Some crimes are so shocking and controversial that they force us to examine who we are as a society. But with thousands of crimes committed daily, how does one particular crime become a cultural moment?
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00:00Some crimes are so shocking and controversial that they force us to examine who we are as a society.
00:06But with thousands of crimes committed daily, how does one particular crime become a cultural moment?
00:12Just another frenzied day for the swarms of journalists feasting on the story of the decade.
00:19Welcome to WatchMojo's series, The Evolution of True Crime.
00:22For this episode, we're looking at iconic crimes and their lives in the media.
00:30We can define crimes of the century through examples.
00:40The Black Dahlia, the Unabomber, the Casey Anthony trial.
00:44These sensational crime stories generate culture-wide discussions about the meaning of good and evil, truth, justice, and moral responsibility.
00:51We the jury in the above-entitled action find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder.
00:57A crime of the century is a story, and the way the media tells this story affects how we understand it, and in turn, how justice is executed.
01:06You can only imagine the pressure to have this crime solved.
01:09A lot of people didn't do their jobs.
01:11We falsely convicted them, and we walked away from our crime.
01:14Of course, there have been highly publicized crimes throughout history.
01:18The Jack the Ripper murders, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids famed robberies, the Lincoln assassination.
01:23But the term trial of the century was first used in reference to the Lizzie Borden case of 1893.
01:30Borden was charged with the slaying of her father and stepmother in their shared home near Boston.
01:35The brutality of the act, rumors of a strained relationship between Lizzie and her stepmother,
01:40and the affluence of the family all placed this case at the forefront of crime convo.
01:44How could a fine young lady blast a hatchet through her parents' heads after all?
01:48Did you kill father?
01:51Police misconduct, a botched investigation, and improperly documented evidence led to Borden's acquittal,
01:57leaving her the, quote, happiest woman in the world.
02:00But not without swirling rumors and public speculation.
02:04To this day, Lizzie remains the prime suspect in this case.
02:08I am innocent.
02:10I leave it to my counsel to speak for me.
02:13Theories about her psychological state or motive have spiraled in the media for decades,
02:18ranging from fugue states to a relationship with her maid,
02:21or revenge for being asked to wash windows on a hot day.
02:25While the facts of that day have perhaps died with the victims and with Borden herself,
02:29legends surrounding this mystery, this justice unserved, endure well into the 21st century.
02:35Fact and fiction blend in imagination.
02:37Is this a story of a feisty young woman seeking control of her house?
02:42A psychopath who walks calmly among the upper echelons of New England society?
02:46An elaborate ruse to cover sinister or socially upsetting truths?
02:50The story has taken on many lives in the media,
02:53casting the reality of events in different hues for the entertainment of consumers.
02:57Give me the hatchet.
03:00God damn it, Maggie, give me the hatchet.
03:02So what sets this crime apart?
03:04Why is this a crime of the century?
03:07Well, let's look at the themes.
03:09Extreme violence, allegedly committed by an atypical perpetrator,
03:13an affluent young woman, involving members of the upper class,
03:16violent crime in a quiet neighborhood, police misconduct,
03:20and explosive legal results deemed contentious by the court of public opinion.
03:24It's mystifying and shocking.
03:26Other infamous cases also touch on these same themes.
03:29Think the Lindbergh kidnapping, the O.J. Simpson murder trial,
03:33and the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox.
03:35Do you know anything?
03:36No.
03:37I don't.
03:42I wasn't there.
03:44Again with these cases, there is a difference between the core facts,
03:48the legal truth, and the narrative webs woven by the media.
03:51It's a business for the media.
03:53It's a business for the people selling t-shirts.
03:55It's a business of selling fame, selling gore, selling attachments to something bigger than yourself.
04:02But all crime stories are not covered equally.
04:03But all crime stories are not covered equally, and this can be attributed to a range of factors.
04:08For one, cameras were not always allowed in courtrooms.
04:11After Bruno Hauptmann, the Lindbergh kidnapper, appealed his case in 1935,
04:16alleging that aggressive media coverage had poisoned his jury against him,
04:19state legislation was amended to restrict photography in courtrooms.
04:23While the judge dismissed Hauptmann's claim, he did raise a good point.
04:28The way evidence and the accused are presented can manipulate their significance to those who perceive them.
04:33This is true in both trials and in the media.
04:37After Hauptmann, many but not all states banned live broadcasting altogether.
04:42But these restrictions effectively ended in 1981,
04:45after a case in Florida, where filming was permitted,
04:48saw two police officers charged with burglary argue that live coverage of their case would deny them a fair trial.
04:54Although you can look around the courtroom and not see the camera,
04:56the participants will know, and then the distortion process sets in.
05:01The case went to the Supreme Court,
05:03which ultimately found that the Constitution does not block broadcasting in courtrooms,
05:07and the risk of jurors being influenced does not provide enough grounds to ban courtroom broadcasting.
05:12This ruling allowed states more freedom to experiment with filming and broadcasting trials live.
05:18While this legal history may seem a bit dry,
05:21it's important because it effectively created a whole new genre of true crime going into the 80s and 90s.
05:26Gavel to gavel broadcasting.
05:28Trials on TV.
05:30Did you kill your father?
05:32Absolutely not.
05:34There was dead silence in the crowded courtroom,
05:36all but the unwavering voice of a teenager professing his innocence.
05:40We see this first in the 1987 trial of Joel Steinberg,
05:44a disbarred lawyer, and his wife, Hedda Nussbaum,
05:47charged with the murder of their illegally adopted daughter.
05:50About three dozen people carrying candles for Lisa,
05:54hoping the flame will ignite some changes in the city's adoption system.
05:57Nussbaum received legal immunity for her testimony,
06:01the defense arguing that her complicity in the murder was the result of battered woman syndrome.
06:05He isolated me from my whole family.
06:08For several years, I didn't see them.
06:10And from all my friends, this is typical of abusive, abusers do that.
06:15This is a highly emotional case, which brought issues of domestic violence and criminal responsibility to the forefront of public discourse.
06:22Additionally, the characters involved are successful, educated people.
06:26The drama of the story plays off of the disparity between their bright image and their secret horrors.
06:31And most significantly, it centers on the tragic, senseless death of a child.
06:36The case created a media frenzy.
06:38And stemming from this gavel-to-gavel phenomenon,
06:41we see many similar high-profile trials broadcast this way in the 80s and 90s.
06:46Pamela Smart, the high school teacher who had four students murder her husband in the early 90s, is one example.
06:52The verdict spells a giant relief for the family and friends of Gregory Smart,
06:56the victim in one of the most publicized trials ever in New Hampshire.
06:59Court TV was launched in 1991 and focused on live courtroom footage with commentary by anchors.
07:06The channel rose to prominence with their coverage of the trials of Lyle and Eric Menendez in 1994,
07:11convicted of killing their parents, and then the O.J. Simpson trial the following year.
07:16I didn't know who the suspect was. Anybody could have been the suspect at that point.
07:20Of course, we can't talk about crimes of the century without talking about the O.J. phenomenon.
07:25This is a major turning point for true crime.
07:27From the infamous Bronco chase to if the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit,
07:31this story made true crime radically mainstream, no longer a niche mystery subgenre.
07:36The viral moments from this case, the clash of characters,
07:40his curated celebrity image versus the portrait painted by the prosecution,
07:43took on a new life on screens around the world.
07:46In fact, more people watched the Bronco chase than the Super Bowl that year.
08:02And when the trial's verdict was broadcast live on TV, over 150 million people tuned in.
08:09In other words, about 57% of the American population.
08:12The stranger-than-fiction true crime saga was beyond a sensation in its time,
08:17and beyond the veneer of a celebrity whodunit.
08:20The trial spoke to larger issues of race and class within the justice system,
08:24and brought these questions into mainstream discourse.
08:27Why would someone stand him up?
08:29Because he got money, they want to see him broke.
08:32During the trial, scheduled broadcasts were cut to feature coverage of O.J.-related affairs.
08:37And while viewers initially expressed annoyance, over time,
08:40we see significant overlap between soap opera viewership and viewership of live trials.
08:45This is interesting because, in many ways,
08:47the Simpson trial set the stage for this crossing of genres.
08:50The TV drama and true crime documentary, blending fiction and non-fiction.
08:55Because what followed that decade and into today,
08:58are new directions of true crime that lean away from previous genre conventions,
09:02like reenactment and detective stories,
09:04into formats that effectively combined dramas written for TV
09:07with the purported objectivity of live footage,
09:10offering the depth of fact in the dressing of a soap opera.
09:13The last time that you saw Paul and Maggie's when y'all were eating supper?
09:18Yes, sir.
09:20Public interest in the Simpson trial created a legacy
09:22for the coverage of other high-profile crimes well into the 21st century,
09:27and significantly established a public appetite for these types of stories.
09:30One direction we can trace this shift is the emergence of reality court shows
09:35like Judge Judy, Divorce Court, and The People's Court, revived in 1997.
09:40These shows feature comparatively banal legal cases,
09:43presented with personal drama and characterizations woven in.
09:46Real cases before a real judge.
09:49And now, enter the courtroom of Judge Matthews.
09:52While the cases are real and the characters are non-actors,
09:55these shows are cast and cut to make exciting TV.
09:58Hey, hey, I'm talking!
10:00Okay, my apologies, Miss Girl.
10:03Miss who?
10:04She's not a girl. It's Miss Toler.
10:06It's Judge Toler.
10:08Be quiet. I have a question.
10:10In addition to starting this new wave,
10:12the OJ trial also had an educational impact on the American public.
10:16The immense coverage of this trial of the century
10:19led to much greater awareness and understanding
10:21of how the legal system actually works,
10:23and educated audiences about its jargon and proceedings.
10:26The entire country has been mesmerized by this case.
10:29People are riveted on it,
10:31on every bit of information,
10:33and every bit of pseudo-information.
10:34So the target demographic for this type of content
10:37was geared up and ready to go.
10:39The post-OJ wave of courtroom reality TV
10:42reproduced a few key elements of that live trial viewing experience.
10:46Namely, an organic whodunit structure
10:48that audiences could anticipate,
10:50judges and participants cast for their charisma and entertainment value,
10:53and at the end of every segment, a verdict.
10:56But the issues unpacked in these shows
10:58are not focused on celebrity murders,
11:01car chases, however slow,
11:03or explosively controversial evidence.
11:05These shows look mostly at divorce and custody issues,
11:09property law, small claims.
11:10I don't give a rat's behind about what you're going to show me.
11:13I'm not giving you another penny.
11:15We said before that not all crimes are covered equally,
11:18and this remains true.
11:20These are not crimes of the century.
11:23But this wave of genre TV
11:25is just one example of the impact
11:27a trial of the century can have.
11:29The Simpson trial changed the landscape of an entire medium
11:32and created massive public awareness of the justice system.
11:36And, perhaps most importantly,
11:37it highlighted how the media is an industry
11:40that must always work to replicate its own success.
11:43It goes both ways.
11:44Our hunger for this type of media
11:46pushes content creators to make more of it,
11:48which creates a broad landscape of constant crime coverage,
11:52which distorts our impression of real-life crime
11:54and its prevalence.
11:55A look at what's fueling a new wave of gang violence
11:58in New York City.
11:59And now the body counts never enough.
12:02There is also evidence to suggest
12:04that the Simpson trial increased public appetite
12:06for the relatively new 24-hour news cycle.
12:09CNN launched in 1980,
12:11but its ratings increased 500% over the course of the trial,
12:15with viewers seeking constant updates.
12:17In their ordinary lives,
12:19most people seldom interact with crime,
12:21mostly learning about major events
12:23and statistics through the media.
12:2524-hour coverage of true crimes,
12:27trials, and even fictional crime dramas
12:29creates an exaggerated impression
12:31of its prevalence in real life.
12:32For example, in the 90s,
12:34we see a sharp uptick in media coverage of crime overall,
12:37while actual crime was in decline across the United States.
12:41While shows like Cops or the People's Court
12:43and much daily news coverage are not about crimes of the century,
12:46we can see how a major case like the O.J. Simpson trial
12:49can send ripples through our media landscape
12:51and in turn affect our perception of the justice system
12:53and crime itself.
12:55I think justice was served.
12:58God, everyone here is happy, however.
13:01So why does any of this matter?
13:03Well, just as fact and narrative blend in the courtroom
13:06to determine legal truth,
13:07the same dynamic plays out in the ways
13:09that media controls these stories
13:11on both sides of the political spectrum.
13:13This is not a big conspiracy theory about indoctrination.
13:16It's about looking at the bigger picture,
13:18beyond CNN, beyond Cops, beyond O.J. Simpson.
13:22And even if no one is sitting watching
13:24three hours of live trials every day,
13:26the larger landscape of crime media
13:28creates a slanted impression of the pervasiveness of crime,
13:31who commits it,
13:32and how it affects the day-to-day lives of its viewership.
13:35These impressions play into people's feelings
13:37about the effectiveness of the criminal justice system,
13:39as well as political questions about the death penalty,
13:42sentencing, and police funding.
13:44Bail reform is a divisive topic.
13:47We want to help you understand
13:48what's happening on our streets.
13:50Because crimes of the century are not isolated events,
13:53but are connected to the biggest questions
13:55of the culture at that moment.
13:57Our audience has been here most of the morning
13:58waiting to see the verdict,
13:59and lots of people, as you saw,
14:01had some pretty strong reactions.
14:03We can see how the Harvey Weinstein scandal
14:06contributed to the rise of Me Too
14:07and cancel or accountability culture.
14:10Survivors and activists calling the verdict
14:12a moment of reckoning for the Me Too movement.
14:15Rose McGowan tweeting,
14:16Today is a powerful day
14:17and a huge step forward in our collective healing.
14:20Derek Chauvin's murder trial
14:22spoke to deep historical issues
14:23of race and police brutality,
14:25and how the justice system
14:26repeatedly fails people of color.
14:28They are dying.
14:30They are killing our people.
14:31Change has to happen.
14:35A crime becomes a crime of the century
14:37because of the questions it raises.
14:39Who are we?
14:40How do we define good and evil?
14:42How do we define justice?
14:44How do we make our society a better place?
14:46This is real life.
14:48This woman really died.
14:50But as we chew on these heavy hitters,
14:52we also need to keep in mind
14:54that there is a difference between the truth
14:56and what we see on TV.
14:58Check out this other recent clip from WatchMojo,
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