Why Death Sells

Whether it’s sports, a reality show, or a sitcom, television viewers have an opinion as armchair referees or talent critics. And if it’s a true crime drama — they watch, snug in their La-Z-Boys, developing theories and holding a virtual “court” as pseudo private investigators, attorneys, and judges.

But they’ve been fed a steady diet of “NCIS” and “CSI.” They’ve become accustomed to crimes being committed and solved in the span of an episode. They’ve also become used to flawless witnesses and evidence. These programs, however, are not reality. They’re entertainment that’s rife with inaccuracies.

No one considers the families of these victims.

Still, people seem to carry over that “‘CSI’ mentality” to true life crime. Watching a real case dramatized in the insularity of living rooms, viewers seem think they know as much as the law enforcement and legal professionals involved.

In December 2015, the 10-part Netflix program “Making a Murderer” was such a smash hit that, to date, more than 530,000 people have signed a petition to free Steven Avery, who was convicted of killing 25-year-old Teresa Halbach in Wisconsin in 2005.

And after the 2014 “Serial” podcast about Baltimore native Adnan Syed, convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend in 1999, this summer Syed was granted a new trial. The podcast was downloaded 75,000 times.

Though no one is defending O.J. Simpson, whom many believe was wrongly acquitted, even his infamous case is now considered award-winning “entertainment.”

JonBenét Ramsey, on the 20th anniversary of her murder, is the most recent story Hollywood has repurposed in an attempt to shed new light on the unsolvable case. A cynic would also say they’re trying to make a buck.

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And now Amanda Knox’s story is being told yet again on Netflix in a new documentary, arriving Friday.

But there’s a cost. No one considers the families of these victims who have already mourned the deaths, endured through the trials, and weathered the media coverage.

Programming such as “Serial” and “Making a Murderer” is meant to highlight inconsistencies in cases, but without the full story — which no viewer, listener or Hollywood writer/director will ever obtain — they serve no purpose beyond provoking their viewers to believe that the convicted are innocent, even if that conclusion is wrong.

As criminologist Jeffrey Ian Ross told ABC, “Just like a defense lawyer and a prosecutor can shape the evidence, in other words, choose what evidence he or she or the team wants to present to a jury and to a judge, so does a director.” But with a director, there’s rarely a counterbalance.

In the meantime, as armchair investigators are lapping up the intrigue or trying to free convicts, the victims’ families are forced to open up scars that might never have healed well in the first place.

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Kim Goldman, victim Ron Goldman’s sister, told interviewer Steve Harvey of Emmy-winning “The People vs. O.J.,” “People are [saying], ‘Oh, the acting is riveting,’ and ‘This is such a great plot line.’ And I’m thinking, ‘These are murders! It’s very confusing to us because this is not entertainment.”

She added regarding the pain the series has caused, “The show just ripped the Band-Aid right back off, poured some gallons of salt on it. And they’re gonna pull the Band-Aid off and leave us to be.”

Her father, Fred Goldman, also told Harvey, “They’ve concentrated so much on the attorneys’ side of it. Ron and Nicole appeared as dead bodies in the beginning and that’s it.”

Victim Teresa Halbach’s family feels similarly. Halbach’s aunt, Kay Giordana, said “Making a Murderer” was “terrible.” She told People, “It is not even close to what really happened. Everybody has their own side of a story. That is the Avery family’s side of the story. I wouldn’t expect it to be different. They think he is innocent. I am not surprised. I am surprised that someone would put that together in that way and have it [be] one-sided.”

After the recent CBS program on JonBenét’s murder, the Ramsey family is planning to sue the network because the documentary concluded her then nine-year-old brother Burke killed the young beauty queen and the family covered it up.

Related: O.J. Just Won’t Go Away

“The accusations of the CBS so-called ‘experts’ lack substantial evidentiary support and contradict the factual conclusions reached by legitimate law enforcement authorities and experts familiar with the actual evidence developed in the case,” Ramsey lawyer L. Lin Wood told Rolling Stone. “CBS’ false and unprofessional attacks on this young man are disgusting and revolting.”

Though CBS claimed the opinions “represent just some of a number of possible scenarios,” that did not appease the Ramseys or Wood.

Is Hollywood’s thirst to rehash actual crime, create speculation, shed no new light on anything — yet sweep the Emmys and ratings — worth the pain it causes families? We’d say they’re not doing them justice.