Netflix’s ‘Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel‘ is a docu-series that focuses on the strange case of Elisa Lam, and the Cecil Hotel in a broader sense. Had they stuck to these talking points and told the story responsibly, it would garner a much higher review from me.
I know I’m not alone when I say it was a garbled mess, as a quick search on the internet tells the same story, as well as everyone I’ve spoken to about it.
At the core of the show is an interesting and tragic story of a young woman who was on vacation in Los Angeles, however, what sets it down the wrong path is the decision to bring internet sleuths and trolls into the docu-series that don’t add to the story, but rather take away, and at points, creep us out.
If you haven’t watched the four-episode series yet, I recommend you check it out before continuing on with this article as I will be speaking about some of the people specifically, as well as the tragic demise of Lam.
Netflix’s ‘Crime Scene: The Tragic Story Of Elisa Lam
At its core, many of us probably have already heard of the Elisa Lam case and its outcome. When we watch these crime documentaries, it’s not usually because we want to know what happened, as we usually know the story.
We watch these to hear more information about the cases, what went through the investigator’s heads, and what the family felt.
The story of Lam tells a terrible tale of how a young woman, struggling with bi-polar stopped taking her medication and paid the ultimate price. Elisa was a college student on vacation from Canada when she found herself staying at the infamous Cecil Hotel.
She ventured out into the city to see the taping of a television show (in which she made a scene and was asked to leave by security), went to a bookstore to purchase some books, and was found dead in a water tank on the hotel’s roof.
There are a number of explanations that tell what had caused her behavior and it stems from her not taking her medication.
This is brought up in the final episode briefly, as they explain to us that her family (her sister, in particular) recounted several times when she would stop taking her medication and have terrible hallucinations and paranoia.
She would hide under her bed and act irrationally. You think the series would make more of a point to share this information, instead, they turn it over to internet sleuths and YouTubers who made this case “their life” and eventually “feel a connection to her”.
One of these people even had someone video take her gravesite and touch it for him. Why are we putting these people on the screen longer than the actual medical examiner and detectives?
Netflix’s ‘Crime Scene: The Internet Sleuths
The most popular part about this case was the infamous elevator footage. A clip of the elevator’s security camera was released to the public in hopes of garnering some attention and help to see if it could give the investigators a lead.
Instead, they would up with conspiracy theorists people making wild accusations that ended up affecting people’s lives for years.
A lot of these people had YouTube channels that were seemingly devoted to breaking down the elevator footage and assuming that there were other people involved. In short, they saw what they wanted to see, instead of keeping a level head.
Some of these people went so far as to accuse a musician who had stayed at the hotel a full 12 months earlier because of his provocative music.
A death metal musician, Morbid, was accused of murdering Elisa Lam online, even though he wasn’t in the Country, had documents from record labels and stamps on his passport that didn’t put him anywhere near the scene!
He received death threats, was harrassed daily and it made him depressed and he quit his music career because of it.
The documentary spent more time delving into the story these YouTubers were creating to add drama to the series, rather than focusing on the actual events and the truly tragic nature of the story, which is one young woman’s fight with medication and mental disorders.
Review: Netflix’s ‘Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel’ Is A Mess – A Collection Of Absurdity Takes Away From The Actual Story
This series draws it out over four episodes in an irresponsible manner by setting it up to make us cast suspicion on the hotel manager, the LAPD, the medical examiner and even a metal music artist from Mexico. However, if we already know the outcome, why try to raise suspicion on other people?
Ratings. Pure and simple. This documentary didn’t seem to be created with the intention of telling Elisa Lam’s story, but rather the conspiracies and craziness that happened on the internet. If it were about Elisa, interview the family, tell us about her and her Tumblr posts, tell us about her battle with bipolar disorder, and about her past. At the end of the day, this felt like a way to try to draw in conspiracy theorists and re-ignite the sick popularity of the case.
I do have respect for a very small handful of the YouTubers who admitted they were wrong and even acknowledged how conspiratorial they sounded, though a majority of them maintain to this day that this feels like a coverup.
I went into this series hoping to learn more about Elisa Lam, her life, and how her bipolar disorder affected her state of mind. Instead, it felt like I was watching a UFO conspiracy series about how aliens built the pyramids. It seems so dishonest of the production company and Netflix to put it out. I hope the Lam is resting peacefully now and that people finally apologize to Pablo Vergara (Morbid). This wasn’t a documentary to inform, but a documentary to drag out conspiracy theories about a young woman’s death.
What do you think? What did you think of the series? Let us know in the comments below.
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