Netflix tends to cancel interesting and engaging films then replaces them with films no one asked for. The worldwide streaming service recently dropped a new series titled, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez story” on September 19th, 2024. It is based on the sad and sensitive experiences of the Menendez brothers. The series, directed by Ryan Murphy – known for creating the Jeffery Dhamer and Glee series– gained a lot of traction, but for the wrong reasons. If someone had zero knowledge about the Menendez brothers and they binged the series, content could misguide their opinions.
Google classifies this unreliable production as true crime. In reality, it is essentially ridiculing the two brothers and portraying them in a terrible light. Parents, children, and elderly should follow the case themselves, watch films from the sentencing and then put together their opinions. Erik and Lyle are real people, not characters on a show who get their toupees snatched or participate in screaming matches.
Ryan Murphy lacked sympathy when he produced this show and displayed even less after it dropped. A week after the show dropped on Netflix it received a ton of hate as expected. On a Netflix companion site Murphy wrote, “It’s tackling very difficult subjects and I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with.” Murphy clearly does not care for the backlash and is coming off as insensitive. Especially since the brothers have made it publicly known they do not like the series.
Erik’s wife revealed his reaction on Twitter, “I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show. I can only believe they were done so on purpose. 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”.
Netflix pushed out with a documentary in October containing interviews with the Menendez brothers from jail, interviews with their family members, and interviews with people from the case. This documentary essentially explains how, allegedly, Erik and Lyle Menendez were molested at a young age; it continued for years. The brothers’ parents were well known and had a great sum of money. What threw people off, was after they gruesomely killed their parents, the brothers took it upon themselves to go on a shopping spree.
Though it’s tragic to see that they are killers, the small amounts of sympathy the brothers have received are due to their looks. Young girls see two attractive males and suddenly become activists and advocates. Free the Menendez brothers! But why, and why are the two brothers blowing up again almost a decade later.
Kim Kardashian-West paid a visit to the Menendez brothers on September 21st, 2024. A month after her visit, It was reported that “On Oct. 3, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said the Menéndez murder case is being reviewed by his office,” CBS news writes “Gascón said that there could be potential for resentencing or possibly even a new trial.” Could the Menendez brothers be resentenced and what will their lives look like outside their cells?
