Victim or murderer? : Discourse, representation & stereotypes in true crime

Abstract: This study explores the true crime documentary Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story and aims to investigate the protagonist Cyntoia Brown in relation to how her character and story is represented. Due to the consistent rise of awareness in equal rights, as well as the steady increase of black representation in popular television, one might think that it would reflect positively in mass media. Although there have been few changes to representation, the findings that are to be presented suggest otherwise. Narratives within television still heavily relies on stereotyping and following societal norms, which this study desires to expose through a discourse analysis.