New year, same old Ryan Murphy. Murphy is back again with the third instalment of his controversial Netflix anthology series Monster.
The previous instalments of the series have garnered much criticism and controversy for a multitude of reasons. Monster: The Jefferey Dahmer Story was aired at a time when relatives of the victims saw their family members tragedy broadcast as a form of entertainment. Murphy also cast known heartthrob Evan Peters as sadistic serial killer Jefferey Dahmer. The connotations of Evan Peters as an actor are widely known with problems already being raised by individuals romanticising his twisted American Horror Story character Tate Langdon. Therefore, I found this casting choice to be rather questionable as it is obvious that when casting Evan Peters, romanticisation is sure to be imminent. This problematic casting is not a stand-alone event as within season two of the series viewers continued to romanticise Lyle and Erik Menendez played by Cooper Koch and Nicholas Chavez, with edits of the pair inundating social media feeds. Issues of inaccuracies littered both previous instalments with Lyle and Erik Menendez both publicly condemning the series leaving little hope for its third instalment.
When it comes to Monster: The Ed Gein Story, your assumptions are more than likely correct. Whilst the performances from the cast including Charlie Hunam were stellar, the faults of this instalment’s predecessors are all still present. One element that some viewers have criticised is the level of prolonged depictions of violence, violence that happened to real people, violence that wasn’t shocking and entertaining but was the true and harrowing end to an individual’s life. Another troubling element of this season was the inaccuracies littered throughout as creating an accurate depiction of this true case is sacrificed for entertainment purposes. An example of this is the storyline of Gein helping in the identification of Ted Bundy, which is entirely fabricated, as Murphy aims to garner interest in Gein by positioning him as the blueprint for all callous serial-killers and by sensationalising parts of the story.
The popularity of Murphy’s series raises questions about the viewing of true crime as a genre. As an avid horror fan and occasional true crime viewer, I am fascinated by the gothic and macabre, however a line may need to be drawn when true cases are being presented in a disrespectful way, with a lack of tact and purpose. There is a way in which this kind of content can be done right and that is not through sensationalised dramatizations. However, despite all of the criticism, season four of the series is imminent and Murphy’s works continue to dominate those top spots on streaming sites as his work is undeniably well produced and ever sensational and entertaining.
It’s also interesting to examine Murphy’s latest series Alls Fair in connection with Monster. Alls fair has gained major traction becoming one of the biggest hulu original premiers ever, already being renewed for a second season. The reason for the show’s popularity has undeniably come from social media attention due to strange casting choices, outrageous costuming and insanely comical acting. Considering how the show’s ratings are off the charts due to online controversy and scandal, with Kim Kardashian the queen of scandal playing the shows lead role, it isn’t farfetched to question whether the controversy surrounding Monster is purposeful and functions as the show’s exact selling point. All this to say, I have reached the conclusion that the controversy surrounding Murphy’s work is more than likely far from over.
