The Body as Evidence: A Cultural Approach to America's Fascination with Murder

American culture is rich in “popular” murder cases and virtually all serial killers
have been elevated to a celebrity status. Serial killer industry selling murderabilia
is booming, and the popularity of true-crime shows, podcasts, and books is at an
all-time high. This paper aims at the analysis of the cultural trend of serial killer
celebrities, treatment of the media coverage surrounding their victims as well as
the victims’ bodies before and after death, and the overarching narratives concerning
murder in American history and culture.
Serial killers – celebrities, monsters, anti-heroes of American culture – fuel
their own industry, established in postmodern times as the self-referential nightmare
of commodified death. Both serial murderers and their victims are the object
of said industry. However, the bodies of victims are objectified threefold: as the
victims of the crime, as elements of the murder industry, and as the evidence of the
crime itself. Additionally, the socioeconomic background of some of the victims,
often referred to as the “less-dead” victims according to Steven Egger’s theory, reinforces
the narrative in which they are merely objects of the crime, not individuals.
Together, all these factors constitute what Mark Seltzer calls “wound culture,”
a culture gathered around the bodily trauma. Thus, the paper will consider the role
serial killer victims’ bodies have on the cultural perception of narratives surrounding
death, violence, and the cult of the perpetrator.