Jack to the future?

[Filby]

Hi all


With only 4 new members joining Casebook since the start of this year, and with only 22 new.members in total since the start of 2023, my questions are these...




What does the future of Ripperology hold?

Is interest in the Ripper crimes slowly diminishing?

Where will the next generation of Ripperologists come from and how can they move the case forward?

Are there still new discoveries to be made by the next generation of Ripper case enthusiasts?

How can we avoid all of our accumulative knowledge and understanding being lost to the sands of time and ensure the case lives on for future generations?

How can we ensure the memory of the victims is not forgotten?

I believe some piece of evidence or information will eventually come forth in time.

[Tani]

The Ripper is pretty hardcore, so to speak, even for serial killers.

It's not as easy to find information on him as it is with other killers, most from the 20th c., who are far better documented and many have been caught. There is much in the way of legend and even myth about Jack the Ripper, stemming often from the Victorian newspapers themselves. This alone can make Ripperology a daunting task when multiple books disagree on information that is usually on more solid footing with other serial killers, e.g., how many victims and who, where. This can make the whole thing seem futile to someone who is used to 20th c. FBI profiling with a cut and dry 'He killed 9 people, his name is Oops More Smilies and he lives in Doncaster.' We just can't find this with Jack.

It also takes an incredibly strong stomach. I'm not saying that researching other killers doesn't, but one need only look at MJK to realise that JTR wasn't just hammering people to death; he wanted to remove their organs, their faces, their identities, their being. And it shows. I've often scrolled past pictures of MJK thinking 'Nope I don't need to see that today, thanks.' And it's just a photograph to us; imagine the PTSD of the officers who had to be in the room with her body. I can understand not really wanting to take that thought further.

The third reason I think is because 1888 is another universe now, where cultural norms and understandings don't really apply. We can kind of see ourselves in the 70s and 80s, but not the 1880s. It makes reading through documents that much harder when you realise people aren't using the same cultural and medical understandings as you, let alone the fact that one clock might say 5 and one might say 10 past 5 and no-one knows when the train went past can make working out even basic Victorian time management a massive headache. This as well as the fact that the police don't use the same methods they do today and half of them are more like military men than law enforcement, which means they make decisions that seem odd to us. Unless you're also a fan of Victoriana and take the time to understand late 19th c. English cultural intricacies and nuances, JTR probably isn't your flavour of serial killer.

[Duran duren]

The Ripper is pretty hardcore, so to speak, even for serial killers.

It's not as easy to find information on him as it is with other killers, most from the 20th c., who are far better documented and many have been caught. There is much in the way of legend and even myth about Jack the Ripper, stemming often from the Victorian newspapers themselves. This alone can make Ripperology a daunting task when multiple books disagree on information that is usually on more solid footing with other serial killers, e.g., how many victims and who, where. This can make the whole thing seem futile to someone who is used to 20th c. FBI profiling with a cut and dry 'He killed 9 people, his name is Oops More Smilies and he lives in Doncaster.' We just can't find this with Jack.

It also takes an incredibly strong stomach. I'm not saying that researching other killers doesn't, but one need only look at MJK to realise that JTR wasn't just hammering people to death; he wanted to remove their organs, their faces, their identities, their being. And it shows. I've often scrolled past pictures of MJK thinking 'Nope I don't need to see that today, thanks.' And it's just a photograph to us; imagine the PTSD of the officers who had to be in the room with her body. I can understand not really wanting to take that thought further.

The third reason I think is because 1888 is another universe now, where cultural norms and understandings don't really apply. We can kind of see ourselves in the 70s and 80s, but not the 1880s. It makes reading through documents that much harder when you realise people aren't using the same cultural and medical understandings as you, let alone the fact that one clock might say 5 and one might say 10 past 5 and no-one knows when the train went past can make working out even basic Victorian time management a massive headache. This as well as the fact that the police don't use the same methods they do today and half of them are more like military men than law enforcement, which means they make decisions that seem odd to us. Unless you're also a fan of Victoriana and take the time to understand late 19th c. English cultural intricacies and nuances, JTR probably isn't your flavour of serial killer.

Very well said...

[Barnaby]

As others have stated, there is plenty of interest in this case. As I write this, the forum stats show there are over 2,500 people online, including two members (I guess myself and someone else). So, the number of members is not at all indicative of general interest in the case. The (minimal) requirements to join, however, do result in a much more informed membership in my opinion, comparing these boards to social media devoted groups.