September 17, 2024, 8:33 am | Read time: 5 minutes
On the list of Netflix new releases for September, one stands out as a sequel to a very successful but also very controversial series.
2022 was an extremely successful year for Netflix, with productions such as Wednesday, The Adam Project, Stranger Things season 4, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and The Gray Man. What all these series and films have in common is that they are still represented in the streaming service’s top lists. One name stands out that has not yet been mentioned: Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. At the time, no other Netflix production was as controversial as the true-crime drama. Despite all the criticism, Netflix now wants to continue the series. However, the makers are taking a completely new approach,
“Monster” season 2 will be released in September 2024
The series, which was released on September 21, 2022, shed light on the life of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. It is not just one of many true crime documentaries but a dramatized adaptation of the events that is similar to a documentary in its claim to depict reality. The serial killer was played by Evan Peters, who had previously proven in series such as American Horror Story that he is suited to dark roles. Speaking of American Horror Story, Ryan Murphy, creator of the iconic horror series, is one of the people behind Dahmer – Monster.
There is another similarity between the two series, American Horror Story and Dahmer – Monster. Both are so-called anthology series. This means that the seasons together do not tell a coherent story but are each self-contained. This is also clear from the title of the Netflix series: Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez.
The series was not conceived as such from the outset. It was only the enormous success of “Dahmer” that led to the decision to tackle an anthological sequel, as reported by “The Hollywood Reporter.” It is certain that the sequel to Monster will start on Netflix on September 19.
The debate about “Dahmer – Monster”
However, the start of the series is controversial. This is due to a debate that started with the first season’s release. A major point of criticism at the time was the explicit depiction of violence, which led to the question of whether it is appropriate to portray real-life crimes in such a way. After all, unlike in conventional crime series, the events in the series are based on a real-life model.
Incidentally, the series adheres very closely to the later accounts of the serial killer, who confessed to a total of 17 murders. And in contrast to the popular true crime documentaries on the streaming service, the portrayal also creates a different level of closeness. Viewers see Dahmer hauling off his victims and then abusing and killing them in his apartment.
Criticism of the series from victims’ relatives
In fact, several relatives of the deceased victims have also come forward to criticize the Netflix series and its portrayal. They also claimed that the streaming provider had not contacted them in advance. Director Murphy, among others, vehemently contradicted this. According to him, they had indeed been contacted. However, no one had responded to the team’s requests. However, the accusation that what was shown could have a retraumatizing effect on relatives persists to this day. And some people wonder whether it is right to give a perpetrator like Jeffrey Dahmer such a big stage.
The makers have already commented on this several times. The aim of Monster – Dahmer is not to make the serial killer even better known than he already is. Rather, the victims and the structural problem of the investigations at the time should be brought to the public’s attention. In retrospect, we know that Dahmer could have been caught much earlier if the victims, who were predominantly homosexual and people of color, had been taken seriously. “It’s about white privilege. It’s about systemic racism. It’s about homophobia […]”, said Murphy in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
Incidentally, the debate did not harm the success of Monster – Dahmer – on the contrary. To date, the series is the third most streamed English-language Netflix series (as of September 2, 2024). This is mainly thanks to the more than one billion hours streamed. In fact, interest in the production was so great that it became the most searched-for series of 2022, according to Google statistics.
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This is what “Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez” is about
Whether there will be a similar debate about the upcoming season of Monster remains to be seen. The case as such is similarly spectacular but for different reasons than that of Jeffrey Dahmer. As the title suggests, the sequel is about Lyle and Erik Menendez. The brothers murdered their parents in 1989; the two were 21 and 18 years old at the time. At first, they even managed to escape police suspicion. However, their conspicuous lifestyle in the following months led to their arrest in 1990.
The trial is still considered one of the most sensational of all time. This is mainly due to the fact that it was broadcast live on television at the time. The final verdict was not reached until a second trial in 1996. Even before that, several film adaptations of the case had already been made. The TV two-parter Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills is even a dramatized version of the case.
In the Netflix series Monster: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez, Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch play the two Menendez brothers. Their parents are played by Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny.