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In some respects, Netflix’s depiction of serial murderer Jeffrey Dahmer’s atrocities has been a big success for the service.
According to Deadline, it became the second-most watched program on Netflix within a week of its debut, after the fourth season of “Stranger Things,” and has received approximately 300 million hours of viewing time from members since its September 21 release.
However, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” has also generated debate.
Between 1978 and 1991, Dahmer killed and dismembered 17 men and boys. He was convicted in 1992 and passed away in jail two years later.
The story of the serial murderer has already been portrayed, most notably by Jeremy Renner in 2002 and Ross Lynch in 2017, but Netflix’s sleek, 10-episode drama, created by Ryan Murphy of “Glee” and “American Horror Story” fame, has sparked a significant outcry.
The debate around the play has been hot on social media, with many claiming it romanticizes Dahmer’s atrocities and is inconsiderate to the families of his victims. Additionally, it has stirred discussion among viewers who have responded to the broadcast on social media.
Some people came under fire for boasting that they were “unfazed” by the presentation.
Netflix’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” deviates from other adaptations in that it contains multiple horrific sequences of cannibalism, sexual assault, and murder.
After Netflix tweeted, “Can’t stop thinking about this horrible moment from DAHMER where one of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims eventually gets to escape… and the cops actually bring him back inside the flat,” viewers criticized Netflix for portraying real-life violence as entertainment. current Netflix ”
“Families of Dahmer’s victims despise this performance for one again exposing these old wounds and exploiting them for business,” one comment beneath the promotional tweet said, calling it “sick.”
Others questioned if the relatives of the victims approved with the way their tales were conveyed, and one user said that it was “contemptible” of Netflix to “profit off of their suffering.”
The sister of one of Dahmer’s victims, Errol Lindsey, Rita Isbell, claimed to Insider that she was not consulted by Netflix prior to the production of the show, which featured a representation of the victim impact statement she gave during Dahmer’s sentencing, and that Netflix was “just making money off of this tragedy.”
Despite the Netflix series’ graphic content, some TikTok users have made videos in which they claim to be “unfazed” or “unbothered” by it and express their desire for it to depict “the actual morbid parts” of Dahmer’s murders. This suggests that the series did not go far enough into the brutality of the killings.
Many of these films, which Insider saw and which other internet users screenshotted or screen recorded before reposting to TikTok and Twitter, have now been taken down.
Other users commented, arguing that desensitization to violence against LGBTQ+ people and people of color, whom Dahmer targeted, is not anything to be proud of. This spurred discussion on TikTok.
On October 1, a video was produced by a creator who goes by the handle @nothaja and claims to be from Milwaukee (where Dahmer committed many of his atrocities). In the video, she scolded viewers for wanting “more gore.”
You and I both know that these were real individuals with actual lives, she said. This “gore” that you want is a horrifying portrayal of child and man devouring, torture, rape, and murder. Even after they have passed away, all you want to do is swallow their corpses.
In reaction to the program, some have been accused of downplaying Dahmer’s atrocities.
Netflix has produced a number of programs, motion pictures, and documentaries on convicted killers including Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy. Viewers have charged the streaming service of promoting violence following each release.
The performers picked for these films have drawn some criticism. Many criticized the romanticization of Ted Bundy, who was seen as being very charming and gorgeous, when Zac Effron played him in “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.”
Similar to this, TikTokers have combined snippets from the Dahmer show after its premiere to make it seem like a romantic comedy, with comments from fans claiming that Dahmer and his victim Anthony Hughes would have been a cute pair. One of these videos was uploaded on Twitter and had about 250,000 views before it was removed from TikTok.
People are crafting romantic tiktok changes about a serial murderer and his victim, according to the tweet from user @liliandaisies. This is about a murderer and a guy he murdered; they didn’t “move from people you know to folks you don’t.” My thoughts are with the families of those murdered by Jeffrey Dahmer.
According to VICE, the program depicts Dahmer as a fatherless youngster who was bullied, “lonely,” and “misunderstood,” which inspires viewers to make movies on TikTok in which they identify with him.
Many TikTokers have also criticized individuals for stating they “feel bad” about Dahmer since, in the words of one TikTok remark, “everyone who was meant to aid him failed him.”
In response, a number of tweets and TikTok videos have pleaded with viewers to refrain from “romanticizing” Dahmer, often igniting more discussion in the comments.
TikTokers criticized Netflix for classifying the program as “LGBTQ”
After some TikTok users discovered that one of the tags Netflix had originally used to identify the series was “LGBTQ,” the issue intensified.
A TikToker user named @lizthelezbo submitted a video of her shooting the Netflix home page and focusing on the “LGBTQ” tag. Why the heck would Netflix identify the Jeffrey Dahmer documentary as LGBTQ, she questioned? Even while it is legally correct, this is not the kind of depiction we want.
After over 400,000 people saw her video, additional viewers criticized Netflix on Twitter and TikTok. Anyone anyone think it’s really disgusting of @netflix to place Dahmer under #LGBTQ, particularly when the True Crime tag would have worked?, the author Frances Danger said on Twitter.
As Dahmer encouraged violence against LGBTQ+ persons, other tweets that had the Netflix tag urged them to reevaluate the tag.
The tag, which Insider first noticed the day the series premiered, is no longer discernible on the program.
Requests for comment from Netflix did not immediately get a response.
