The Evolution of True Crime/A&E Covers the Rape Kit Backlog

My friend Donna met Bill Kurtis back in the 80s.  She had a Geo Metro, which was the most eco-friendly car on the market back then.  She was driving it, and Bill Kurtis pulled up next to her and gave her a thumbs-up.  That was very cool for back then.  Bill Kurtis was a big deal.

Other people had seen him around and had similar experiences of him being a fairly regular guy, definitely not a butthole at all despite being a big celebrity -- very much like Roger Ebert.

So when I saw that A&E has now done this piece I have mixed feelings, to be honest.  Bill Kurtis does some good reporting and I know him personally not to be a dick.  Carol Marin was like a honey badger of the news all my life, and a few more Chicago investigative legends too.  I really appreciate those people as a true crime writer.

But A&E has an exploitative streak that hearkens back to the earliest days of true crime, the True Detective magazines of the 1970s.  There's always an ick factor, always something for the low-empathy, getting-off-on-the-violence crowd.  It's walked way back from the shameless pulp magazines.  But it never disappears completely on A&E.  For me the exploitation of sexual violence in the media is like a sandwich that has mayo only slightly tinged with poo.  It doesn't bother the general population somehow.

I started reading those True Detective magazines at the drug store when I was 8, trying to understand what had happened to me with Joe Kalady.  And I remember the day I stopped, when I suddenly realized these stories were by and for guys like Joe.  I had a panic attack and ran home from the drug store as fast as I could.

Despite whatever benefit of the doubt I'm willing to give Bill Kurtis, I can only give this piece a mixed thumbs-up, thumbs-down, because I'm hesitant to watch it today based on my mood.  A&E is not necessarily "for survivors."  There's a tinge of exploitation throughout.  Some days I just can't cope with it.  They'll getcha.

I'm going to watch this at some point.  Because I do appreciate Bill Kurtis and the things they have reported.  But I have seen things on that channel (not necessarily reported by Kurtis) that have irked me bad enough that I've had to discuss it in therapy more than once.  I can't always afford to watch their reporting in terms of my mental health.  I've seen them do things that were downright dishonest and manipulative.

I'm glad they're covering the rape kit backlog.  I discuss this in my book.  So I appreciate the support, especially from as big a platform as A&E.  It's progress.