Manitowoc County's Sheriff Reacts to 'Making a Murderer' With the Understatement of the Year

By Vivian Kane | Miscellaneous | January 4, 2016 |

By Vivian Kane | Miscellaneous | January 4, 2016 |

If it seems like literally everyone you know has watched Netflix’s Making a Murderer, that’s probably because they have. The show seems to appeal to and outrage everyone indiscriminately, across all audience demographics, which is a pretty remarkable feat. If there’s one audience, though, that should not be expected to connect with the series, it’s probably the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department. If I had to guess, I’d say this one probably didn’t make it onto too many year-end “Best Of” lists around those offices.

In fact, the County Sheriff Robert Hermann was inclined not to give the show much credence before he even saw it. Back on December 22nd, he said he didn’t even think it could be called a documentary because “a documentary puts things in chronological order and tells the story as it is … I’ve heard things are skewed. They’ve taken things out of context and taken them out of the order in which they occurred, which can lead people to a different opinion or conclusion.”

I’m not sure I would immediately bar something from the entire documentary genre just because it didn’t play out in exact chronological order. If that’s the case, it seems like documentaries should also have to happen in real time. While there was definitely some evidence left out of the show, I don’t know if chronology was the major player there. Either way, Hermann has since gone ahead and watched the series, because of all the “media stuff” that’s happened since its release, and he stands by his earlier comments.

In several areas throughout the film, you can see where they cut the tape and manipulated things. One place real evident is one of the interviews with Steven Avery in episode 5 — if you watch one video, it jumps from 3:20 to 3:21, then to 3:17, then to 3:22 and then to 3:18.

Again, I’m not sure how jumping around within one five-minute clip of an interview can distort the message that much, but I’m not a documentary filmmaker, nor am I the sheriff of a county currently in the spotlight for a whole series of crazy life-destroying corruption.

In all, though, how does the sheriff feel about Making a Murderer? In Hermann’s words, which I imagine had to be said with just the thickest “no duh” tone and eye roll possible,

We’re not pleased with the way the film has portrayed us.

That’s an understatement worthy of a Making a Murderer reporter face if I’ve ever heard one.

Via The Wrap.

Yes, Vivian Kane knows we’re only four days into the year and that’s why she feels comfortable with that headline.