Everyone’s a detective.

Right now, the world seems awash with crime thrillers. I must’ve been informed I SIMPLY NEED to watch around 18 different Scandi noirs. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good whodunit, but it does seem a tad over kill.

Needless to say, when someone recommended the Netflix original series, Making A Murderer, I didn’t exactly jump at the idea. Cue a case of post Christmas flu, and I suddenly had a lot of free time on my hands, so I caved. And thank god I did.

I won’t bore you with the entire plot (which spans 10 hours) but in short: Steven Avery is wrongfully convicted for attempted rape and murder. 18 years of incarceration later, Avery is freed once DNA evidence proves his innocence. Avery sues the local sheriff department for damages, totalling $36 million. During proceedings, he is then arrested again for murder.

Making A Murderer is the most bat shit insane TV show I have ever seen. Yes, the show is clearly made from the point of view that Steven Avery is innocent, but the case for a clear attempt at framing an individual by the powers that be is plain to see. But fundamentally, the most shocking thing about Making A Murderer is not the individual case of Steven Avery. It is the most damning indictment of the modern Justice system I have ever seen.

Institutionalised breaches of justice within American society are a common occurrence. The events in Ferguson last year are the effects of years of persecution towards the African American community by the police. But Making A Murderer is not set in urban, multi cultural, or ethnic areas. The setting takes place in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, where the people ‘othered’ by the system are not African American/Muslim/Immigrants or any of the other 4 words Donald Trump is capable of saying, they are poor people. Sound familiar?

Back on our side of the pond, the ideological attack on the working class is into its 6th year. The souring rise of inequality between the richest and poorest in our society is staggering. Whilst the individual case of Steven Avery is as good an example of the little man being screwed by the big man you’re likely to find, the injustice found in Making A Murderer is all too common here at home as well. Instead of a man being framed for a murder, it’s people being forced out of their homes, welfare being scrapped and jobs being cut. Whilst the scenario is different, the ideology is one and the same.

David Cameron is creating a Great Britain that looks out for no.1, and not much else. The country we live in is becoming ever more so fearsome, ruthless and selfish. But you’ve got nothing to worry about, right? Well, in the words of Jerry Buting, Avery’s defence lawyer, “We can all say that we’re never gonna commit a crime,” says Jerry Buting, one of Avery’s defence lawyers. “But we can never guarantee that someone will never ACCUSE us of a crime.”

Whilst the scenario is different, the ideology is one and the same.

You can watch ‘Making A Murderer’ in it’s entirety on Netflix.