Ready for some ‘Netflix and Chill?’ No, not that kind of unwinding! Slow your roll, Cassanova. We need to have a serious talk about safety! Everyone loves curling up on the couch to watch the latest true crime thriller. (If you decide to get a little naughty while the bad guys do the same on screen, who are we to judge?) From “Making a Murderer” to “Baby Reindeer” or whatever else is trending on Facebook, millions of adrenaline junkies love rehashing plots and online sleuthing while binging the latest craze from the streaming giant. We collectively reached an all-time low when we professed our undying love for serial killers when Jeffrey Dahmer moved to the top of our queues last year while leaving us clamoring for more insatiable violence. For a supposed peace-loving country, we certainly have a penchant for the gross macabre. The rational part of our brains will defend our questionable curated top picks by telling ourselves we’re only interested in the history behind the headlines, but you can’t fool the producers at Netflix. They’ll keep turning out the outlandish plot real-world plot twists for a reason. And with rising crime rates giving Hollywood writers more than enough story fodder for decades, America’s thing for “bad guys” is a trend we can’t shake no matter how many side-eye glances we get from the inlaws.
A Sign of the Times
Maybe we put the wrong spin on this weird serial killer fetish. After all, our parents grew up watching Michael Myers slice and dice through a small Illinois town, which became floored every time their prodigal son came home to claim more lives every Halloween. We never said serial killer victims scored high on the SATs or even took them for that matter. We’ve become a nation desensitized, but addicted to violence. With mass shootings occurring almost daily in America, violence has become a numbing rite of passage. Escaping into the sordid world of true crime cut-em-ups is wildly comforting to a rising generation of kids who have more active shooter scenarios than tornado drills. Logging some late-night streaming escapades gives us a little pause from the more inane horrors like paying bills and saving for a home – the real horror besieging millions of Americans.
Netflix and Steel
What’s a common underlying thread in most online docudramas? Besides a painfully inept police force seemingly unencumbered to timely responses? Invariably, most bludgeoned victims had nowhere to hide when the bad guys came bursting through the front door. Instead of absconding to a conveniently placed back door that set designers forgot to write out of the script, the hopelessly clueless protagonists retreated upstairs or into another interior room. These scurrying tactics are likely a biological holdover from our cave-dwelling days when a hungry carnivore stumbled into our rocky abodes. We invented fire, but loss the flame of courage in the following millinnium. Had our hopelessly flawed yet stunningly beautiful titular actors had a panelized steel safe room to hide in, the bloody climax would have been less of a foregone conclusion. Our panelized safe room kits can be easily and surreptitiously hidden in any existing home office or bedroom. They cost a fraction of a standard solid weld panic room without sacrificing strength in protection. Don’t become another tired plot twist in real-world scenarios that have become more than just a sad, tired cliche. Write your narrative and close up any loose plot holes with a panelized safe room kit that can’t be written out of any script. You control your family’s safety. Now try watching a documentary. Real life is scary enough.
