The “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” Netflix page The Xavierite
Netflix’s hit series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” chronicles the case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, two brothers who shot and killed their parents in 1989. From the general audience and Lyle and Erik themselves, the series has received major backlash for taking creative liberty with the brothers’ crimes and childhood traumas.
Lyle and Erik Menendez became an international sensation when their first trial was broadcast live on TV in 1993. During both of their trials, the brothers maintained that they killed their parents, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez, out of fear for their lives.
According to the brothers and extensive evidence, the two of them endured years of physical and verbal abuse from both parents and sexual abuse from their father.
Since the initial trial, society’s fascination with true crime has only grown. Documentaries and podcasts detailing horrific, violent crimes are widely popular and put these tragedies on display for entertainment.
Whether it’s the mystery of the Zodiac killer or Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s life after her prison release, audiences are always ready to sink their teeth into the trendiest case.
Most people don’t find fault with true crime media, but the general public hasn’t been happy with “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” The limited series is the second installment in a true crime anthology created by Ryan Murphy, the man behind several cult-classic series such as “American Horror Story” and “Glee.”
In 2022, Murphy started the “Monsters” anthology with a limited series on Jeffrey Dahmer. Dahmer was a serial killer known for going after men of color in the eighties, and the systemic racism of the criminal justice system is the main reason why Dahmer wasn’t caught sooner.
Family members of some of Dahmer’s victims spoke out against the series and how unnecessary it was. Murphy did not apologize after any of the criticism and rather defended the series.
Two years later, Murphy now sees a similar backlash after the release of the Lyle and Erik Menendez edition of “Monsters.”
Unlike the Dahmer installment, the newest segment of “Monsters” focuses on people who are still alive. Lyle and Erik were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and both currently serve their sentences at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in California.
Opinions on the series are far from conclusive, but there’s no doubt on the amount of publicity it’s caused for the case. Some believe the brothers shouldn’t be in prison at all since their crime was committed as a result of the extreme abuse they endured. Others believe Lyle and Erik murdered their parents to inherit money or that their crime is inexcusable either way.
Nevertheless, the series stirs up questions worth asking. Is there a difference between how society views male and female victims of sexual abuse? Is it ethical to make a series about the brothers when they’re still at the mercy of the criminal justice system and can’t defend themselves?
With gruesome successes like “American Horror Story” and new series “Grotesquerie” under his belt, Ryan Murphy is no stranger to exploring the dark taboos of pop culture. However, some conclude Murphy overly uses these taboos for shock value and exploitation.
For example, there’s an obvious incest storyline in “Monsters.” The series includes a graphic scene where the Menendez brothers kiss and shower together—an event born from Murphy’s imagination rather than concrete evidence.
There was an instance mentioned in their trial of Lyle molesting Erik when they were both children, but this was attributed to being a trauma response from the sexual abuse they both endured at the hands of their father.
The incest references caused the most uproar, but audiences also had qualms with the portrayal of Lyle’s character, Erik’s sexuality, and details of the murder itself.
Tammi Menendez, Erik’s wife, shared a statement from Erik on Sept. 19.
“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,” Erik said.
Murphy reacted to the backlash by saying, “The Menendez brothers should be sending me flowers. They haven’t had so much attention in 30 years.”
Whether the best thing for the Menendez brothers is more public attention doesn’t seem to matter. They’re a national fixation once again, and Netflix knows it. A follow-up documentary, “The Menendez Brothers,” was released on Oct. 7.
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” continues to dominate Netflix regardless of the perceived insensitivities. It’s important to call out exploitation, but when does the audience become complicit? If it’s unethical to create entertainment about real people, their trauma, and their crimes, is it unethical to engage with that media?
Audiences give media any and all popularity, so the role of viewer may be just as worth criticizing as the role of creator or producer.
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