True Crime Series, “Monster: A Jeffery Dahmer Story”, Sparks Controversy After Being Placed in Netflix’s LGBTQ Category and Misrepresenting the True Story 

Commentary

By Carolina Littleton | Edited by Paige Chinn

Imagine this: you have grieved and processed the tragic loss of a loved one from many years ago, just for their death to be re-enacted on the silver screen, as nothing more than a television show for entertainment.  

True crime media has been a very prominent form of entertainment, taking shape in many different forms. However, recently after the release of Netflix’s new true crime television series, “Monster: The Jeffery Dahmer Story”, in September 2022, the fascination with true crime narratives has skyrocketed. 

Upon its first week of being released, The Indie Wire reported that “Monster” broke records on Netflix for being the most watched series during the first week premiere. The thrilling true crime series immediately made headlines for its success. However, it quickly found itself on the wrong side of the media after receiving backlash from its viewers. 

The Misrepresentation of the LGBTQ+ Community: “Not the representation we’re looking for.” 

If you have any familiarity with the story of Jeffery Dahmer and his victims, you may be aware that Dahmer was gay. However, if you were unaware of this aspect of Dahmer’s identity, it would have quickly been revealed to you after the release of the true crime series, as it was originally categorized underneath the LGBTQ section in Netflix. This quickly caught the attention of many viewers.  

Audience members urgently expressed their distain with the decision of this categorization because it portrayed Dahmer as a highlighted figure of the LGBTQ community. Variety stated that this declines “ignited controversy”, and one queer viewer shared a TikTok video stating that Dahmer’s association with the LGBTQ community “is not the representation we’re looking for.”  

Netflix was quick to remove the LGBTQ tag from “Monster” after receiving such intense backlash. All the protests condemning the offensive categorization of the true crime thriller, led to “Monster” finding its way into the more suiting categories of “horror”, “ominous”, “physiological”, and “dark” sections. However, despite the tags short-lived, two-day association with the true crime thriller, it left a bad mark on the representation and perception of LGBTQ individuals by associating their entire community with a serial killer. 

The Misrepresentation of Dahmer’s Victims: “It didn’t happen like that.” 

I have always had a fascination with true crime media. Not necessarily the crime itself, but rather people’s appeal to watching true life tragedies. As someone who studies digital media, I always view productions through a lens of realism. Specifically, productions that claim to legitimately be true, such as “true” crime narratives.  

There have been multiple accounts after the release of “Monster” from real-life victims and the families of victims that the television series did not accurately portray the events of the story. Shirley Hughes, the mother of one of Dahmer’s victims, Tony Hughes, got right to the point claiming the events recreated in the show “didn’t happen like that” during her interview with The Guardian.  

 It has also been revealed that the “Monster” production did not notify or reach out to the families of the victims whose stories they would be telling. Many are quick to defend true crime narratives as an act to honor the victims, bringing justice and closure to the families by sharing their story. However, the lines of morality and intention become skewed when productions take it into their own account. They focus on portraying their own interpretation of the events that may be a more entertaining version for the vast majority of audiences, simply for profit that won’t even be shared with the families of fallen victims.   

Eric Perry, cousin of one of Dahmer’s victims, expressed his view on how corrupt and exploitative true crime narratives often are. Perry told the New York Post that they completely disregard the real people associated with and affected by the story.  

“It’s re-traumatizing over and over again,” Perry tweets in 2022, “how many movies/ shows/ documentaries do we need?” 

Entertainment, in general, is aimed to follow people’s preferences and interest to gain mass followings, interests, and profits at the stake of any other outlying factors. When it comes to a specific genre, specifically the true crime genre, audiences are  intrigued because they believe the content they are consuming is a trustworthy , accurate depiction. However, when people see real-life accounts about how these events happened, which differ from what they see on screen, it leaves them asking one question: How true is true crime? 

Entertainment vs. Ethics: Why Should I Care?

Digital representation is becoming the new textbook that shapes history in a contemporary age. It is so easy to be misinformed, but convinced otherwise, through digital media. That is why it is important to search for the true side of every story you hear. The relationship between producer and consumer doesn’t harm any third party that may serve a big part in the story because, after all, there would be no story without them.