Even Peters stars as Jeffrey Dahmer in the Netflix series. Netflix. Netflix’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” was released September 21 and has been hugely popular.
It’s also caused controversy — TikTokers are accused of “romanticizing” Dahmer and his crimes. Many viewers are imploring people to “remember his victims” and to stop minimizing Dahmer’s crimes. Netflix’s dramatization of the crimes of convicted serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer has in some ways been a huge success for the platform.
Since its release on September 21, it has been watched for nearly 300 million hours by subscribers, and became the second-most viewed show on Netflix within a week of its release, behind the fourth series of “Stranger Things,” according to Deadline. But “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” has also caused controversy. Dahmer murdered and dismembered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991.
He was found guilty in 1992 and died in prison two years later. Though the serial killer’s life has been dramatized before, most famously by Jeremy Renner in 2002 and Ross Lynch in 2017, Netflix’s slick, 10-episode drama, produced by Ryan Murphy of “Glee” and “American Horror Story” fame, has stoked huge backlash. On social media, the discourse surrounding the show has been fierce, with many accusing it of being insensitive towards the families of Dahmer’s victims and of romanticizing his crimes.
It has also sparked debate among people using social platforms to react and respond to the show after watching. Some users faced criticism for bragging about being ‘unfazed’ by the showUnlike previous adaptations, Netflix’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” features several graphic scenes of murder, sexual assault, and cannibalism. Viewers have called Netflix out for packaging real-life violence as entertainment, particularly after Netflix tweeted, “Can’t stop thinking about this disturbing scene from DAHMER where one of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims finally manages to escape.
. . and the police actually bring him back inside the apartment.
Now on Netflix”—Netflix (@netflix) September 21, 2022 Comments underneath the promotional tweet called it “gross” and suggested that the “families of Dahmer’s victims loathe this show for once again opening these old wounds and exploiting them for profit. ” Others questioned whether the victim’s families consented to their stories being told in this format, with one person writing that it was “contemptible” of Netflix to “make money off of their pain. “Rita Isbell, the sister of Errol Lindsey, who was one of Dahmer’s victims, told Insider she was not consulted by Netflix in advance of the show, which included a depiction of the victim impact statement she delivered during Dahmer’s sentencing, and accused Netflix of ” just making money off of this tragedy.
” Despite the gruesome nature of the Netflix show, several TikTok users have made videos stating that they were “unfazed” or “unbothered” by it and that they wished it had portrayed what they say were “the actual morbid parts” of Dahmer’s murders, suggesting the series did not delve deep enough into the brutality of the killings. @thewokemama Yall are outing yourselves over this Dahmer show… ♬ Netflix Dahmer Series Song – John Buck Many of these videos, seen by Insider and screenshotted or screen recorded by other internet users and reposted to TikTok and Twitter, have now been deleted. It sparked debate on TikTok as other users responded, saying that desensitization to violence against LGBTQ+ people and people of color, who Dahmer targeted, isn’t something to be proud of.
One creator, who goes by the name @nothaja and says she is from Milwaukee (where Dahmer committed many of his crimes), posted a video on October 1 in which she criticized people who were asking for “more gore. “She said, “You know as well as I know that these were real people with real lives. This ‘gore’ that you want is a gruesome depiction of the rape, torture, murder, and the eating of children and men.
You just want to consume their bodies even when they’re long gone. ” @nothaja i apologize for the way i look. i just got back from the gym and needed to get this off my chest.
♬ original sound – definitely not haja People have been accused of minimizing Dahmer’s crimes in response to the showNetflix has released various shows, movies, and documentaries about convicted murderers including John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy. In the aftermath of each release, viewers have accused the streaming service of glorifying violence. One criticism is the choice of actors for these movies.
When Zac Effron portrayed Ted Bundy in “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” many called out the romanticization of the character, who was considered to be extremely charming and attractive. Similarly, following the release of the Dahmer show, TikTokers have edited clips together from the series to make it look like it’s a romantic comedy, with comments from users suggesting that Dahmer and his victim Anthony Hughes would have been a good couple. One such video, which has since been deleted from TikTok, was reposted to Twitter and viewed nearly 250,000 times.
The tweet, by user @liliandaisies, said, “People are making romance tiktok edits about a serial killer and his victim. They didn’t ‘go from people you know to people you don’t,’ this is about a murderer and a man he killed. My heart goes out to the families of jeffrey dahmer’s victims.
“As VICE reported, the show portrays Dahmer as a child with an absent father, was tormented by bullies, and is “lonely” and “misunderstood,” leading to viewers creating videos on TikTok in which they sympathize with him. Many TikTokers have also called people out for saying they “feel sorry” for Dahmer as he was “failed by everyone who was supposed to help him,” according to one TikTok comment. In response, several tweets and TikTok videos have asked people not to “romanticize” Dahmer, often sparking further debate in the comments.
TikTokers called out Netflix for its ‘LGBTQ’ labeling of the showThe controversy grew after some TikTok users noticed that one of the tags Netflix had initially used to label the series was “LGBTQ. “A video posted by TikToker user @lizthelezbo showed her filming the Netflix homepage and zooming in on the “LGBTQ” tag. She said, “Why the fuck did Netflix tag the Jeffrey Dahmer documentary LGBTQ? I know this is technically true but this is not the representation we’re looking for.
“—Frances *Deadly SoverAuntie* Danger (@FrancesMFDanger) September 21, 2022 Her video received nearly 400,000 views and led to other viewers on Twitter and TikTok calling Netflix out for the decision. Writer Frances Danger tweeted, “If I need to stay in my lane absolutely tell me but anyone else think it’s pretty gross of @netflix to list Dahmer under #LGBTQ, especially when the True Crime tag would have worked?”Other tweets tagged Netflix and asked them to reconsider the tag, especially as Dahmer perpetuated violence against LGBTQ+ people. The tag, which was seen by Insider on the day the series was released, is no longer visible on the show.
Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for comment. For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider’s Digital Culture team here. Read the original article on Insider.
From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/netflix-jeffrey-dahmer-series-controversy-tiktok-romanticized-crimes-lgbtq-2022-10
