Anyone on the internet and social media have most likely seen some form of media involving the Menendez brothers and the details of their crimes. Ever since “true crime” has become a category in the media, people have been diving headfirst into many cases, attempting to know everything about them and dissecting them as if they were the very detectives and judges on the case. While I’m all for diving into a hyperfixation and learning about something new, the problem lies in how this information is given and how people react.
Netflix released a series on September 19 called Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, a drama depicting the murder of Jose and Kitty Menendez by their two sons, Lyle and Erik, and the trial and events that ensued after. Shortly after the series was released, on October 7, a documentary movie titled The Menendez Brothers was also released on Netflix, this time a candid retelling featuring interviews from journalists, friends, and the brothers themselves.
While the documentary is heavily based on facts and the use of many different perspectives on the case, the show, created by Ryan Murphy, lacks every bit of truth and accuracy, completely glamorized and given a comedic undertone, while adding random theories and rumors about the brothers. The response to this from the public has consisted of TikTok edits of scenes of Lyle Menendez, a resurgence in individuals who are advocating for their case to be re-explored and reopened, and a multitude of disturbed viewers who are noting the inaccurate portrayal of the brothers’ relationship as sexual and intimate.
The brothers have opened up about how uncomfortable they are with this particular portrayal of the case, with Erik even saying that “Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of [their] lives so as to do this without bad intent” in a statement he released. In addition, members of the Menendez family have said that Murphy never consulted the family or spoke to them regarding the portrayal of Lyle and Erik.
In contrast, the documentary directed by Alejandro Hartmann uses actual conversations with both Lyle and Erik to “speak candidly”, according to the Netflix summary, about the case and the tragedy that is the Menendez brothers’ lives. This was the very first time in over thirty years that the brothers were given a true voice and platform to speak on the events of their OWN lives. Because of this, people have easily jumped to conclusions, whether it be of their innocence, guilt, honesty, or falsity, which have proven detrimental to their healing from this horrific period.
Regardless of whether people believe they deserve the fate that has been dealt to them, it is undeniable that they need the ability to learn, grow, and heal, even within their incarceration. In order to do so, as Leslie Abramson said in a statement regarding her decision to not appear in the Hartmann Netflix documentary, we have “to leave the past in the past.”
TikTok users, however, completely disregard this, even using Abramson in edits about the case and videos meant to draw pity to the brothers. While giving support to individuals who need it is a beautiful act in and of itself, it takes a very different form when that support goes against the very wishes of those individuals. It also becomes even more harmful when the support is not rooted in fact, but rather in how an audience perceives a “character”, visually and emotionally, as was the case with response to Murphy’s show. However, even with the most accurate depiction, with the absolute best inclusion of real people’s accounts of real situations, reactions still fall short of respect. Actions are completed in vain. People still get hurt. Damage is still done. The past is brought forward, time and time again, often for nothing. As Abramson has said, “No amount of media, nor teenage petitions will alter the fate of these clients. Only the court can do that and they have ruled.”
The gravest hazard that comes with this type of media attention is that it makes a spectacle out of real people, with real actions, and real consequences, transforming them into characters for our entertainment, creating a looking glass into the smallest bit of their lives and magnifying their greatest heartbreaks. New-age media users must learn to navigate this constant inflow of information, knowing when it is time to speak up, and when it is time to let what is dead lie buried.