MAKING A MURDERER
If you know me at all, you'll know that generally I'm not one for politics. Whether wrongly or rightly, I normally try to stay out of things where I can, duck my head down and get on with my life. If I get too involved, or allow myself to think too much, I find that I get annoyed very, very quickly at those in the highest levels of power especially, and because I currently don't know where to outlet that frustration and anger, it just builds up and up and up. And I don't want to waste my chance at life feeling mad all the time about everything and everyone. I'm not going to let anyone take away my right to enjoy my life, this world, and be happy. I don't want to see the good and kindness and beautiful things in this world get lost along the way. Yet more and more so these days, I keep noticing the bad, as much as I don't want to. The corruption. The injustice. The inhumanity. The inequality. I could go on for days. Those true human values, the true meaning of life, freedom, love, peace, kindness, the things that make this world good, the way we should treat each other, use our time on this earth, all those things that should be defining us and shaping us are not. It gets lost so easily all the time, and I don't know about you, but I didn't sign up to live in a world like that. Where my fellow human beings have simply forgotten or overlooked that defining, important natural characteristic of our species: humanity. Where people don't know how to live alongide one another, be nice to one another, respect one another, be fair to one another. I'm not saying I myself am perfect because I'm not. I try my best to do right, be a good person, but there's a lot more that I could do too. We all could. Sometimes I really can't believe the world we actually live in. If you stop to examine the sheer perplexity of how we live our lives, the way we conduct ourselves, the way we hurt each other, hurt the planet, build up societies with highly questionable morales and ethics and practice that we scarcely take time to actually question. What is wrong with us? Why are we like this? How did we get like this? Will it ever change?
If you've been reading this blog for a while, or if you've just popped by now (in which case hello!), you might wonder why on earth I'm even writing a post like this. This is very unusual for me. It's a first. Normally it's art, incessant rambling about life and personal experience, food, photographs. But recently I kept finding that a lot of things about this world were really grinding my gear (*cough cough* NHS strikes, wars, refugees... the list goes on), and that all accumulated and came to an explosive head when I recently watched the Netflix sensation Making a Murderer. Everything I was just moaning about in the previous paragraph, none of it is more relevant and truer than when put in relation to this documentary. I've never watched something that's struck such a chord with me before. Never watched something that's pricked my conscience so strongly and deeply. Never watched something that's provoked me to react the way I have. If you haven't seen it yet, Making a Murderer has been blazing across social media and word of mouth like a wildfire in the outback. One of few documentaries to compel, stun and anger the world in such a manner, this ten part series chronicles over ten years the unfortunate series of events, at the hands of the American justice system, that have blighted the life of Steven Avery. (spoiler alert) Originally sentenced to 36 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, in spite of consistent highly questionable police activity, it took 18 years for Steven's innocence to be proven by DNA testing in 2003. Finally released and rightfully given back his freedom, poised to win $36 million dollars for his wrongful imprisonment, Steven only managed to enjoy his freedom for two years before the awful murder and burning of local female photographer, Teresa Halbach, occured on the land where he and his family lived.
What happened after, and before Teresa's death, for that matter, is shown throughout the documentary, with every episode highlighting the multitude of questionable, unjust, unfair, unprofessional and corruptive actions, of the American legal justice system throughout the case, up to 2015. I would list them all but honestly we would be sitting here for quite some time. It flags up compelling questions regarding evidence validity, the practice, honesty and validity of the American justice system, investigation flaws, weaknesses in alibis, potential suspects who never got questioned. Things that were consistently brought up by Steven's defence but ultimately were overlooked. In 2007 Steven and his 16 year old nephew, Brendan Dassey, were eventually charged with Teresa's murder, amongst other questionable charges, and sentenced to life imprisonment, in spite of the serious issues, flaws and inconsistencies presented, some of which occurred years before the murder even happened. Their attempts to appeal and have a fair re-trail were consistently denied by judges who already had key, and highly suspicious roles in both Steven and Brendan's trials previously. To date, Steven has spent almost 30 of his 53 years in prison, 18 for a crime he didn't commit, and 9 for a crime he continually maintains and is trying to prove his innocence for. Meanwhile Brendan's life is currently mirroring his uncle's, having spent almost 10 years in prison for a crime he simply could not have committed, if only for the fact his DNA was not found anywhere, and his only chance at freedom will come in 2048.
I understand that having read this far, if you haven't yet watched Making A Murderer, you'll probably be scratching your head wondering just what the big deal is, having gotten the general jist of it but not the full magnitude. It's hard to fully translate and dilute it into words. To put it simply: I got too many feels. I can't stop thinking about the injustice and inhumanity of it all, the loss of human right to freedom and justice, the individuals who got off scot free. The cruel and harsh reality of the world we live in and the quite frankly scary corruption of the systems we put our trust in most. In my personal opinion, one person lost her life in an incredibly inhumane and horrific manner, yet her death was corruptly used to the advantage and agenda of others. Two innocent people have also in theory lost their chance at life, by being unjustly set-up and sentenced by the legal system for a crime they surely didn't commit. God knows how many people are walking around freely with a hidden guilty conscious and memories of what really happened. One murderer, maybe more, is still out there. But putting my own speculation aside, the main reason I wanted to write this post is to urge you to go onto Netflix, or borrow someone's account to do so, and watch the Making a Murderer documentary for yourself. Please, please, please go educate yourself, see it for yourself, judge it for yourself and consider your own opinion and what you make of it. It's so important, if anything to remind you how not to treat your fellow man, and to also encourage you to exercise your right to question, be cynical of authority. You might agree with me, you might disagree. Steven Avery may indeed be guilty, but even if that prevails as being the truth, he wasn't entitled to the fair, unbiased trial every charged citizen legally should have. And I, and millions of others worldwide, can't help but feel like this is an incredibly unjust wrong that needs to be righted. So often in this life you're made to feel inferior to authority, like you can't make a difference, that your voice and the voices of other people, don't really matter. But on a humane level, when you see what your fellow humans have suffered through at the hands of other humans, so many wrongs and on so many levels, that natural animal instinct within you is provoked, it cries out: this is not right, we have to do something. Granted the social outcry doesn't hold an awful lot of power, but it's already garnered the attention of the White House, lead to a 470,00+ petition, extensive mass media coverage, and helped Steven Avery acquire one of the best defence lawyers in the US, in the space of a month, and that's pretty incredible.
If you do decide to watch Making a Murderer, all ten episodes, that's only ten hours of your life you'll never get back, but for the victims and subjects of this monumental case however, Teresa Halbach, Steven Avery, Brendan Dassey, that's ten years of their life lost, and it increases with every passing day. It's not often that you come across cases that impact the general public so strongly, but this is one of them, not only for the injustice and unfairness of it all, but also for the way it makes you question the validity and honesty of those authoritative figures that govern our world. Watching this documentary makes it impossible to continue doing nothing. It plays on your mind. It gives you a new lens in which to see the world. It makes you question people and their motives, the way we treat one another, the way we conduct our lives and the systems we have in place. I've recently come to realise that knowledge and education equates to power. We often choose not to question and educate ourselves, for fear of what we'll find on the other side if we do, but if we take the time to start to explore, think things through, what we learn in the process becomes fuel that we can use, and that fuel, that power, is what lights that all important first spark of change.
I understand that having read this far, if you haven't yet watched Making A Murderer, you'll probably be scratching your head wondering just what the big deal is, having gotten the general jist of it but not the full magnitude. It's hard to fully translate and dilute it into words. To put it simply: I got too many feels. I can't stop thinking about the injustice and inhumanity of it all, the loss of human right to freedom and justice, the individuals who got off scot free. The cruel and harsh reality of the world we live in and the quite frankly scary corruption of the systems we put our trust in most. In my personal opinion, one person lost her life in an incredibly inhumane and horrific manner, yet her death was corruptly used to the advantage and agenda of others. Two innocent people have also in theory lost their chance at life, by being unjustly set-up and sentenced by the legal system for a crime they surely didn't commit. God knows how many people are walking around freely with a hidden guilty conscious and memories of what really happened. One murderer, maybe more, is still out there. But putting my own speculation aside, the main reason I wanted to write this post is to urge you to go onto Netflix, or borrow someone's account to do so, and watch the Making a Murderer documentary for yourself. Please, please, please go educate yourself, see it for yourself, judge it for yourself and consider your own opinion and what you make of it. It's so important, if anything to remind you how not to treat your fellow man, and to also encourage you to exercise your right to question, be cynical of authority. You might agree with me, you might disagree. Steven Avery may indeed be guilty, but even if that prevails as being the truth, he wasn't entitled to the fair, unbiased trial every charged citizen legally should have. And I, and millions of others worldwide, can't help but feel like this is an incredibly unjust wrong that needs to be righted. So often in this life you're made to feel inferior to authority, like you can't make a difference, that your voice and the voices of other people, don't really matter. But on a humane level, when you see what your fellow humans have suffered through at the hands of other humans, so many wrongs and on so many levels, that natural animal instinct within you is provoked, it cries out: this is not right, we have to do something. Granted the social outcry doesn't hold an awful lot of power, but it's already garnered the attention of the White House, lead to a 470,00+ petition, extensive mass media coverage, and helped Steven Avery acquire one of the best defence lawyers in the US, in the space of a month, and that's pretty incredible.
If you do decide to watch Making a Murderer, all ten episodes, that's only ten hours of your life you'll never get back, but for the victims and subjects of this monumental case however, Teresa Halbach, Steven Avery, Brendan Dassey, that's ten years of their life lost, and it increases with every passing day. It's not often that you come across cases that impact the general public so strongly, but this is one of them, not only for the injustice and unfairness of it all, but also for the way it makes you question the validity and honesty of those authoritative figures that govern our world. Watching this documentary makes it impossible to continue doing nothing. It plays on your mind. It gives you a new lens in which to see the world. It makes you question people and their motives, the way we treat one another, the way we conduct our lives and the systems we have in place. I've recently come to realise that knowledge and education equates to power. We often choose not to question and educate ourselves, for fear of what we'll find on the other side if we do, but if we take the time to start to explore, think things through, what we learn in the process becomes fuel that we can use, and that fuel, that power, is what lights that all important first spark of change.
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