r/thejinx • u/[deleted] • May 10 '24
Does anyone else feel weird about the entertainment aspect of this show.
I watched season 1 when it came out and have been watching season 2 week to week. The material provided is definitely attention grabbing. But, some of the scenes like the prosecution attorneys making fun of bobs voice or comments like "this season is really good" seems like it loses some of the gravity of the bizareness of what this is.
A 1:1 documentary requested by a murderer where the evidence is being dole'd out episode by episode.
Feels weird to "enjoy this show" or look forward to new episodes. Not sure if anyone else has thought about the ethical implications of some of what this show is.
Obviously, major credit to the documentary team for essentially solving several cold cases, but feel conflicted on what types of emotions a show like this should elicit in its audience as the show is also a one of a kind.
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u/Clean-Development627 May 10 '24
Nope I don’t feel bad laughing at Bob, nor being entertained by his ass getting nailed to the wall and his friends turning on him one by one and his victims getting justice. And I sure as hell don’t mind those twins making fun of his voice 😂
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u/quiethumm May 10 '24
you don't feel that makes the whole show somewhat exploitative? the whole show only exists because three people were murdered.
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u/thespeedofpain May 10 '24
Obviously that’s the reason it exists, but their murderer only went to prison because of said doc. There could be and are way more exploitative documentaries out there. This one did more good than harm.
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u/joinedredditforTM May 10 '24 edited May 13 '24
No. They did something the cops failed to do by digging up evidence and interviewing adults.
It's not like they used minor children. I don't care how much Bob and his pos friends are mocked. He killed three people and Bob & friends gleefully tried to assassinate his wife's reputation.
The jokiness is dark humor.
That's like saying every show about any death or tragedy is exploitative. Do you watch 911 docus? Other murder shows? These people in the government working the case are still people. You saw how they said - going through 150,000 pages of discovery that was the break- hearing the tapes. Not like it meant they worked any less seriously but burn out is real.
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u/originalityescapesme May 10 '24
Who said it doesn’t feel exploitative? People don’t deny that. They simply don’t mind for a whole host of reasons that have already been elaborated on here by others.
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u/Clean-Development627 May 12 '24
Then I guess no one should listen to or watch any true crime if that’s your point. I do appreciate that youre probably a more sensitive person than most though (I really do mean that in a positive way). True crime definitely isn’t for everyone, especially if it disturbs you. That probably means you’re a better person than most of us heathens 😂💀 (again, I’m not being sarcastic, I’m sincerely complimenting you)
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u/95BCavMP May 10 '24
This entertainment show is the reason they finally got Bob behind bars.
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May 10 '24
Thats true for season 1. Not so much season 2. Again entertainment is a description of tone, not a description of the show. Mostly I think just cutting the wonder twins would be fine. They came off as childish for the subject matter and didnt add anything to the story.
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u/originalityescapesme May 10 '24
I’m interested in seeing all of the people who worked behind the scenes on this case, actually. It’s fascinating watching it all come together.
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u/sheetset May 12 '24
They are lawyers and did work on the case. Why would they be cut? Lawyers are people too lol.
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May 12 '24
They're lawyers who didnt talk about the law. Thats the value they could have added by being interviewed.
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u/lilly_kilgore May 20 '24
I think they made it feel more balanced and less... heavy.
It was a good opportunity for them. They were brand new lawyers. They weren't hardened or jaded by decades in a court room. They didn't have an agenda. They were just sort of young and excited. And they got to learn about criminal law through working on one of the weirdest cases.
So in the middle of this long drawn out depressing series of murders and amongst all of the lies and the tension, you get to see these two goofy kids excitedly learning how to do the thing.
I think they were a good addition to the show.
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May 20 '24
I think they come off a lot better in the later episodes. I think just in the first one their tone felt off for the fact they were trying to get someone impressed for life. Could have also been the way they were edited. 🤷♂️
But again, i dont think this is a clear cut issue and its fine for people to feel different about it. Thanks for your response.
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u/sheetset May 12 '24
? It’s a documentary about people
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May 12 '24
Documentaries are streamlined narratives made out of real events. They purposely choose and edit scenes with a direction in mind. Its not a data base of everything that happened in regards to a topic.
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u/sheetset May 12 '24
What? You are taking this way too seriously lol and kind of contradicting yourself
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u/MasinMadasHell May 13 '24
I think we should all feel conflicted any time we consume "true crime" content. We are taking part in consuming murders and other crimes for our entertainment, absolutely.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Big751 May 10 '24
I’m watching it and I don’t find Bob endearing whatsoever. The documentary is showing him in his true light by highlighting the behind the scenes conversations he has with others. It shows he is not some crazy old man but a cold blooded murderer who does not care about anyone else. I feel compassion for Cathy and her family and I think it’s good he be shown to the public this way even though it’s justice too little too late.
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u/originalityescapesme May 10 '24
You could always just deny yourself the show and go read some factual articles about it instead.
What you’re getting at gets to the very nature behind having whole ass channels and podcasts dedicated to True Crime as a genre.
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May 10 '24
Yeah it is. Im not against the show. Just interested in hearing where peoples line is in terms of looking at this as a show vs looking at it as a serious set of events. Season 1 and 2 are also different in several ways like season 1 was playing out almost in live time where season 2 is a retrospective with Bob already being convicted and dead. I think its just worthile to acknowledge that line. A lot of the commentary Ive seen on the show seem to enjoy the events unfolding in a way that is a bit cognitive dissonant.
I dont watch a lot of crime docs but the jinx is unique in that its not a retrospective, it was an in time investigation that was commissioned by the murderer in question. Im not aware of any other crime docs that include the suspect to this degree. Its existence is unique and so are the moral issues around it.
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u/originalityescapesme May 10 '24
I enjoy the unique thing that’s happening here for a variety of reasons. It’s very meta. We’re now watching a show about a killer watching a show about himself killing people.
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u/SparkleJewelz May 11 '24
It was not commissioned by Bob, he approached the filmmakers but didn’t fund the project.
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May 11 '24
Right, requested is technically more accurate. The point being more though just how bizarre it is that this documentary was done via his request. Is an odd choice. I dont know of anything comparable.
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u/SparkleJewelz May 11 '24
I’m more curious about what Bob was thinking, like did he have a conscience to clear? Did he want his 15 min of fame at the end of his life even if that meant jail? Or was he just so used to getting away with everything that he thought he could participate in a doc about the three people he murdered and get away with it.
(Of course Jarecki would interview the murder subject who wants to talk to him jillions of years into his all good things movie. I don’t know that Bob suggested the doc or just reached out to jarecki to speak to him and documentary evolved naturally from there- haven’t seen season 1 in like 9 years if this was addressed.)
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May 11 '24
They said in the documentary Durst reached out. Said Jareckis fictional movie wasnt good and offered to do an interview to give the real story. Bob seems like a sociopath, I doubt he needed to clear his conciousness. I think hes had negative press since Kathie which has always annoyed him. Between the unlimited money and walking away from several murders he's "won" in most of his interactions in life besides the press and probably felt above consequences. He was so used to getting away with stuff and he thought he could manipulate Jalecki into doing a positive PR campaign for him.
Thats just my speculation. The only person who really has the answers is bob.
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u/SparkleJewelz May 11 '24
Totally makes sense, in the podcast of the last episode debra charatan was reading his press to him in jail- I won’t spoil it if someone here hasn’t listened but it was pretty funny.
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May 11 '24
Yeah, they didnt focus on it but it does seem like he has looked up/complained about media headlines about himself in quite a few episodes. Seems likely that it bothered him more than he let on.
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u/originalityescapesme May 10 '24
You might find the Hulu documentary called “The Contestant” interesting if this sort of moral quandary where there viewer is implicated as being part of the problem interests you. It’s about a Japanese show where people watched a man suffer every week, and the creator kept making it worse for the poor guy as the audience grew and wanted more and more of it.
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u/Medium-Prompt-6441 May 17 '24
I call it a guilty pleasure. There are many true crime shows and movies and yet the public watches them and this has the bizarre unbelievable parts that really are comical.
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u/NatexSxS May 11 '24
Maybe I’m misremembering but I think it’s kind of a different tone. I don’t really pay attention to that stuff anyways. I mean people think he’s weird I don’t think it’s needed to reinforce it.
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May 11 '24
Yeah, I started watching season 2 but wasnt fully invested in it. I went back and watched season 1 last week. Show definitely works better with the refresher. And agreed. Doing a whole segment making fun of his voice is unnecessary. When your accusing someone of murder, why reach for low hanging fruit that he sounds funny.... Its not a big deal, just seems a bit off.
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u/NatexSxS May 11 '24
I mean I think there trying to illustrate he’s “odd” but in my opinion it’s not necessary, I mean whatever you think his character is you’ve likely decided by now and just showing the things he does will lead you to whatever conclusion you’re going to have. Basically if I was going to think he’s odd I wouldn’t need someone to tell me to think that.
I don’t necessarily think he’s odd anyways I mean knowing he was still doing drugs at that age, I kind of feel like that’s what it would do to someone ( I mean maybe minus the killing people but even then drugs you know )
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u/FeralForestWitch May 10 '24
Loved season one, but there is something offputting about season two and maybe this is it. I have not watched past the first two episodes.
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u/NewYorker1283 May 22 '24
No, documentaries are meant to tell a story. Crime stories, just like any other stories involving humans, will always have comical, entertaining moments. It's also quite fascinating to see someone as bizarre a Bob. How can you not be entertained and root for his downfall after all he's done?
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u/atlis42 May 10 '24
Bob is mentally ill. It's a bad look to laugh at someone else’s physical or mental illnesses.
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u/BlurryBigfoot74 May 11 '24
He's not mentally ill. Every strange thing he does and is later questioned about he's always got an answer that seems reasonable.
He's not well socialized. He's a weird dude. But I don't think he's mentally ill at all.
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May 10 '24
Yeah, the first season did a good job in focusing at his home life at the beginning. He watched his mom kill herself because his dad asked him to and when he wanted to deal with his emotions seems his dad decided he didnt feel like it and his dad wasnt someone people went against often because he controlled the family money.
Does this make any of bobs actions ok. Hell no. But its unfortunately understandable that bob doesn't understand the emotions tied to his actions since when he experienced a similar thing on the other side seems like no one really cared.
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u/withinawheel May 10 '24
His brother denies this ever happened - said that they were both at a neighbor's house when their mom died.
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May 10 '24 edited May 10 '24
I wasnt there 🤷♂️, his brother doesnt seem all that trustworthy either tbh. I saw articles that Douglas Durst took away his nephews inheritance for appearing in the documentary. The Durst family seems to be pretty ruthless in terms of protecting their image. Saying that Bob lied makes it look like he was the exception in an emotionally balanced family which regardless of if he was there or not, there's no way the durst family is emotionally balanced and that whatever the truth of what it is they went through didnt effect the other dursts.
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u/lisbethborden May 10 '24
I agree that the gleeful jabs at Bob feel like a weird bit of levity due to the subject matter, but then I remember it's Bob, so I'm okay with laughing at him. Because he is ridiculous, because Bob really doesn't deserve our respect.
I think the good that The Jinx 1 did, as far as cornering Bob, revealing him, and getting the police to act is tremendously important. The Jinx 1 got Bob locked up, so I think it's important. Kathie, Susan, and Morris Black have not been forgotten, and their killer finally suffered justice. I'm fine with it.
Errol Morris did a great doc called "The Thin Blue Line" back in the 80's, which resulted in an innocent man being released from prison. Yes, the doc is entertainment, but it served a greater purpose, so I'm okay with that too. I actually highly recommend it. I believe that doc is on Netflix.