‘Waco’ (2018) Softens the Story of a Predatory Cult Leader [Murder Made Fiction Podcast]

With any true crime story adapted for film or TV, we expect a certain amount of narrative license. Creators may sand off a few here and condense a timeline there to present a coherent and digestible timeline. But what gets lost in this translation? And can we still trust the story we see?

In the newest episode of Bloody FM’s Murder Made Fiction podcast, Joe and Jenn encounter this issue in the 2018 series Waco.

Created by Drew and John Erick Dowdle, this limited series begins with a sympathetic David Koresh (Taylor Kitsch) begging for mercy while a group of soldiers point guns in his face. Early episodes take us back to a burgeoning cult leader building his flock while a government agency struggles to rehabilitate its image.

But what details have been softened in this less-than-faithful retelling and are the story’s real victims getting lost in the shuffle?

Jenn and Joe cover the first three episodes of this star-studded series while interrogating narrative choices that seem designed to humanize a monster. This show goes out of its way to create a hero out of FBI Negotiatior Gary Noesner (Michael Shannon) while pointing a heavy finger at the ATF. Paul Sparks, Andrea Riseborough, and Rory Culkin play sympathetic cult members but its only Julia Garner as child bride Michele who gives voice to the horrific cost of the Branch Davidian lifestyle.

But is this enough? And could the source material be compromising the impact of this well-designed production?

Stream below and subscribe now via Apple Podcasts and Spotify for future episodes that drop every Tuesday.

And if you want even more Murder Made Fiction, be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and Joe have ~21 hours of bonus content.

Episodes this month include episode by episode coverage of Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story as well as episodes on the Netflix documentary The Menendez Brothers and a full-length primer explaining the case.

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