A lot of people are talking about Making a Murderer on Netflix. While it's thrilling to watch the case unfold and form your own opinion, it is important to remember that the case is very much real and there are many people who are dealing with the resurfacing of the case personally. Some of those people are the victim, Teresa Halbach's, family. So, what does the Halbach family think of Making a Murderer ? They haven't said anything publicly about it, but their lack of participation in the project speaks for itself. [Update: The North Wisconsin ABC affiliate now reports that the Halbach family released a statement prior to the release of the series which reads: "Having just passed the 10-year anniversary of the death of our daughter and sister, Teresa, we are saddened to learn that individuals and corporations continue to create entertainment and to seek profit from our loss. We continue to hope that the story of Teresa’s life brings goodness to the world.”] Bustle also reached out to Mike Halbach but has not yet heard back.
Although the Halbach family hasn't made a public statement about the release of the documentary, the filmmakers of Making a Murderer gave an interview with Vulture that suggests that they're not particularly thrilled with the project. One of the filmmakers, Laura Ricciardi told Vulture:
We invited the Halbach family to participate in the film, and we had coffee with Mike Halbach, the official spokesperson for the family, to discuss the idea, but they decided not to participate. So we filmed Mike at all the press conferences that he held, but that was the extent of our interaction with him.
This comment hints that the Halbach family wasn't that into the project at the time of production (remember that the filmmakers have been working on this project since Steven Avery's arrest in 2005), but it would be interesting to know what they're opinion is on the documentary now. Plus, with the interest society tends to take in cases of this nature, like Serial or The Jinx, I wonder if their decision whether to participate or not would be different in 2015.
Regardless of participating in the documentary or not, it's important to remember that one of the most difficult times in the Halbach family's lives is happening all over again. Not only do they have to relive the pain of dealing with Teresa's death, but they also have to watch people support her convicted killers. While we can't know exactly what happened the night Teresa was killed, this all has to be hard for the Halbachs, and that needs to be remembered.
Images: Netflix (2)
