“Ryan Murphyis the last person who should be covering true crime,” wrote one of many disappointed fans after watching Netflix’s latest series,Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and accusing its director of sexualizing its protagonists.
The show came under fire for its representation of the eponymous brothers in promotional material, which fans considered to be suggesting anincestuous relationshipfor marketing purposes.
HighlightsRyan Murphy defends his series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, against criticism for sexualizing its protagonists.Viewers criticize the series' promotional material for suggesting an incestuous relationship between the Menendez brothers.Erik Menendez accuses Murphy of being dishonest and glamorizing his trauma in the show.Murphy says the series focuses 60-65% on the brothers' abuse claims and gives them a platform.
Murphy, the series director who also helmedThe Jeffrey Dahmer Story, tackled the controversy after the real-life Erik Menendez posted a statement condemning the show, calling it “dishonest” and accusing it of spreading “horrible and blatant lies” about him and his brother.
“He made that statement without watching the show,” the director said in an interview defending the production. “We were cautious in how we depicted their abuse.”
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Image credits:John Nacion/Getty
Viewers, however, kept firm in their assessment that the director had handled the subject material poorly, pointing out the “homoerotic” nature of the series’ promotional material as evidence.
“I don’t think I will be watching this. The aesthetic of the promotional content has a sexy tone,” one viewer wrote. “The whole thing is sick and sad.”
“They’re supposed to bebrothers. Why do we get a teaser with them shirtless cuddling each other?” another replied.
Image credits:Ronald L. Soble /Getty
“If you watchMonsters, about 60 to 65 percent of the show focuses on their claims of abuse,” he stated, explaining that they intended to give the brothers a platform and acknowledged the emotional challenge the production meant to them.
Monsters’ second season comes at a time when the brothers are seeking a new hearing based on new evidence of their father’s criminal abuse, hoping it will lead to their freedom
Image credits:Netflix
Erik, on the other hand, accused the director of glamorizing and using his and his brother’s trauma with “bad intent” to tell a story based on what he called “horrible and blatant lies.”
“Our prosecution was built on a narrative that said that males could not be sexually abused and that [we] experience rape trauma differently than women,” Menendez explained, referring to the infamous quote thatPam Bozanich, Lyle’s prosecutor, said at their trial.
“Men cannot be raped since they lack the necessary equipment to actually beraped,” she argued at the time.
Lyle and Erik’s attorneys hope to use the testimony as the basis for a petition seeking the brother’s freedom, with 24 other relatives also advocating for their release.
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