LOS GATOS, Calif. — The release of a new installment of the true crime drama series Monster, which premiered on the streaming platform Netflix, has reintroduced the ethics of true-crime media into question. For many viewers, the investigation of whether real-life tragedy should be fused with flashy television still hangs in the air.
On Sept. 17, 2024, Netflix debuted: Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story as a new addition to the series that originally premiered in the fall of 2022.
A journalist for Netflix’s fandom website, Tara Bitran, described what the new series of the show entails in its nine-episode duration.
“The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story tells the story of two brothers who killed their parents on Aug. 20, 1989, and the events surrounding the brutal slayings. Both were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole,” Britan detailed in the publication, “the story unravels the brother’s experiences using their parents abusing them sexually, physically and mentally as the main defense in their case.”
Even with the show’s gruesome subject matter, the show saw instant widespread success. Within its first four days of being released, Netflix reported the series had amassed 12.3 million views. In the second week of availability, the audience viewership grew more with the series rising to the most watched slot outperforming other shows and movies on the platform with its 19.5 million views.
Ryan Murphy, the director and producer of the series, described why he believes it has become so popular with audiences worldwide in an interview with USA Today.
“The success of ‘Monsters’ lies in its ability to humanize the Menendez brothers, exploring their complex relationship and the alleged abuse they endured. It is not just about the shocking crime, but about the psychological layers that led them to that point,” Murphy declared.
Even with the show being described as a positive sensation, backlash regarding the show’s approach towards its delicate subject matter has been prominent since its release last month.
The portrayal of the show’s subjects Lyle and Erik Menendez has been described as inaccurate and untrue by people who knew the two brothers in real life. Many believed the show made the two look worse than they were.
Lyle’s character portrayal has intentionally been questioned as in the show he is allegedly displayed as aggressive and selfish.
In a statement made on the social media platform “X” the brother’s aunt, Tami Menendez, released a statement on behalf of the brother’s extended family, regarding the depiction of their family members.
“Monster’s, the Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is a phobic, gross, serial episodic nightmare that is not only riddled with mistruths and outright falsehoods,” the statement declared, “the character assassination of Erik and Lyle under the guise of storytelling narrative is repulsive, we knew these men since they were boys.”
Amongst the backlash, some viewers simply do not care about the inaccurate characterization of the real-life events that were featured in the show, believing that the show is juicy television.
Award-winning journalist, Robert Rand covered the Menendez brothers’ story in real-time when the murders and trial took place back in the 1990’s.
Rand described why it is harmful to depict real-life people with trauma inaccurately on a large platform.
“I think the general public doesn’t know the difference between a fictionalized scripted series and a documentary, and that’s problematic because people see different scenes play out with the real-life characters and believe it actually happened,” Rand told Newsweek in an interview.
The heavy criticism of the show is not entirely new, as the show experienced negative reactions with the debut of its first season two years ago.
On Sept. 27, 2022, Netflix premiered the first season of Monster which followed Jeffrey Dahmer a notorious serial killer who brutally murdered 17 men and boys between the years of 1978 and 1991.
In the fall of that year, the show had become Netflix’s biggest show boasting half a billion hours of viewing since its debut. The show was deemed Netflix’s biggest hit since Bridgerton and Squid Game.
Director/writer of the series, Ryan Murphy, described why he felt it was important to display the story when speaking at a Netflix press conference in 2022.
“We were interested in what made the monster. Who is complicit in the making of the monster? There were many different things involved in that, and it was always going to be a complicated, human story,” Murphy mentioned.
There is a noticeable difference between the two seasons’ sets of critiques. The first season’s backlash was focused on the sensitization of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims, undermining the pain and trauma the victims and their families experienced.
Most of the response to the show came from how Murphy failed to reach out to the families of the multiple victims before they released the show to the public.
Shirley Hughes, the mother of Tony Hughes, whose tragic murder was displayed in the series told TMZ that “it’s a shame that people can take our tragedy and make money,” while mentioning, “sick people thrive on the fame.”
The first season also received critiques from those who took the stand during the 1992 trial that landed Dahmer with 15 executive counts of life in prison.
Rita Isabell is the sister of Errol Lindsey who was murdered at the age of 19 by Dahmer in 1959. Isabell spoke of the impact that seeing an actor speak the verbatim of her emotional testimony had on her in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“It felt like reliving it all over again. It brought back all the emotions I was feeling back then,” Isabell recounted, “I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it.”
Situations such as this display how it might seem that people in true crime shows are made-up characters, but these people lived through traumatic events.
It is confirmed there will be a third season of Monsters. At the release of the second season premiere, it was said that actor Charlie Hunnam will play Ed Gein, a notorious killer and grave robber in Plainview, Wisconsin.
As production for season three begins next month, viewers and true crime fans hope the series will learn from its past mistakes. Currently, no release date is set for the third season.
