Hollywood is just another business, we know that. But business in the 21st century comes with social responsibility. The entertainment industry has a deep influence on culture and is therefore quite consequential. This is why artistic freedom has its limits.
Netflix’s new show Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, based on the life and crimes of notorious serial killer Jeffery Dahmer, is making waves. However, the show follows a long-standing trend on the part of Hollywood of romanticizing serial killers. This is wrong in so many ways and needs to be called out and corrected.
Dahmer: Making a Hero out of a Monster
Sure, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has great visuals and strong performances. However, the despicable serial killer is glamorized. The show depicts the disturbingly intelligent Jeffrey Dahmer in a romanticized way. What is unfortunately left in the foreground is the sad story of the victims and their families.
The plight of the community where Dahmer lived and committed his crimes Isn’t highlighted enough. Neither is the tragic dimension of racism on the part of the police department.
Instead, in the Netflix series, Dahmer is shown as a cool, confident killer that flawlessly tricks his victims. Shows such as these need to portray such killers in a responsible fashion. In a way where these monsters aren’t glamorized. Where they are depicted as the absolute worst of humanity and not as pseudo-heroes going about their exploits.
You may also like: MCU Star Evan Peters Finally Gets His Big Break as Netflix Series ‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ Gets 196.2M Views, May Dethrone Stranger Things S4
The series follows a Long-standing Trend
Unfortunately, exploiting the morbid curiosity of consumers is not new to Hollywood. In fact, films and shows based on true crime and especially serial killers regularly do great business. However, the common thread that runs through most of such productions is the glorification, intentional or otherwise, of serial killers. This is harmful to our society, which is plagued by ever-increasing levels of violence, mass shootings, and school shootings. What aggravates the ill effects of such content is the consuming audience, which is usually young and thus impressionable.
Related: Netflix: Best Serial Killer Shows According To IMDb
Hollywood needs to take responsibility and rethink its depiction of such monsters. The tragic story of victims and the pain of their families must not be disrespected and exploited for commercial benefit.
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is currently streaming on Netflix.
