ABSTRACT
The Atlanta Child Murders were a grisly and mysterious series of true events. These murders have recently returned to public attention, due in large part to multiple true crime genre adaptations of the phenomenon, such as Payne Lindsey's (2018) podcast Atlanta Monster and the second season of David Fincher's (2017–) television series Mindhunter. Both productions are dramatic recreations of the original crimes with varying degrees of “realism.” Whereas Atlanta Monster is grounded in unscripted interviews and narration from Lindsey, Mindhunter uses actors and dramatization based on accounts from former FBI agents to recreate the events. Original coverage of the Atlanta Child Murders occurred in the 70s and 80s, but quickly faded from earlier news media and pop culture.
Recent resurgence of interest in the murders begs the question of why there has been such a sudden increase in the popularity of these events. Perhaps narratives are told as tactics in ongoing narratizations, or communication to progress toward imagined future goals. As such, new adaptations of older crime stories may be read as communicative strategies in service to some cultural value or ideal. Close narrative inquiries in the vein of rhetoric and semiotics may help explicate the values which undergird such narratives. Investigating true crime as a genre, which adapts events to convey particular messages, is valuable to communication studies because it elucidates the ways fact and fiction are often blurred to connect with powerful rhetorical fantasies.
This chapter argues that present adaptations of the Atlanta Child Murders imply values which align with the contemporary social context. For instance, early news coverage of the crime event may have aimed for different communicative goals (e.g., assuaging political constituents or protecting white supremacist ideals) than recent retellings (e.g., postmodern, perspectival search for individual truth and cynicism toward traditional institutions, such as the criminal justice system). The many adaptations of the Atlanta Child Murders, including shifting perspectives regarding the identity of the “Atlanta Monster,” demonstrates: (1) True Crime genre stories fulfill current postmodern fantasies in which individuals can discover gritty personal truths despite villainous institutions; and (2) adaptations of crime events always communicate a unique perspective which reflects the values and goals of the creators.
