In August 2024, Netflix posted a teaser for its upcoming Monsters installment on the Menendez brothers, who murdered their parents in 1989. It depicted Lyle (Nicholas Chavez) and Erik (Cooper Koch) shirtless and in a tender embrace. Viewers immediately pointed out the uncomfortable romantic undertones between the brothers.
“Why are they kinda framed as lovers in an intimate embrace?” asked one X user, earning almost 300 likes in agreement. Out of twelve replies, over half blame one man in particular.
Creator and writer Ryan Murphy has not built the best reputation for handling true crime stories with care. In September 2022, Netflix released Monster: A Jeffrey Dahmer Story. This limited anthology series retold the life and crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer through a fictional, episodic lens. The series received mixed reviews, with skeptical critics observing the voyeuristic nature of centering a show around a real serial killer rather than his victims.
Intentionally or not, Murphy and collaborator Ian Brennan’s stylized filmmaking and Evan Peters’ strong performance added to the mythos and grandeur around Jeffery Dahmer. The rare moments of worth are when Murphy spotlights issues that are forgotten during discussions around Dahmer’s crimes. Episode 6, “Silenced,” tells the story of Anthony Sears and draws attention to the racism and homophobia that allowed Dahmer’s crimes to continue, unnoticed. However, any positivity is overshadowed by the reactions of the victims’ families.
“I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it,” said Rita Isbell, sister of Errol Lindsey, who was killed by Dahmer. “They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it.” Other family members of the Dahmer victims corroborated Rita’s diary. They received no payment, no invitation to comment, and no priority access to A Jeffrey Dahmer Story. This is especially questionable in true crime-based fiction, where accurate depictions of victims are so important.
The case of the Menendez family is complex. Their highly publicized trial deals with heavy topics such as child sexual abuse and neglect. The ethics around creating a fictional series revolving around this case are already shaky. Murphy handled this story with about as much care and thought as one of his Glee episodes.
From the first episode, the creative choices of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story are questionable. Lyle is portrayed as a rude, entitled rich kid, while Erik is a sheepish, quiet boy who seems to be controlled by his brother. At best, this is an exaggeration of what the media circus at the time of the trial speculated, at worst, it is character assassination. The first four episodes of the series follow the incidents immediately before and after the brothers commit murder and are caught and are mostly faithful to the accounts of Erik and Lyle. For fans of Monsters, Episode 5 is hailed as a turning point and where the best performance in the series occurs.
Related: All Major Actors & Cast List for Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
Episode 5, “The Hurt Man,” centers on Erik Menendez and his lawyer, Leslie Abramson (Ari Graynor). The entire episode is filmed in one take, a steadily zooming shot of Erik – we only see the back of Leslie’s head. This episode is an uncomfortable watch. Erik details his abuse from his father and mother, painfully retelling his trauma. The intensity, due heavily to Cooper Koch’s captivating performance, lasts for over thirty minutes.
When I first watched it, I thought of the penultimate episode of Baby Reindeer and Richard Gadd’s chillingly vulnerable monologue. Stories of male sexual abuse are extremely important. The Hurt Man brings the story of Erik Menendez’s abuse under Jose Menendez to the forefront, and we have no distractions, no fancy editing, and no dramatic flashbacks to soften the blow. It’s a powerful episode and would be perfect, but it’s Murphy and the Monster series so, of course, it’s not.
Most of what is said is rooted in Erik’s real confession. But as Erik tells Leslie about a consensual sexual experience between him and another teenage boy, I feel a sense of unease. The real Erik Menendez has repeatedly reiterated his heterosexuality. When asked whether he’s gay in a 1996 interview with Barbara Walters, Erik says, “No. The prosecutor brought that up because I was sexually molested and he felt in his own thinking that if I was sodomised by my father that I must have enjoyed it and therefore I must be gay,” highlighting the homophobia that surrounded the trial. Murphy ruined an important episode with a nonsensical lie that many viewers will hear and take at face value. Making up a sexual encounter between two teenage boys to “spice up” a victim’s rape survival story is deplorable.
Murphy seems to enjoy throwing in random untruths into this true crime series. For example, there’s a scene where prolific crime writer Dominick Dunne (Nathan Lane) theorizes the motives of the Menendez brothers. All of his theories are skeptical, which is accurate to the opinions of the real-life late Dunne. But one theory is entirely made up. Fictional Dunne insinuates that the Mendes brothers might have had a secret relationship. We see Kitty Menendez (Chloë Sevigny) catching Lyle and Erik in the shower together in a compromising position. This, along with an earlier scene of the brothers sharing a kiss, is a truly bizarre implication to make.
In response to the show, Erik released a statement through his wife, Tammi Menendez. He condemned the portrayal of Lyle in the series, as well as Murphy, stating, “It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.” Other Menedez family members shared his disgust, labeling the show as a “nightmare.” This hasn’t disheartened Murphy. In fact, Murphy doubles down, claiming that Monsters “ultimately leads to something positive for those two brothers” because of the attention it brings to the case.
My feelings on Monsters are mixed. On the one hand, it starts important conversations. As Murphy said, the Menendez brothers and their case are being talked about again, their case re-examined. Important conversations around taboo topics have been ignited by Monsters, just as they did when the Dahmer series premiered.
Fiction is a powerful tool that lets us explore the minds of characters that are morally questionable; it helps us understand the complexities of the human experience. But that’s the thing- fiction is about characters. Lyle, Erik, Jose, and Kitty are people, not characters. Murphy is an undeniably talented writer and general creative mind, but when writing about a case as complex and layered as the Menendez family murders, fiction hurts more than it helps.
On October 7th, the Menendez brothers will be sharing their story in a documentary, also by Netflix. I wonder how much of this will match up with Murphy and Brenman’s “Erik” and “Lyle.”
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is now streaming on Netflix.
Published: Oct 3, 2024 08:51 am