Everyone Loves a Krimi

Everyone Loves a Krimi.

Well, at least many people do. Krimi is German for crime genre. And the appeal of this type of “literature” or television is virtually universal.

In the 70s, in the U.S., it was Kojak and Columbo and McCloud. Today, and for the better part of the last decade, it’s CSI.

The bottom line is crime sells. Or perhaps we should say the investigation and prosecution of it sells. Either way, it sells.

There’s no use bemoaning this fact. To do that would be to miss important clues to the baser but nonetheless vital elements of the human personality in cultures that allow crime fiction to flourish.

James Hillman wrote about the importance of attending to basic (and seemingly base) intincts in The Soul’s Code. Before that, Hillman's intellectual preceptor, Carl Jung, wrote about it in Christ: A Symbol of the Self.

An integrated, wholly developed self isn’t only about the high road. It’s about the low road as well.