‘Profiting off others’ misery’: Ursula on the dark side of true crime ahead of Netflix’s Idaho murders docuseries

Netflix’s latest true crime documentary series will release later this July, covering the tragic murders of four University of Idaho students: Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves.

Dubbed The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare, the streaming service and producer of the series said it includes access to victims’ family members, never-before-seen body camera footage, interviews, and forensic evidence, while the director claims that the goal is to keep the victims and their lives at the center of the story.

Ursula Reutin, co-host of “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, explained how “uncomfortable” she is when it comes to true crime making its way to the big screen, asserting that it’s “depressing” watching this kind of content when she knows a company is profiting off of another’s tragedy.

“I have this uncomfortable feeling when you know that people are basically profiting off of others’ misery,” Ursula said. “I’m curious about true crime and the obsession that is happening right now. Are you a part of it?”

“I go back and forth on this; I wrestle with this issue a lot, in fact,” KIRO fill-in host Greg Tomlin responded. “Is what makes it okay the passage of time? Think about 1997: what’s the biggest smash hit movie in the country? Titanic. It tells the story of an unbelievable tragedy in American history, where like 1,200 people drowned, froze to death, just horrific. The movie made a billion dollars, and Leonardo DiCaprio became a massive star. That’s a horrible tragedy; it made a ton of money, and it entertained millions of people.”

Tomlin agreed the studios are ultimately chasing profits

Tomlin backed Ursula’s opinion in the sense that the companies producing the content are looking for profits, subscriptions, and viral clips, all at the expense of the victims and their families.

“I think all of us would do well to ask ourselves what’s the line we draw in terms of consuming either tragedy or someone’s horrific circumstances for either our entertainment or for even just to be further informed,” Tomlin said. “Of course, Netflix representatives are going to say, ‘Oh, you know, we do this to honor them.’ They’re doing it to make money. Let’s be quite honest here, because they know they’ll get eyeballs.

“They’ll know they’ll get subscribers because it’s a sensationalist, terrible story that involves good-looking people and blood and murder, and a heightened sense of the human experience in all of its forms, for better or worse, and that’s attractive for people to glue their eyes and ears to,” he continued. “It’s unfortunate, and I get it at the same time; I’ve been guilty of it at the same time.”

Conversation shifts to the toll on victims’ families

Ursula explained that while people can binge-watch true crime, she wondered if they slowly become desensitized to that kind of content.

“It’s just depressing,” Ursula said. “The other part is, do you get desensitized to all of this? If you’re consuming it at such a level, it starts to become like you forget that these are people. Imagine if any family member of yours was involved in something like that.”

“Having to be hit with like the, ‘I can’t turn on my TV or go online because I’m getting pop-up ads about my own sister’s death,” KIRO producer Andrew Lanier responded.

Lanier sees a genre that turns victims into content, killers into icons

Andrew noted the reason why he finds true crime coverage to be “bizarre and disturbing” is how the victims are turned into content and certain audience members begin to fawn over the killers and turn their crimes into fame.

“The one thing that has been a positive, at least from my perspective, is that true crime can often highlight really terrible police work, because there are a lot of cases,” Andrew said. “It has shined a light on how the criminal justice system has failed so many people, and how stereotypes and quick assumptions have often led to wrong verdicts, but I think the obsession with this genre is deeply harmful, and I don’t think it’s very ethical.

“Aside from the fact that you have these victims who become content, and this whole narrative of their death and life is taken away from their family, it gives fame to the killers,” he continued. “They become these icons, and people like weirdly salivate over all of these lurid details; I find it bizarre and disturbing. It’s impossible to kind of tear yourself away from it once it gets its hooks in you, but it’s really gross.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.