Netflix’s true-crime documentary In The Name of God: A Holy Betrayal faces Criticism for insensitive victim portrayal.
The latest addition to Netflix from South Korean entertainment is a true-crime documentary, In The Name of God: A Holy Betrayal, covers prominent cases of religious cults. It fought many battles to be released, only to end up facing Criticism for the insensitive portrayal of victims.
The documentary relays the dark realities of religious groups exploiting blind faith. It uses TV coverage and candid interviews of victims, investigators, and past followers. However, many fans of true-crime documentaries couldn’t watch more than a few minutes due to triggering content. This raises concerns regarding the ethics of media covering true crime.
For anyone thinking of watching #InTheNameOfGodAHolyBetrayal on Netflix, mind you the documentary is quite graphic and deserves a boatload of trigger warnings so be careful!
— Syed Saquib (@saquiba862) March 5, 2023
Disclaimer: Parts of this article reflect the author’s opinion.
Criticism towards Netflix’s In The Name of God: A Holy Betrayal
Netflix’s latest true-crime documentary, like many others, is not for weak hearts. It comes with warnings of sexual abuse, child abuse, nudity, and suicide. However, no one could have predicted the severity of the triggering content.
Seriously a huge trigger warning to all who’s planning to watch In the Name of God (Netflix documentary)….just watched the first episode and it’s so disturbing…
— By your side 🌙 (@BaekieCY) March 6, 2023
The documentary begins by covering the horrors of the JMS cult in the first three episodes. The religious cult came into power in the 1980s under the direction of a self-proclaimed God, Jung Myung-Seok, who abuses faith for sexual favors. He also received a sentence of 10 years of imprisonment in 2008 for his crimes.
The jail term officially ended in 2018, but his abuses haven’t stopped once throughout the years due to the involvement of powerful people in the cult. Moreover, Jung Myung-Seok is still the leader of the JMS cult, which was re-named to Christian Gospel Mission.
Stopped watching @NetflixKR's In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal around Ep 4 bc I found the documentary disturbingly pornographic in the ways in which it films and shows the female victims. While I understand the importance of shedding light on JMS's crimes
— Areum Jeong ì •ì•„ë¦„ (@DrAreumJeong) March 5, 2023
Viewers couldn’t complete watching these three episodes for the pornographic direction of the events as the amount of nudity is shocking and triggering. While it is necessary to raise awareness of such heinous crimes through freedom of media, it doesn’t excuse using such graphic content. This prompts the question of the ethics involved in covering real-life events in media.
https://twitter.com/iguanabetina/status/1632192747796062208?t=H_4sOhAJWrNpqW5yX-aqfQ&s=19
A look at the ethics covering true-crime media
The study and coverage of true-crime stories are necessary. For educational purposes, they shed light on the details of controversial incidents and the steps that professionals take in such cases. They often reveal the intricacy of human psychologies and the measures required to stop similar events from recurring.
However, in this process, the makers often forget who their protagonists are. The stark portrayal of the crime only emphasizes the monsters’ deeds. The titles and dialogues stating how hard it was for professionals to catch the criminals glorify the latter’s intelligence, making them the heroes of the media.
Similarly, Netflix’s coverage of the JMS cult in In The Name of God: A Holy Betrayal ends up glorifying Jung Myung-Seok’s influence in the race to portray his crimes. What is forgotten is the sufferings of victims and their families who carry the scars of the crimes done to them.
A better example of the ethical coverage of true crime is the Korean drama, Through The Darkness. It is based on the autobiographical book of South Korea’s first criminal profiler, Kwon Il-yong, and follows his journey as he solves various real-life serial killings.
The drama refocuses the perspective of the incidents to portray the actual protagonists of a true-crime series – the innocent victims and their families. Further, the officials who work to eradicate criminals from the society are given deserved recognition as well.
True-crime shows such as In The Name of God: A Holy Betrayal are necessary, but need sensible direction. Meanwhile, this documentary is currently available to stream through Netflix, but viewers’ discretion is heavily advised.
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