For true crime fans, the hit series “Monsters” on Netflix is entertaining and informational. However, mixing these two creates great controversy on the morality of entertainment surrounding violent crime.
In 1996, the Menedez brothers were convicted for killing their parents. Multiple documentaries and dramatizations have since been release, sparking debates on the exploitation of telling True Crime stories.
The “Monsters” Controversy
“Monsters’” first series was “DAHMER”, which created intense controversy for showing cannibalism, violence, and intense scenes of abuse. “The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story” is the second installment of the series and is facing backlash for allegedly inaccurately displaying their lives by showing multiple scenes of incestuous relations between the brothers.
The narrative of the incestuous relationship portrayed in the Monsters series is not mentioned in the court case files, but rather taken from theories. The perspective that the brothers were in an incestuous relationship intertwined with being subjected to sexual abuse is contested by producer Ryan Murphy.
“One particularly salacious theory, allegedly posited by writer Dominick Dunne—who covered the trial for Vanity Fair—suggested that the two brothers may have engaged in an incestuous relationship. Monsters briefly gestures toward this theory as Dunne (played onscreen by Nathan Lane) presents the possibility to a table of guests around a dinner table. (Dunne never published that theory in his reporting for Vanity Fair),” according to reporter Chris Murphy for Vanity Fair.
Erik responded in a statement posted by his wife to X about producer Ryan Murphy’s portrayal of the brothers. “It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward — back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women.”
True Crime in the Media
True Crime can be shown through two different types of media – infotainment and investigative reporting. Depending on how the media portrays a True Crime case, viewers can develop stereotypes surrounding the criminal justice system.
Dr. Chad Posick Georgia Southern Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, who teaches Pop Culture and Crime at Georgia Southern explained the two.
“Infotainment is we’ll give you some information, but it’s kind of just for entertainment,” he said. “This could be something like The Daily Show or the Colbert Report. You’re getting some information, but it’s mainly a comedy show. And so you get some of that more sensational stuff.”
Sensationalism in infotainment series uses exciting or shocking stories at the expense of accuracy, in order to provoke public interest or excitement.
“The second is investigative reporting which is actually leading to people coming forward and new cases and new information.” Posick explained. Investigative reporting can be described as podcasts like “Serial”.
True Crimes Affect on the Justice System
While the Menendez brothers face firsthand what effect True Crime has on court cases, The “CSI” effect shows that TV shows like Law and Order and CSI influence public perception on the justice system. The effect shows that jurors rely heavily on forensic evidence, and believe it is 100% accurate.
Dr. Posick explains that without intensive forensic evidence jurors may throw away evidence in consideration all together and rely on public perception instead. This can explain why the Menedez brothers had a “hung” or deadlocked jury their first trial. Their second trial resulted in prosecutors not using abuse evidence in consideration of their sentence, claiming it was “lies”.
New evidence to aid in the resentencing trial has come to surface, with a hand written letter to Erik’s cousin, explaining the abuses endured before the murders. Docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, holds evidence in which former member of the boy band Menudo comes forth about his abuse at 14 years old. However, the contrast between investigative podcasts and entertaining TV shows may have an influence in the jury’s perception of the brothers.
Ethicality of True Crime
Many True Crime media has been controversial for having victims and their families relive their abuse and crime done to them. This is specifically true to the Dahmer series where escaped victim, Tracy Edwards, was portrayed in this series. His abuse was depicted in graphic detail in the “DAHMER” show.
Georgia Southern Assistant Professor of Sociology Alicia Brunson explains that True Crime media is created under freedom of speech, however there has to be a balance between showing accurate information and getting a rounded perspective.
“I want there to be a variety of perspectives so we don’t just glamorize and then become desensitized to look how cool the criminal is, he’s now famous.” Brunson said.
“When producers are making this, they have to know the effects of media, Brunson said. “We’re actually learning from media, I think we should all be mindful of how we take in this media as consumers, critically think about it and also think about potential effects of those media creations.”
The Menendez brothers will have a retrial on November 26, just over two months since “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” was released.
