Over the past several years, Netflix has made a name for itself in the world of true crime, but the streamer’s latest addition to that library is causing some controversy. After highlighting real-life cases and causing plenty of buzz with titles like Making a Murderer, Don’t F*ck With Cats, and Abducted in Plain Sight, Ryan Murphy’s Even Peters-starring true crime series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is receiving backlash not just from viewers, but also from the families of the serial killer’s victims.
Debuting on the streamer on Sept. 21, the Netflix original series follows the murders of infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who committed the murder and dismemberment of 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. The series not only looks at Dahmer’s crimes, but is told from the victims’ point of views. Along with Peters, the series stars Richard Jenkins, Molly Ringwald, Michael Learned and Niecy Nash.
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Although Dahmer has earned plenty of praise for Peters’ portrayal of the serial killer, with many saying the actor could grab an Emmy for the role, the series is shrouded in controversy. Eric Perry, cousin of Errol Lindsey, one of Dahmer’s victims, spoke out against the show on Twitter, sharing that their family “is p-ed” about the series, which is “retraumatizing over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?” Perry went on to write that “recreating my cousin having an emotional breakdown in court in the face of the man who tortured and murdered her brother is WILD.” Perry went on to share that due to the murders being public record, producers were not required to notify the families of the victims they portray, and nobody from the show contacted Lindsey’s family. Perry said they found out about the show “when everybody else did.”
“So when they say they’re doing this ‘with respect to the victims’ or ‘honoring the dignity of the families,’ no one contacts them,” he wrote. “My cousins wake up every few months at this point with a bunch of calls and messages and they know there’s another Dahmer show. It’s cruel.”
Meanwhile, many viewers have also slammed the show. In addition to criticizing the show as harmful and distasteful, many subscribers took issue with the fact that Netflix added an LGBTQ tag to the series, which focuses on Dahmer’s murders, with many of his victims having been part of the LGBTQ+ community. After noticing the tag, one person said they were “gobsmacked,” with another noting, “I am disgusted. IT’S NOT AN LGBTQ STORY LIKE WTF.” Another person said, “This is not the representation we’re looking for.”
While Netflix has not addressed the addition of the LGBTQ tag, prior to the release of Dahmer, the show’s production team defended the project. In a promotional video, Peters said, “we had one rule going into this from Ryan [Murphy], that it would never be told from Dahmer’s point of view. The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, but it’s not just him and his backstory: It’s the repercussions, it’s how society and our system failed to stop him multiple times because of racism, homophobia. It’s just a tragic story.” The series holds a 50% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.
