Recently, the internet has been blowing up over the new Monsters season that aired on Netflix in September. Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the season centers on the 1989 murders of José and Kitty Menendez, who were killed by their sons, Lyle and Erik. Upon its premiere, the season received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances but criticized its runtime, inconsistent tone, and controversial portrayal of the Menendez brothers. The show itself is one thing, but a good true crime show relies on its accuracy, this show seems to have a lot of controversy around that.
The show itself, cinematically, was very well created. The production was great, I can and will commend the technical team for that. I am a huge true crime fan, so I enjoy watching true crime shows, movies, and documentaries, but I have certain standards when consuming such content. I watched the documentary that came out at the same time on Netflix before I watched the show itself. I had briefly heard of the case and wanted to know more before I watched Monsters and formed my opinion. The documentary was fantastic, even included audio from calls with both of the boys. I’m not reviewing the documentary but highly recommend it. Monsters itself was iffy for me. At certain points I got uncomfortable with certain themes that were portrayed, especially knowing that their whole case was based on the boys’ abuse. Ryan Murphy took a lot of creative liberty that should not have been taken considering this show is about real people. Picking attractive people to play the boys, created a weird fandom of the show that has since gotten kind of out of hand. The same thing happened when the Jeffery Dahmer season came out. It wasn’t helpful that Murphy also simultaneously sexualized the boys when he most definitely shouldn’t have. The show was fantastic in regards to production but the content itself put me off.
The recent release of Monsters‘ dramatized version of the case against the Menendez brothers from the fevered mind of Ryan Murphy- is raising considerable debate over its representation of Erik and Lyle Menendez’s relationship. More specifically, some creative choices taken by Murphy regarding the representation of their relationship, such as unnecessary homoerotic content having the brothers kiss, and a quasi-fantasy shower scene, have come under high criticism. Erik Menendez publicly denounced these scenes as “vile and appalling character portrayals” and denied he and Lyle ever had a sexual relationship. Murphy defends the decisions by explaining that they reflect theories of the time the trial took place and were mentioned, among others, by journalist Dominick Dunne.
Murphy also brought up how the series dove into the possible abuses of the Menendez brothers by their father, José Menendez. “Monsters“, Murphy continued to say, spends a heavy amount of screen time detailing this alleged abuse, accounting for many sides of the case. He then said the show was rooted in his and the co-creator’s immense research into it, and it had the intent of showcasing points from the brothers themselves, lawyer Leslie Abramson, and many others close to the case fairly.
The series does take dramatic liberties. For example, the onscreen Halloween 1989 meeting between Erik and his therapist, Dr. Jerome Oziel, in which Erik confesses to the murders, is rooted in court records. It dramatically re-creates how a boat trip with their parents instilled fear in Erik and Lyle, a true incident that formed the basis of their defense. While some of the show’s scenes are closer to the truth than others, Murphy claims that Monsters tried to capture the painful, contested narratives of the Menendez brothers rather than play out one tangible version of events.
Overall, I think the show was not well expressed. The actual case wasn’t well portrayed in the show and the underlying themes of incest threw me off. I think the controversy is justified. To boil down both of the brothers’ trauma for entertainment is wrong itself but to add on unnecessary creative liberties that take away from their story is just wrong. Because one of the first things Erik bought after his parents death was a new Jeep Wrangler, I rate this show a 5/10 Jeeps.
