By Oluwadamilola Oshewa ’16, Arts and Entertainment Staff Writer

Netflix has long been a hub where you could go for all of your binge watching needs. Easy access to multiple seasons of your favorite television show makes it easy to procrastinate writing that essay or starting that presentation. Recently, the company has begun to do more than just stream movies and television shows from other companies; Netflix has begun recording and producing its own shows, such as the Emmy nominated shows Orange is the New Black and House of Cards, and more recently the new popular series Making a Murderer.

Making a Murder is a series created by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos that follows the story of Steven Avery, a man from Wisconsin who in 1985 was imprisoned for sexual assault and attempted murder, but was later exonerated in 2005 because of DNA evidence. Two years later, he was again arrested for the murder of a different individual. Making a Murderer is not your typical crime show. Since the release of the show, viewers have been fully invested in the show past the point of just binge watching. They have been sharing their own opinions about the case and some voicing their anger because they believe that Steven Avery was wrongfully convicted. Most of all, people are speaking up about their frustrations with the criminal justice system in the United States.

In fact, one viewer of the show decided to make a petition on Change.org demanding that Steven Avery be set free and pardoned of all of the crimes of which he had been accused. Since its creation, the petition has reached over 470,000 signatures and has even garnered responses from President Barack Obama and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. The President does not have the legal authority to pardon Steven Avery and Governor Walker says that he will not be issuing pardons. Even though it was unsuccessful, the petition is still being signed by the show’s passionate viewers and is well on its way to reaching 500,000 signatures. This petition speaks to the ability of Netflix-produced shows such as Making a Murderer to make an impact on its viewers.

Series like those created by Netflix are much more than just entertainment. They are vehicles that can be used to make statements about important topics and send messages to its viewers. It is important to realize that all of the media that we consume sends us messages. Shows like Making a Murderer take advantage of this ability and use this opportunity to create something far more important that the show itself: dialogue. The series has jumpstarted a conversation about the criminal justice system in the United States and has opened people’s eyes to some of the hypocrisy and corruption within the system. Making a Murderer is not the only show produced by Neflix that is making waves. When Orange is the New Black was first released, it sparked conversations about the issues within the in United States criminal justice system.  Obviously Netflix is taking a step in the right direction and is making its viewers do more than just watch TV.