By Kelly Arnell of Why Did We Have To Have All These Kids Anyway?

I’m sure you have already watched or are in the middle of watching Netflix’s new series, “Making a Murderer.”

I’ve lived in Northeastern Wisconsin all my life. There would be no need to avoid “spoilers” on this series for anyone who lived around here in 2005. You would have to have been hiding out in an underground bunker and cut off from society to not have heard about the Avery and Dassey cases at the time they happened.

If you are not from around here and are unaware of the outcome of the cases, finish whatever episodes you have left (I know you’ll be up until 2 am tonight to finish anyway) and then come back and read the rest.

The first time I heard that there was going to be a documentary about Steven Avery, it was on the local news. The Halbach family had made a statement asking people not to watch it. I thought, I can respect that. I have way too much other stuff to do anyway to watch a 10 hour docu-series. Ten freaking hours?!

Then it was released. People started talking. And talking. And talking. And holy crap, people all over the world are suddenly interested in little old Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.

I’m going to just come out with it: I think they are both guilty.

This is what I thought when I decided I wouldn’t waste my time watching “Making a Murderer.” This is still what I thought after I changed my mind and needed to know what all the buzz was about.

I watched all 10 freaking hours of the series. I still can’t believe that! It sucks you in, that’s for sure.

Now here I am, still getting sucked in to all the debates, both online and in person. This series is making me crazy.

I’ve always been a true crime buff. I’m not going to lie, I spend a lot of Saturday nights watching “48 Hours Mystery.” I know, I know, you’re totally jealous. I love the plot twists and the tense moments waiting for the verdict to be read.

Those kind of shows are almost always after the fact. The show’s producers know the verdict beforehand and present it in a way so that the viewer can make guesses as to who dunnit. They show evidence from both sides and wait for your bullshit meter to go off.

During “Making a Murderer,” my bullshit meter went off right away and continued to beep uncontrollably throughout the whole thing.

What if “Making a Murderer” is about .. wait for it … a murderer? You know, the kind of guy who douses a cat in gasoline and throws it into a fire. The kind of guy who dismisses cat burning as fooling around with friends. The list of other unsavory things he’s done is out there if you look beyond the series.

Ten years ago, this was the top story every day. This was before I had kids, when I actually got to sit down and watch the news. The details of the case, the confession, the defense theory of police framing, on and on and on, I watched it all unfold on the five o’clock news.

Some people call me brainwashed by the media, call me “sheeple” for blindly believing the media.

Today people who had never heard the name Avery before are wondering, debating, and looking for more information, all because they watched a documentary on Netflix.

Some people call them brainwashed by a series, call them “sheeple” for believing what they saw in a documentary.

I had never heard the word sheeple before “Making a Murderer” came out. I’m guessing it means people acting like sheep, blindly following the crowd.

How much do any of us who don’t know the people involved really know, though? How much do any of us who weren’t directly involved with the case really know?

I think they are guilty. That’s just my opinion; that doesn’t make it a fact. You may have watched this and thought they are innocent. That’s just your opinion; that doesn’t make it a fact.

Sure as hell is addicting to debate, though, isn’t it?

Photo Credit: “Making A Murderer Title” by Source (WP:NFCC#4). Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia

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About the Author

Kelly Arnell is a stay-at-home-mom from Wisconsin. She has a husband who is completely in charge of bath time and three little monsters to cherish and love and to drive her insane! When she is not yelling at her kids to stop licking things, changing poopy diapers or trying to all around keep her kids fed, clothed and alive, she can be found at her at her blog, Why did we have to have all these kids anyway?