Content warning: This article mentions topics of sexual assault and violence.
The Menendez Brothers
On Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle Menendez, 21, and his brother, Erik Menendez, 18, murdered their parents, Jose and Mary Louise, in their Beverly Hills residence.
Their first trial began on July 20, 1993. Both brothers took the stand and testified that they had been sexually abused by their parents. Erik stated he had experienced abuse from his father, and Lyle faced it from both his mother and father.
The trial ended with a deadlocked jury, resulting in a mistrial.
The second trial began in October of 1995 and ended with the brothers’ conviction of first-degree murder. They were both sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Ryan Murphy’s ‘Monsters’
First Jeffery Dahmer, now the Menendez Brothers. It seems as though many are enthusiastically enjoying Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s second installment of the Monsters anthology series — Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
At first, the show comes off as a documentary of the Menendez household, but some may realize that there might be a generous amount of fantasy ingrained by the show’s creators. One such example is the insinuation of the brothers having an incestuous homoerotic relationship, which was based on a theory created at the time of the trials.
The portrayal of the brothers was so inaccurate that the family released an official response to the show, which came from Joan VanderMolen (Erik’s Aunt) and the rest of the Menendez Family.
“It is sad that Ryan Murphy, Netflix, and all others involved in this series do not have an understanding of the impact of years of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse,” part of the response said. “Perhaps, after all, Monsters is all about Ryan Murphy.”
Ryan Murphy’s thoughts on this statement were then shared in an article by Stephan Lee on Tudum by Netflix.
“I think it’s a lot of faux outrage,” Murphy said. “I think that this show is the best thing that has happened to the Menendez brothers in 30 years in prison.”
Moreover, in another statement, Murphy addressed the fact that male sexual abuse is a topic that is often not discussed and he claimed the documentary brought attention to that.
“I think that male sexual abuse is something that’s really not been talked about a lot in our culture, certainly not then when these trials happened, and certainly not even now,” Murphy said. “But I think people are talking about that and I find that to be gratifying and good.”
With these statements, some question why they portrayed the brothers in such a fantasized light that Murphy himself can’t state it as true. The series paints the brothers in such a way that the family themselves can’t approve of the portrayal.
The attention momentarily shifted to the actor portraying Lyle, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, after he made a statement on TODAY. He was then asked if he ever plans on connecting with the real Lyle Menendez.
“You take on these jobs as an actor, and then I think a big part of that job, at least for myself, is letting it go gracefully and then going on to the next thing,” Chavez said.
There seems to be an insensitivity regarding the portrayal of the Menendez brothers. Murphy was not given consent, as we see in a Variety interview where he stated, “I have no interest in talking to them.” The brothers are willing to speak because the actor who portrays Erik, Cooper Koch, met with Erik Menendez himself before the show’s release.
Why is this concerning?
Not only do we see the show’s creators exemplify a lack of interest in the brothers’ story, but now we see the beginning of the Menendez “fandom.” Various social media users have made edits of the brothers, with most of the clips pulled from courtroom footage taken during the trials.
Many viewers of the previous installment of the Monsters sexualized the main character, Jeffery Dahmer. Now, we’re seeing the same thing with the Menendez brothers.
By sexualizing the Menendez brothers, many harmful ideologies can take place. We risk erasing the complexity of their trauma and underplay the profound consequences of abuse. Portraying the brothers from a sexualized point of view risks painting their story as dramatic or glamorous rather than tragic.
Murphy’s portrayal blurs the lines between the brothers being guilty of murder as well as being victims, creating a harmful narrative where viewers may feel sympathy for them based on their physical attractiveness or charisma rather than a nuanced understanding of the cycle of trauma and violence.
Moving forward
Inappropriate romanticization and sexualization is not a new phenomenon but rather one we should avidly tackle when presented with. Examples like Monsters provide a disservice to justice, accountability, and trauma conversations.
According to the LA Times, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón will ask a judge to resentence the brothers, which could potentially lead to their release.