essential question 1

[taylorp]

America is fascinated with crime because of the large amount of publicity it gets. When a crime is committed the media is constantly covering it. in our day and age media is a big source of information on what's going on in the outside world. in "in cold blood" the criminals even speak of the mass amount of newspapers covering the story. Also the community was heavily involved with the murders. The large amount of publicity crime gets is also a tool used by authorities to help catch criminals.

[ethan]

I would agree that popularity has increased the scale of viewers of crime through use of internet, etc. but I believe the bigger reason people are interested in crime is because it goes against social order (maintain and enforce ways of behaving). When ever someone rushes the field of any popular sports arena/stadium, people have a good laugh and enjoy watching the police tackle down the culprit. Similarly we revel in crime because it is against the natural social order in which we should function. In the movie "Nightcrawler," it illustrates the fictitious life of the Lou Bloom. As an L.A. crime journalist, he attempts to capture footage of an actual crime taking place. Similarly to Capote, he records the events (although the viewer can actually see the murder take place), so the audience understands what happened and justice can officially be served. Both are fascinated by the crime/crimes because they are uniquely different from other stories and events. Lou Bloom's action packed live shots differentiate itself from the other news broadcasts presented in L.A. while Capote's story of a brutal murder with almost no evidence or motive captivates the readers into finding out why the killer broke those social laws and acted as they did.

[katieshamblin]

I agree that the media's coverage of violent crime largely influences the way it is received by society. The more it's discussed, the more we get used to it, and the more it's normalized. This explains the unsettling feeling we get while reading In Cold Blood, when we start to feel sorry for the murderers.

[justingoshorn]

I completely agree that society flocks to the media when accounts of true crime are covered. I believe they do this because of human nature. Throughout the history of humanity, humans have had a fascination with gossip, a fascination that in our present day and age is fueled by the media. As soon as the media covers a sorry of true crime, the crime is the main topic of discussion thought the entire society. This is due to humanities need for gossip, so that they may have something to discuss with other members of the society and as Jasper stated "make them feel better about their crime free lives" (I'm paraphrasing Jasper's words). This is obvious in In Cold Blood when the sheriff receives countless phone calls throughout the night from people who are merely fantasizing about true crime. It is a fascination that can be seen throughout history and is here to stay due to society's hunger for gossip.