One of my biggest problems with shows that explore serial killers from a fictional place is that we sensationalize what these people did. Often, their victims are a second thought. Despite many pushing back at this idea, Ryan Murphy is keeping that disappointing trend alive.
I am someone who feels a dedication to Murphy’s work. I have been here for 23 years and there doesn’t seem to be anything that will stop me from watching his shows. But, that being said, it means I am incredibly critical of what he does. One of those things being the Monster series. The Netflix anthology series began with Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer and my main complaint was that we didn’t focus enough on Dahmer’s actual victims. We had one episode and that was only because Murphy insinuated that Dahmer and his victim, Tony Hughes, had a flirtatious relationship.
The follow-up season about Erik and Lyle Menendez was a bit different as many have pushed back on the idea that their parents are the “victims” in the situation. So you can, in theory, give that season a “pass” for this one thing. Not for insinuating that the brothers were romantically linked but for the victim situation, the show had an interesting advantage.
Now, I have had to deal with Monster: The Ed Gein Story. Ed Gein himself was an “interesting” choice of subject given the fact that Gein was confirmed to have killed two women and most of his “infamous” nature came from his obsession with his mother and furniture made of skin. Cinema loves Gein and that’s kind of what Murphy did with this season with Ian Brennan. But he also somehow made victims a secondary thought in a disgusting way.
Why did I have to see a bunch of women dying?
The end of The Ed Gein Story felt like Murphy heard our complaints about how he handled victims and said “time to make it worse.” The last episode features a series of serial killers who were all inspired by Gein having their time to shine. Ted Bundy kills two women in the woods and then later, when Richard “Birdman” Speck is talking about his own influence, we see Bundy kill two women from his infamous sorority house killing spree.
Why was that necessary? Did we need to see more of how Gein influenced people? I understand that the use of movie scenes and the finale were Murphy and Brennan’s way of showing that Gein may not have been the most prolific of serial killers but he did usher in a lot of destruction with his crimes. I get that. What I don’t need to see if the senseless violence against women that these men committed to without having anything else “real” to say about it.
These were nameless women on Monster and it was unnecessary. And for what? So Ryan Murphy and company could show that they know how serial killers act? If you’re not going to actually give the victims of these men the time they deserve, then stop making these shows.
(featured image: Netflix)
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