The fundamental essence of true crime is what sustains the attention and curiosity of millions of people. True crime stories have been explored for decades on end, and have captivated the attention of millions of people, where authors investigate and examine true crime stories, and attempt to illustrate such cases through films, books, and even podcasts. In recent years, YouTube has grown in popularity, with YouTubers addressing similar true crime cases through various forms of art. A YouTuber, Bailey Sarian is particularly known for her murder mystery series on Youtube, in which she discusses true crime stories while applying makeup, and is also well known to be the founder of the true-crime makeup genre on YouTube, which has gained recognition amongst other Youtubers who have imitated her style. This one-of-a-kind blend of art and crime extraction has gained the attraction of millions of viewers where she studies, researches, and discusses true crime cases, while applying the artistic form of makeup to maintain her audience’s engagement throughout the entirety of the video.
I think it is interesting how people use gory or scary stories and pair it with something people also love to watch like doing makeup. Like other comments, I think this is a great way of getting the audience’s attention throughout the entirety of the story, as many peoples attention span has decreased due to social media. I never thought about the ethics of it, but if they are profiting off someones death, I would think it would be right to give the family some sort of compensation or ask for permission if it is okay to distribute the story to the internet. Something else that comes to mind is movies or documentaries that retell murders, while focusing on the murder not the victim and sometimes families do not get compensated at all for it. I think this is similar in the sense that both are retelling a story of someones death and it would be most ethical to ask the family of the deceased if it is okay to share the story with thousands of people on the internet – which this is sadly often not done.
I was also attracted by the weird pairing of the title, murder and makeup, and then I found out that I was an audience to the similar content of the video. I agreed with the other comment that people were attracted because of the multitasking and the appealing nature of murder cases, but I also noticed that the content creator that I watched and the original one mentioned in the article both used bold colors in their makeups and the makeup styles were similar. I wondered if certain styles of makeup would pair more naturally with the storytelling. Also, I didn’t think about the moral issues when I first watched this type of video, but I think evaluating the moral issues concerns the way of telling the cases and if the profit is involved.
As an avid user of TikTok and Youtube, I am quite familiar with the combination of true crime and makeup. I understand the appeal just because people’s attention spans nowadays are not as long as they were before, especially after quarantine and the rise of 30-second videos on TikTok. For me, I love watching makeup videos but also listening to criminal cases and based-on-true-stories murder mysteries. I would say this is similar to videos where people read Reddit stories with Minecraft playing in the background: it’s a multi-tasking, attention thing that appeals to GenZ.
I actually have watched multiple videos of her on Facebook. However, the make-up part was not the attractive factor why my interest was awakened. Nevertheless, I think the idea of captivating a wide range of viewers, by combining two completely divergent topics (make-up tutorial and telling true crime stories) is genius.
Her narrations are factual, engaging, comprehensible, and her appropriate use of sarcastic humor keep you captivated.
Of course, these kind of „entertainment“ cannot be used to consider yourself well-informed and only result in primitive conclusions. But it can definitely serve as a stepping stone to do more research on your own.
The reason I clicked on this article was the odd pairing of Makeup and Murder in the title. It confuses me why these have been tied together as a new popular pairing on Youtube. I partly think it has to do with our short attention spans and wanting to watch something, while listening to the stories instead of just the stories themselves.
I think the reason why true crime beauty content creators, such as the one described in the article, do so well is because it keeps the audience engaged in multiple ways due to the nature of multitasking. The creator appeals to multiple audiences at once, such as the true crime community and the beauty community. This form of commentary content creation encourages community engagement and therefore brings about greater discussions, as well as awareness, surrounding true crime cases and the artistry of makeup.
I find this article very interesting. I think that recently true crime has reached new heights of popularity, though it has probably always been a topic of interest for the public. True crime stories are being told over all kinds of different media, blogs, Youtube videos, podcasts, etc. And what is different than before is that anyone can tell these stories, you don’t have to be a journalist or a professional. So it is really interesting to see how different content creators choose to report these stories. While we can see Bailey Sarian’s work as her finding a specific niche to fill, it is also an expression of her creativity. But creativity aside, we can debate the ethics and sensitivity of it all, and whether or not viewers are simply using other’s misfortune as entertainment.
I can see from the responses of others that some are torn on the ethics of these kinds of true crime media presentations. As someone who was introduced to the intricacies of the crime world and true crime through such mediums, I think that the nature of the media being used and the narrator who is relaying the true story are a key aspect of the morality of such presentations. Some content creators are highly respectful in the way they recount the stories of others and use it as a way to remember a victim and raise awareness, while others sensationalize and romanticize horrific crimes. I do not think that using an artistic or entertainment medium to share the true story of another’s tragic death is innately amoral, but I do believe that it is often done in a disrespectful manner.
I to, have seen a huge increase in true crime stories being told, especially on YouTube. I have never watched Bailey Sarian personally, however, have fallen into the trap of other youtubers discussing similar topics. Being able to multitask; doing makeup while telling a story, is by far one of the two topics I wouldn’t have thought would be put together. Instead of watching someone simply put makeup on with music or silence in the background, she was able to grab the listeners attention with both visuals and audio.
Nice article! I have always found Americans’ obsession with true crime interesting because while learning about the traits and characteristics of a murderer can make you more aware of your environment and the people around you, I can’t help but think about the family of the victims and how making their murder our entertainment impacts them. In some cases, this can be useful but I don’t think it should be turned into a national spectacle as it prevents the family from getting peace and moving on.
While true crime is appealing to many and captivating this article brings into question if we as a society are romanticizing it. True crime can be experienced through many mediums, one of which is now a makeup artist on Youtube. This combination of art and crime has successfully attracted a large audience but begs the question of ethics. Is it okay to use real murder stories and profit off telling them? I am unsure, but millions seem to think that it is entertaining.