From the Lombard province to the screens of all Italians, the Garlasco case has become the symbol of a collective obsession for the crime news. That’s why.
It is not simple curiosity. It is something deeper, almost visceral. The news is not limited to informing: capture, nailing to the screen, transforms stories of death and pain into a phenomenon capable of revolutionizing schedules, daily conversations and even the way we dream. It is a collective obsession, a guilty pleasure that few openly admit, the son of a desire to know and, after all, of fear.
The victims, often young women, we know them by name. They are not foreign: they become as neighbors, old schoolmates, family presences. Their history insinuates itself into our daily lives, until we become part of our emotional experience. And it is not a phenomenon born yesterday: From Cogne to Erba, from the Milanese case of Simonetta Cesaroni to that of Avetrana and poor Sarah Scazzi, the black news has always had magnetic power over our attention.
In recent years, however, the interest has exploded thanks to the proliferation of podcasts, YouTube channels and TV series dedicated to the Cold Case. Productions such as Making in Murderer or The StaCase They have transformed judicial events into compelling stories, where the line between procedural truth and serial narration becomes blended, and the viewer finds himself making detective from the sofa at home.
Among the most discussed outputs, Monster by Ryan Murphy (on the case of the Mendez brothers), Here is not Hollywood – the controversial TV series on the crime of Avetrana – and the imminent Series on Amanda Knox (coming on August 20), which re -elaborates one of the most controversial cases of the last decades, promise new perspectives on the fragile balance between reality and public perception.
And then there is Garlasco. Perhaps the most emblematic paradigm of this “toxic passion”. Two provincial guys, an investigation dotted with errors, disturbing background, infinite processes and theories – among the most disparate – which intertwine in an intricate labyrinth. A real judicial “bar” bar, where the border between guilt and innocence is thin, fueled by prejudices, gossip and conspiracy suggestions. A mix that has catalyzed the attention of millions of people, especially women: among young people, 61% of the female audience follow Podcast by True Crime, against 30% male.
Psychology offers a reading key: Many women identify in victims, live these stories as tools to understand how to protect themselves, but also to explore the dark side of human nature at a safe distance. Others, however, develop empathy for the “monsters” – An ancient phenomenon, just think of the charm exercised by figures such as René Vallanzasca, Ted Bundy or Richard Ramirez.
But the obsession has a price. George Gerbner, theorist of communication, has called “bad world syndrome” that feeling of anxiety, distrust and fear generated by excessive consumption of black news. Extreme spectacularization risks trivializing the tragedyfeeding distorted visions and conspiracysumes.
Still, telling evil also remains an act of freedom. In authoritarian regimes, the black news is often censored, because it cracks the artificial image of a perfect society under control.
Thus, the case of Garlasco is no longer just an episode of judicial news. It has become a mirror of our fears and our need for justice, but also of our vulnerability and fascination for darkness. Until the definitive truth does not emerge – if it ever happens – it will remain as a disturbing shadow on the face of a society that does not stop looking in the dark.
