Netflix users are criticising new series Monster: The Ed Gein Story for “romanticising” the notorious serial killer.
The true crime anthology show, which returned to Netflix last week, focuses on different killers each season. In its third season, Charlie Hunnam plays the murderer who robbed multiple graves and used stolen body parts to decorate his home and create furniture and clothing.
Season three has been mostly acclaimed by viewers, but the final episode is receiving backlash over its decision to paint Gein, who killed two women, in a sympathetic light – and to depict him as a saintly figure respected by other murderers.
“Not only is it an apology for Gein, it ends by turning him into a saintly figure, benevolently presiding over the world of serial killers, including TWO fantasy sequences where famous killers salute him,” one viewer wrote.
Another added: “Finished this Ed Gein series and……I feel like, towards the end, I was being gaslit into feeling empathy for this man who murdered people.”
Others have argued that the final episode was designed to challenge viewers, a reflection of Gein’s alleged undiagnosed mental health condition and the delusions of grandeur he might have experienced over his legacy – and was designed to challenge the viewer.
“The ending really made me think hard about mental illness too and I saw him in a different light in a strange way,” one person offered. But others argued a killer like Gein does not deserve such nuance.
“Loved the series but the ending threw me off,” one person stated, claiming Ryan Murphy’s show could be read as a celebration of Gein, who was the basis of horror characters including Norman Bates (Psycho) and Leatherface (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre).
“Yes, he inspired horror cinema in massive ways but at the end of the day, he was a horrible person,” they added.
To provide a commentary on Gein’s legacy, Monster featured several inaccuracies about the killer, including the fact he helped FBI profilers catch Ted Bundy.
Hunnam himself commented on the show’s depiction of Gein at Netflix’s Tudum event, asking: “Who was the monster? This poor boy, who was abused his whole life then left in total isolation, suffering from undiagnosed mental illness? Or the legion of people who sensationalised his life for entertainment and arguably darkened the American psyche and the global psyche in the process?“
This is not the first time that Gein’s story has been recreated on screen. A 2000 film named In the Light of the Moon, but also known as Ed Gein, starring Steve Railsback was largely panned by critics.
Monster, despite becoming a sensation, has not been without controversy. After the first season became a hit, it was soon condemned by many viewers who felt it was exploitative.
Families of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims also spoke out, saying the series was re-traumatising. A Milwaukee attorney, who previously represented a number of the families, later called on Murphy to share the profits with his former clients.
“The only meaningful Dahmer victim family action on Murphy’s part would be a monetary consideration from the Netflix profits for their exploitation and continuing trauma,” attorney Thomas M Jacobson said at the time.
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