On September 21, 2022, Netflix released a mini-series about the notorious Milwaukee Cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer. It’s a part of the Monster series that was created by Ryan Murphy, who is famously known for creating the critically acclaimed TV show American Horror Story. The series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, consisted of ten episodes that most viewers say are hard to watch and very graphic. According to IMDB, the synopsis of the show is that it tells the “story of the Milwaukee Monster told from the perspectives of the victims and police incompetence that allowed the Wisconsin native to go on a multiyear killing spree.”
The series is supposed to be based on the true events that occurred between 1978 and 1991 when Jeffrey Dahmer committed the murders and dismemberment of 17 men and male children. However, when it comes to Netflix and Hollywood trying to create reenactments of true crime stories, they seem to change the narrative or story around to make viewers sympathize with these killers. They don’t focus on the tragedies of the victims but instead explore the life and mental state of the people that took their lives. Mental health is extremely important, and society tends to ignore that, but when it comes to innocent people being brutally murdered, where do we cross the line?
For instance, why does Netflix cast attractive actors to play the roles of these murderers, knowing the generation of today won’t take the real events seriously since their man crush Evan Peters or Zac Efron, who played Ted Bundy in another Netflix true crime drama, is on their screens. Also, do the families of the fallen have a say in how their loved ones’ stories are told? According to the New York Post, the cousin of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victim, Errol Lindsey, stated that, “Netflix didn’t consult or pay her for the reenactment of her emotional courtroom outburst.” So, imagine the pain she must felt having to relive the trauma she endured during the Jeffrey Dahmer trials all because of Netflix seeing these victims’ stories as cash grabs.
How many documentaries and series does Netflix need to produce about serial killers? Retelling the stories repeatedly is truly disrespectful to the lives that were lost and their families. Yes, bringing awareness to these situations is educational since many people have become true crime fanatics over the years, but it comes to the point where it’s seen as blatantly fetishizing, and boundaries are crossed.
Photo Credits / Bell of Lost Souls
