The thing that stuck with me from don't fuck with cats was about 20 minutes into the second episode where I realised that the documentary just served to give Luka what he wanted and almost reward him for his crimes. Now he's internationally known and I feel like the documentary maybe shouldn't have been made and released.
I'd be interested to hear whether other people think that a story is still worth telling if it plays into why someone committed horrible crimes.
It's a big question with stuff like this - does it play into the criminal's hands? I feel like this story was compelling enough and had enough context to work - but yeah, at the end of the day he probably fucking loved it. WHICH they get very meta about in the doc, towards the end. It was obviously playing on their mind, too. I debated sharing this piece, but this seemed like a good forum: It's not wildly public, and subscribers to Webworm like you are probably interested in docos, and the process etc. As opposed to going "wow Luka Magnotta let's swallow all this sick shit up and go and find his cat videos!" etc.
After watching the documentary I immediately regretted watching it for that reason. Magnotta always wanted fame, and he definitely achieved that. The documentary just tells his story more widely. And typical of most true crime, there’s not much focus on the actual victim.
I enjoyed learning about how the Facebook sleuths tracked him down, but even that’s problematic to promote.
I’m sure most people here are able to think critically about the documentary, but that’s not true everyone. There have been reports that he has lots of fans and receives gifts in prison. I worry the series may have contributed to this. Hopefully it’s just more of his bullshit.
I agree that more could have been done to remind viewers of Jun Lin's personhood. I appreciated having his friend in it but the documentary did make it seem like killing kittens was worse than killing a person.
They also obviously understood that it was giving him a platform in a way, and referenced right at the end what the film was doing, in a meta kinda moment.
Or am I just imagining that?
An interesting choice, but reminded me a little of The Tiger King, where right at the end of that series they kinda had this 5 minute sum up going "Oh so OK um yes keeping tigers in cases is bad, ok?" as if that would excuse the rest of the show that was not about conservation at all, but essentially a reality show following a cast of people abusing drugs and animals.
A get a few unique people writing to me, snail mail. Luka is on the extreme end of the scale. I mean, people in prison have more time so tend to write - especially if they feel they have been wronged!
Thanks. It seemed appropriate, as it's not "vital" information to have in the public space, but interesting for people who follow documentary, and like seeing the inner workings of things. The newsletter also lets me give it context, and some analysis. So thanks JJW!
Holy shit, this whole thing is wild. I’ve not seen the Netflix series because I’m not sure I can handle it. I’ve taken a backseat from true crime shows/podcasts/books etc recently because... well, they’re all pretty bleak. This was fascinating though.
I was totally haunted by that documentary. There were even times, weeks after watching it, that I'd remember I'd even watched it and think "wait, was that realllllly real? I mean, really? It seems too insane to be true".
And I definitely felt oogy about watching it, but I think it was important, because aside from being well done (and documenting a real milestone in how technology/social media is effecting the landscape of crime), it's also helped me stay vigilant about weirdos on the internet.
Like, I know Magnotta is the Monet of bullshit and sociopathy, but less prodigious (and equally dangerous) turds are still creeping around every corner of the web. So every now and then, when I'm researching something online or meeting someone from a dating app (or some other shouldn't-have-to-be-a-risky thing), my brain just sends me a little "Lukas are everywhere" push-notification to remember to take a step back when things seem off.
And yes, echoing what many have said here: this first subscription newsletter is the tits.
I will accept the compliment of "the tits". I will keep trying to write things that push into some weird spaces and try and show some kind of insight. And certainly how things kinda work behind the scenes. It is gross that he can keep his bullshit up from behind bars - just a brain like that, always ticking over. Pretty awful stuff, and I will eternally feel for his victims family that has to sit with this stuff. Ugh. Try and have a restful and safe weekend. Thanks, Destiny.
Wow this is intense! This kind of thing makes me feel so deeply unsettled. When they first promo'd the doco on Netflix, I took one look at it and gave it a hard pass. Sometimes I think I should watch things that make me uncomfortable to learn or whatever, but also...no.
Luka is a piece of work but his mother is next level delusional. Of course he thinks that he is a world class supervillain, able to manipulate the press to his own means, his mom never told him otherwise. I often vacillate on how much influence parents have on their children's development and in Luka's case it seems like his mother crawled up his ass at birth and never left.
He was certainly enabled by those around him, it seems. Awfully sad stuff. I mean, I know that mother son relationship is important, but it has its limits.
WOW. I don’t even know where to begin. And yeah, I definitely “get” why you decided to publish his words. What a sick motherfucker. As a cat person, and a lover or animals in general, I can’t bring myself to watch the doc. I’m glad you told Netflix the truth.
This is a genuinely terrifying, enthralling read, David.
What a great post to celebrate a) the first paid webworm content and b) the first webworm to successfully arrive in my inbox and not the 'promotions' tab.
I've not seen Don't F**k With Cats as I've heard it is pretty harrowing, but perhaps I'll give it a try after this.
Thanks Joseph. Glad you dug. Seems like good material for people who are getting behind this thing, like you. And fuck yes - it went to the right place!!!
Yeah, I kinda hated that bit, too. Hated the whole thing, to be honest. It's strange knowing some of your life was spent dealing with someone who is such a waste of humanity.
I'm so fascinated by the often meta nature of your work and listening to the honest process of your inner battle with difficult subjects. Just LOVE your work.
Thanks Rose. I like being transparent about the process and what goes on behind the scenes of most 'articles' you'd read. Thanks for being into it. I am looking to push more into this sort of thing...
Awesome first newsletter. Just confirms even more how mentally ill he is and how he’ll do anything to get anyone’s attention, even when in prison. A real “look at me, look at me” liar. P.S. that sunset colouring tho.
Thanks Marie. I feel happy how it turned out. Another strange snapshot of life, and a lot of different things colliding over a few months. It's satisfying to tie it all up, put it out there to you, and then sort of lay it aside and move on. Have a good weekend, please. Stay safe out there.
Wow. That's fucked up. And definitely worth the price of this admission. I have to say I've not watched "Don't F**k With Cats", mostly because I never paid enought attention to find out what it was about. Now I'm definitely going to watch. (To be fair, I've never seen "Tickled" either. I'll have to remedy that somehow too.) I feel like I need to defend my reputation despite these gaps in my experience: I really do love mystery, crime, and the weirdness of the world, I swear. ;-)
The thing that stuck with me from don't fuck with cats was about 20 minutes into the second episode where I realised that the documentary just served to give Luka what he wanted and almost reward him for his crimes. Now he's internationally known and I feel like the documentary maybe shouldn't have been made and released.
I'd be interested to hear whether other people think that a story is still worth telling if it plays into why someone committed horrible crimes.
It's a big question with stuff like this - does it play into the criminal's hands? I feel like this story was compelling enough and had enough context to work - but yeah, at the end of the day he probably fucking loved it. WHICH they get very meta about in the doc, towards the end. It was obviously playing on their mind, too. I debated sharing this piece, but this seemed like a good forum: It's not wildly public, and subscribers to Webworm like you are probably interested in docos, and the process etc. As opposed to going "wow Luka Magnotta let's swallow all this sick shit up and go and find his cat videos!" etc.
After watching the documentary I immediately regretted watching it for that reason. Magnotta always wanted fame, and he definitely achieved that. The documentary just tells his story more widely. And typical of most true crime, there’s not much focus on the actual victim.
I enjoyed learning about how the Facebook sleuths tracked him down, but even that’s problematic to promote.
I’m sure most people here are able to think critically about the documentary, but that’s not true everyone. There have been reports that he has lots of fans and receives gifts in prison. I worry the series may have contributed to this. Hopefully it’s just more of his bullshit.
This is 5 years old, but apparently shows he’s having a good time in prison. Also has pics of him with Jonathan: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/letters-from-luka-magnotta/wcm/b5e1bfc3-cd75-4d24-9378-7bf4a92dec59/
I agree that more could have been done to remind viewers of Jun Lin's personhood. I appreciated having his friend in it but the documentary did make it seem like killing kittens was worse than killing a person.
They also obviously understood that it was giving him a platform in a way, and referenced right at the end what the film was doing, in a meta kinda moment.
Or am I just imagining that?
An interesting choice, but reminded me a little of The Tiger King, where right at the end of that series they kinda had this 5 minute sum up going "Oh so OK um yes keeping tigers in cases is bad, ok?" as if that would excuse the rest of the show that was not about conservation at all, but essentially a reality show following a cast of people abusing drugs and animals.
I never considered watching it, but now I'm torn.
My favorite line was hands down "My name was spelt wrong - a bad start -𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙜𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙏𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙙, 𝙨𝙤 𝙄 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢."
Got a real loud snort-chuckle from me.
Is he the first looney toon that's tried this with you?
A get a few unique people writing to me, snail mail. Luka is on the extreme end of the scale. I mean, people in prison have more time so tend to write - especially if they feel they have been wronged!
Brilliant first paid newsletter.
Thanks. It seemed appropriate, as it's not "vital" information to have in the public space, but interesting for people who follow documentary, and like seeing the inner workings of things. The newsletter also lets me give it context, and some analysis. So thanks JJW!
Holy shit, this whole thing is wild. I’ve not seen the Netflix series because I’m not sure I can handle it. I’ve taken a backseat from true crime shows/podcasts/books etc recently because... well, they’re all pretty bleak. This was fascinating though.
Do you think he’ll keep writing to you?
If he does, it's going straight in the bin.
I was totally haunted by that documentary. There were even times, weeks after watching it, that I'd remember I'd even watched it and think "wait, was that realllllly real? I mean, really? It seems too insane to be true".
And I definitely felt oogy about watching it, but I think it was important, because aside from being well done (and documenting a real milestone in how technology/social media is effecting the landscape of crime), it's also helped me stay vigilant about weirdos on the internet.
Like, I know Magnotta is the Monet of bullshit and sociopathy, but less prodigious (and equally dangerous) turds are still creeping around every corner of the web. So every now and then, when I'm researching something online or meeting someone from a dating app (or some other shouldn't-have-to-be-a-risky thing), my brain just sends me a little "Lukas are everywhere" push-notification to remember to take a step back when things seem off.
And yes, echoing what many have said here: this first subscription newsletter is the tits.
I will accept the compliment of "the tits". I will keep trying to write things that push into some weird spaces and try and show some kind of insight. And certainly how things kinda work behind the scenes. It is gross that he can keep his bullshit up from behind bars - just a brain like that, always ticking over. Pretty awful stuff, and I will eternally feel for his victims family that has to sit with this stuff. Ugh. Try and have a restful and safe weekend. Thanks, Destiny.
One thing there’s an excess of in prison is time. Magnotta has a creative imagination if nothing else.
For sure - endless time to fill in.
Wow this is intense! This kind of thing makes me feel so deeply unsettled. When they first promo'd the doco on Netflix, I took one look at it and gave it a hard pass. Sometimes I think I should watch things that make me uncomfortable to learn or whatever, but also...no.
Jen, I think sometimes when your soul says hard pass, you listen. Totally fair.
Luka is a piece of work but his mother is next level delusional. Of course he thinks that he is a world class supervillain, able to manipulate the press to his own means, his mom never told him otherwise. I often vacillate on how much influence parents have on their children's development and in Luka's case it seems like his mother crawled up his ass at birth and never left.
He was certainly enabled by those around him, it seems. Awfully sad stuff. I mean, I know that mother son relationship is important, but it has its limits.
WOW. I don’t even know where to begin. And yeah, I definitely “get” why you decided to publish his words. What a sick motherfucker. As a cat person, and a lover or animals in general, I can’t bring myself to watch the doc. I’m glad you told Netflix the truth.
Thanks Jen. And again, thanks for signing up and being into the stuff I do.
This is a genuinely terrifying, enthralling read, David.
What a great post to celebrate a) the first paid webworm content and b) the first webworm to successfully arrive in my inbox and not the 'promotions' tab.
I've not seen Don't F**k With Cats as I've heard it is pretty harrowing, but perhaps I'll give it a try after this.
Thanks Joseph. Glad you dug. Seems like good material for people who are getting behind this thing, like you. And fuck yes - it went to the right place!!!
The end of that letter gives me the shudders
"I’m tired of people thinking I’m a narcissist… I’m also tired of history being edited. I have zero mental disorder, I love animals…”
I honestly do not know how I would cope if someone like him was writing to me.
Yeah, I kinda hated that bit, too. Hated the whole thing, to be honest. It's strange knowing some of your life was spent dealing with someone who is such a waste of humanity.
This has inspired me to never watch DFWC. What an absolute sicko
Very fair. Good call.
I'm so fascinated by the often meta nature of your work and listening to the honest process of your inner battle with difficult subjects. Just LOVE your work.
Thanks Rose. I like being transparent about the process and what goes on behind the scenes of most 'articles' you'd read. Thanks for being into it. I am looking to push more into this sort of thing...
Awesome first newsletter. Just confirms even more how mentally ill he is and how he’ll do anything to get anyone’s attention, even when in prison. A real “look at me, look at me” liar. P.S. that sunset colouring tho.
Thanks Marie. I feel happy how it turned out. Another strange snapshot of life, and a lot of different things colliding over a few months. It's satisfying to tie it all up, put it out there to you, and then sort of lay it aside and move on. Have a good weekend, please. Stay safe out there.
Wow. That’s fucking crazy. Side note...
Does the prison system have a post office? Like did they mail that letter first class from Canada to NZ? Or was it snail Mail?
Normal old mail service I’m afraid!
Wow. That's fucked up. And definitely worth the price of this admission. I have to say I've not watched "Don't F**k With Cats", mostly because I never paid enought attention to find out what it was about. Now I'm definitely going to watch. (To be fair, I've never seen "Tickled" either. I'll have to remedy that somehow too.) I feel like I need to defend my reputation despite these gaps in my experience: I really do love mystery, crime, and the weirdness of the world, I swear. ;-)
You’re forgiven :). I think Tickled is on Hulu or iTunes? Depends a little on where you live!
Yeah, I'll have a poke around. I'm in Scotland, so we don't get Hulu. But Sky often imports different things from HBO.
If you can’t find it, I’ll sort you a private link. :)