “influencer voicet” while discussing cases feels like a horrifying culmination of the desensitization surrounding true crime and the commodification of murderers.
At first glance, true crime content on social media seems to be a relatively innocuous continuation of natural human curiosity. However, when users’ endorphin centers have become shot to the point where they can no longer stay engaged while listening to a murder case without the addition of a mukbang or makeup tutorial, this prompts a serious reckoning with the desensitization to brutality that has become so commonplace in modern life. While true crime content continues to rise, it remains to be seen how creators will address rising pressure to place respect for victims should be at the forefront of true crime content, not Express VPN sponsorships.