I’m from Manitowoc, WI. No, I don’t know Steven Avery

In the past six months, Manitowoc has gotten more publicity worldwide than it has ever had, thanks to that delightful Netflix documentary, “Making a Murderer.” Now everyone in the world knows about Manitowoc, and where I grew up has truly become part of my identity.

I’ll be honest – I’m part of the minority of America who has not watched the documentary. Funny, you might think, since it’s about my own city. The reason why I chose not to watch it is because, personally, I believe Steven Avery is guilty and I don’t need Netflix to tell me otherwise.

I don’t remember the murder of Teresa Halbach because it happened when I was very young, but I trust my family’s opinion of the event because they personally lived through it when information was not necessarily being manipulated to create an entertaining television show. I can’t spit out facts about the trial to contradict the show, but I believe the documentary is biased towards the Averys and it does not present all evidence, making it an unobjective piece of journalism.

Before the show came out, Manitowoc was quiet and unexciting with the occasional drug bust that spiced things up. When I came home for winter and spring breaks after the show was out, I was surprised to find that very little about Manitowoc changed despite its sudden popularity. But, obviously, the world’s perception of Manitowoc has changed. In a place where major crime rates are relatively low, my little city got oodles of negative attention basically overnight. The people of Manitowoc have had to deal with this attention and these new perceptions of their city.

What I have noticed that has changed is our reactions, primarily of annoyance and irritation, to these new perceptions of Manitowoc. Honestly, it’s simply annoying to be constantly asked about “Making a Murderer” whenever I say where I am from. It’s a major shift from “Where the heck is Manitowoc?” to “Do you know Steven Avery???”

You may be surprised to hear that Manitowoc was famous for reasons besides “Making a Murderer.” Manitowoc Shipbuilding supported the efforts of World War II by building submarines boats, one of which is featured at the Maritime Museum and open to tour. In 1960, a piece of Russia’s Sputnik IV landed outside one of the Rahr West Art Museum in Manitowoc, which is home to works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Georgia O’Keefe, Andy Warhol, and Andrew Wyeth. Since 1970, the comedy show Heart-A-Rama has performed every year to raise over $2 million for the Heart Association. Additionally, being straight up on Lake Michigan makes Manitowoc a port for one of the only sailing car ferries on the Great Lakes, the S.S. Badger.

Manitowoc is not a bad place. Sure, it’s still boring as hell and the premiere of the documentary is the most exciting thing that’s happened since the murder itself, but Manitowoc has a lot of awesome things to offer. What is most difficult is dealing with the judgment from people who have never stepped foot in the city, or even Wisconsin. It’s sad that the world has judged our city, our law enforcers, and our citizens based on one skewed depiction. I may not be particularly proud to say this murder happened in the city where I grew up, but Manitowoc will always be my home.