This week, I have concluded two of Netflix’s new series Mindhunters and Alias Grace. The first took my notice for its casting of Jonathan Groff as the protagonist, a name who any musical fan (especially for 2015’s Hamilton) will remember. The second garnered my attention while watching the opening credits and seeing another buzz phrase for 2017, “Based on the Novel by Margaret Atwood.” Besides both shows utilizing their pop culture icons as promotional ploys, Alias Grace and Mindhunters share another theme; they both focus on trying to unravel the mind of a killer.
While viewers may already be drawn in by both these shows storylines, it is even more fascinating to discover both Alias Grace and Mindhunters are based off of real life people (with fictionalized liberties taken in their filmatic construction). Alias Grace is about the famous 1840s “murderess” from Canada, Grace Marks, and the mystery that surrounds her case. Mindhunters is about the real life behavioral science unit at the FBI in the 1970s and their interviewing of famous serial killers. If you want a starting point for more research on this, check out the Smithsonian article “The Mysterious Murder Case that Inspired Margaret Atwood’s ‘Alias Grace’” or Vulture’s “The Real FBI Agents and Serial Killers Who Inspired Netflix’s Mindhunter” (note that this second article will contain spoilers, so read at your own risk). However, as much as these shows may want you to think they are novel ideas, interest in unnatural human behavior is not a new craze.
Both Alias Grace and Mindhunters are exploring the sensationalism behind murderers that has been society’s fixation for at least the past two hundred years. The first modern day serial killer that dominated the western world was London’s famous Jack the Ripper in the 1880s followed by Chicago’s H. H. Holmes a decade later. Both of these men flooded newspaper headlines and inspired the horror and curiosity of the western world. While there are numerous killers throughout history, the American public found a resurgence in its fascination of killers in the 1960s with the release of Truman Capote’s nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood, and media sensationalized killers like Ted Bundy, Ed Kemper, and the Zodiac Killer. Since then, our interest has only grown with shows like Hannibal, Dexter, or American Horror Story: Hotel placing the murderers as the protagonist (that we sometimes even root for).
While we may root for Grace Marks in Alias Grace, it is less likely we are fans of the killers in Mindhunters due to the heinous crimes that are described. Both shows involve a psychologist interviewing the killer, but due to the show’s point of view, the audience is far more likely to feel empathy towards whoever’s point of view is depicted in the story. In Alias Grace, the story of these murders is being told by Grace Marks herself, depicting out her abusive childhood and hard life she had endured leading up to the crime. Grace’s voiceover throughout the series keeps the audience focused on her, and the series follows the story she is recalling for the psychologist by visualizing the events on the screen for us viewers. We know this is supposed to be depicting what is in her mind due to her quick “flashbacks” she has in episode one when the doctor asks her simple questions, and we can’t help but understand her plight. In Mindhunters, the main storyline follows the actions and life of Detective Holden Ford with his partner, Detective Bill Tench, and we get to see their personal struggles within their families, romantic partners, and work life. While Detectives Holden and Trench also interview the killers, because we are not given the visual play by play for the killers’ stories (instead we only see men being interviewed), we are not going to reach the same level of empathy. We essentially are not “walking in their shoes” as we do with Grace’s story, and ultimately, while we may be fascinated by them, we aren’t going to wish for their freedom in the end.
If anyone out there decides to view either of these shows, I challenge you to consider the commentary it makes on society’s psyche when we elevate stories of killers as our popular media. Are we encouraging society to explore the human mind or find empathy in the least likely of places, or are we glorifying and encouraging these gruesome acts? Let me know below!
I've only watched one episode of Mindhunters, however I can definitely see what you're describing. Holden takes a much more analytical and direct approach to describing Manson in the first episode. While it definitely tries to get the room full of officers to see the deeper meaning behind his actions, Holden also dives headfirst into the facts. Watching the rest of Mindhunters is on my list, as I think some of the approaches that you mention will be interesting to see develop in future episodes. As far as your question at the end, I don't think I am able to base an answer off of the one episode that I have seen. Without going into great detail, I would say it's a combination of exploring motives while simultaneously and not necessarily purposefully, glorifying the acts.
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