Abstract

True crime dramatizations are one of the most consumed media forms of the streaming era, yet their cultural impacts extend beyond entertainment. They shape how audiences understand real events, real people, and the systems of justice and discourse to determine their fates. This study examines how does a director’s positionality, including their identity, relationship to the material, and position within the industry, shape their directional vision, narrative framing, and the use of conventions from other genres, and what are the consequences of those choices on how viewers interpret the real events and real people being dramatized. Through close textual analysis and paratextual analysis of two Netflix limited series, Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (2024) and Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us (2019), this study argues that directorial positionality is an essential part to true crime storytelling. This study draws upon auteur theory, narrative theory, and audience theory to further explore and understand each director’s identity. Together, these two case studies demonstrate that the gap between reality and representation in true crime is never neutral. It is always shaped by who holds the camera, what they already know, and what they stand to gain or lose from telling.

Advisor

Hayward, Jennifer

Department

Global Media and Digital Studies

Disciplines

Other Film and Media Studies | Television

Publication Date

2026

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2026 Mariah McKenzie