What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedNatural Born Celebrities
David Schmid · Book · 2024
If you loved Natural Born Celebrities, start with Natural Born Killers (1994) — a film on the same thread. Below: 1 film, 3 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Natural Born Celebrities across media.
What hooked you in Natural Born Celebrities was the unsettling way our culture transforms real-life violence into a commodified form of mass entertainment.
Films on the same thread
Natural Born Killers
Film · 1994
Explores: Media sensationalism, Childhood trauma, Cult of celebrity.
This film serves as a visceral fictional mirror to the arguments in Natural Born Celebrities, satirizing the media sensationalism that turns serial murderers into glorified, anti-establishment pop culture icons.
Series on the same thread
Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes
Joe Berlinger · Series · 2019
Explores: Psychological Manipulation, Infamy, Narcissism.
Like the case studies in Natural Born Celebrities, this documentary examines the construction of infamy, forcing you to confront the narcissism and media-driven mythology surrounding one of history's monsters.
Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes
Joe Berlinger · Series · 2022
Explores: Interviews with Criminals, Confessions, Psychological Analysis of Criminals.
This project continues the exploration begun in Natural Born Celebrities by providing an unsettling, direct look at how serial killers utilize confession and interview formats to shape their own legacies.
Only Murders in the Building
Steve Martin · Series · 2021
Explores: True Crime Obsession, New York City, Intergenerational Friendship.
This series effectively parodies the true crime obsession that Natural Born Celebrities critiques, showing how our modern, casual consumption of murder stories has become an inseparable part of social life.
Podcasts on the same thread
Fame Under Fire
BBC Sounds · Podcast
Shares a thread with Natural Born Celebrities: Celebrity Culture.
By analyzing the public's investment in controversial figures, this podcast expands on the media ethics and celebrity culture themes central to the investigative work in Natural Born Celebrities.
This Much is True Crime
Podcast
Shares 3 threads with Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers, True Crime, Criminology.
This podcast digs into the dark curiosity analyzed in Natural Born Celebrities, examining why society remains so fixated on the motives and headlines produced by acts of extreme evil.
Keep exploring
Common questions
What is the central focus of Natural Born Celebrities?
Natural Born Celebrities examines the media phenomenon of the celebrity criminal in American culture. It explores how serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacy have become iconic figures through their representation in made-for-TV movies and mass-market paperbacks.
Is Natural Born Celebrities a history of specific serial killers?
Natural Born Celebrities is not a biography of specific criminals. Instead, it is an account of how serial killers impact society and why these individuals have become iconic figures in American culture through media coverage and mass-market portrayals.
Who is the author of Natural Born Celebrities?
Natural Born Celebrities was written by David Schmid and published in 2024. The book provides a compelling examination of how the media transforms horrific figures into celebrity criminals within the American cultural landscape.
What does Natural Born Celebrities reveal about the media?
Natural Born Celebrities reveals how media outlets contribute to the status of serial killers as iconic figures. It analyzes the role of made-for-TV movies and paperbacks in shaping the public perception of transgressive individuals in American society.