The Netflix thriller about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer has received a lot of attention, but it has also drawn criticism for being cruel.
Boosie BadAzz, a rapper, tweeted: “We should boycott the [event] as black people. It’s awful what he did to our black children.”
Between 1978 and 1991, Dahmer murdered 17 teenagers and young men, many of whom were black and LGBT.
“Harsh and reckless,” according to the sister of one of his victims, is how Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has been portrayed.
Rita Isbell, whose brother Errol Lindsey was 19 when he was slain, said she was unaware that the dramatic victim impact statement she gave in court in 1992 would be reenacted in Ryan Murphy’s 10-part television series.
“When I saw some of the show, it bothered me, especially when I saw myself,” the woman added to Insider, “when I saw my name come over the screen and this person speaking EXACTLY exactly what I said.”
She said that Netflix ought to have donated some of the proceeds from the program to the victims’ grandkids and offspring.
“It wouldn’t feel so harsh and irresponsible if the show helped them in some manner. It is regrettable that they are only profiting from this tragedy. This is pure greed.”
Eric Perry, a cousin of Lindsey, tweeted last week that the family had issues with the show.
He complained,
“It keeps retraumatizing, and for what?” How many films, programs, or documentaries are required?
He further said “It would be CRAZY to recreate my cousin’s emotional collapse in front of the man who tortured and killed her sibling. WIIIIIILD”.
In addition to murder, Dahmer committed cannibalism and necrophilia. He was found guilty in 1992, and two years later, he was killed in jail.
The Independent quoted Anne E. Schwartz, the journalist who first revealed his crimes in 1991, as saying that the streaming series “sacrificed accuracy for the sake of drama.”
The series “does not have a great deal of relation to the facts of the case,” the veteran crime journalist claimed, adding that the filmmakers had used “creative license” with many crucial aspects.
She added that it was inaccurate to portray city police personnel as being racist and homophobic.
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Additionally, Netflix has come under fire for initially labeling the program as an LGBTQ show. Later, that tag was taken off.
According to IndieWire, the issue hasn’t stopped the show from achieving the highest first-week watching stats for a brand-new series on the streaming service since its rating system started in June 2021.
In its first full week, the drama with Evan Peters as Dahmer received 196.2 million hours of viewing, making it the most popular TV program on Netflix in more than 60 nations.
Netflix has been contacted for comment regarding the complaints.
The series “exposes these unconscionable crimes, focused on the underserved victims and their communities affected by the systemic racism and institutional failures of the police that allowed one of America’s most notorious serial killers to continue his murderous spree in plain sight for over a decade,” according to its official synopsis.
“Almost unbearably nauseating”
The show has received mixed reviews, with Stuart Heritage of the Guardian calling it “almost unwatchably uncomfortable.”
He stated: “Worst of all, in a way, is the show’s choice of subject matter. This show’s one redeeming quality is that it draws attention away from the murderer and reveals who the real victims were. Unfortunately, Dahmer is generally too enamored with its star attraction for that.”
According to Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter, it was an “infuriating hodgepodge,” and “reducing most of the victims and their families to their grief is closer to exploiting that pain than honoring their memories.”
Paul Tassi, an analyst for Forbes, disagreed, writing: “I don’t know if ‘liking’ the series is the right word, as it’s pretty unsettling to watch, but I do think it’s well-acted by everyone involved, and the show does a lot of work to maintain the focus is on the victims, the incompetence of the police, and the damage that Dahmer left in his wake.”
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