While I agree it is disrespectful to the victims and families in cases such as this, with all the information now accessible to people, I think we've sort of hit a horror overload. We're somewhere between overwhelmed and desensitized. Whereas it used to be that if something terrible happened in your community, that was probably the only horrible crime for which you ever knew the gory details, now we are all intimately aware of crimes from all over the country, and all over the world. We've heard all the facts, sometimes seen the photos, and we can watch the trial on TV.

I think movies and such are a way to sort of process the information and make it easier to digest. It's actually not uncommon for police, morticians, and others who deal with death often to joke about crimes, as a way to distance themselves from the carnage and not allow it to seep in too deeply. It's referred to as having "gallows humor." You could think of it as a defense mechanism. Now that we're all so acquainted with death, I think maybe we're all developing some gallows humor.

If you really allowed yourself to think about all of the horrible crimes you're told about, and allowed yourself to grieve for every dead child (and/or adult) you would probably lose your ability to function. The sheer volume of children dying today of starvation, war, disease and homicide is beyond what the human mind can actually comprehend.

While I think common decency says you shouldn't rub salt into the family's wounds by making a play out of it (especially so soon after the death), I don't think there is necessarily anything wrong with discussing crimes like this. When we really explore the worst crimes in history, and delve into what we think made the person commit that crime, we learn. We learn about deviance in a way that helps us identify it, and we are forced to define what we consider our norms. What is shocking to us (say, killing a child who has "shamed" the family by being raped) may be normal to another society. We have to examine ourselves when we examine what shocks us. Turning violent criminals into boogeymen because they "can't" be discussed only breeds ignorance and fear.