Trigger warning: This article mentions sensitive topics such as cannibalism, serial killers. Reader discretion is advised
‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ was claimed as the most-watched Netflix show with 196.2 million people viewing it since it premiered, last September 21.
‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ covers the infamous case of serial killer and cannibal, Jeffrey Dahmer who was portrayed by actor, Evan Peters. The show also explains how the notorious criminal came to be.
However, as Halloween parties are now on the move, searches for “Jeffrey Dahmer costume” have surged across platforms since the show’s release. Well, it’s not uncommon for horror fans to dress up as fictional killers such as Jason X or Hannibal Lecter on Halloween. But this year, let us remember that Dahmer was a ‘real person’ who ruined countless lives not a fictional character to be portrayed at any party. With that, here’s a reminder of why you should not dress as Jeffrey Dahmer for Halloween.
Dahmer’s victims are real people
Even though the show highlights the life of the criminal, we should remember that the true people we should shed light upon are the victims of his crimes. User @sicssorluv on Twitter has created a thread on who Dahmer’s victims were and how they were once normal people who did not deserve their fate.
#DahmerNetflix is out, let’s not romanticize Jeffrey Dahmer just because he is played by Evan Peters.
— hot girl jo (@sicssorluv) September 21, 2022
Remember the victims.
A tread about each victim and who they were. pic.twitter.com/3NAZpG40Dq
Despite the popularity of the series, the show received various criticisms, and some of the viral criticisms come from Dahmer’s victims’ family members, namely Rita Isbell and Eric Perry who both came to social media to express their disappointment with the show.
One of Dahmer’s victims, Errol Lindsey’s sister, Rita Isbell had an interview with Insider regarding the show’s reenactment of her victim impact statement during Dahmer’s sentencing in 1992. According to her, Netflix did not ask for her insights on the recreation of her statement, nor was she informed about it by the show.
“I could even understand it if they gave some of the money to the victims' children…If the show benefited them in some way, it wouldn't feel so harsh and careless.” Isbell said that it was greedy how Netflix is profiting off of people’s tragedies.
Later on Errol Lindsey’s cousin, expressed a similar sentiment on a public Twitter thread. "So when they say they're doing this 'with respect to the victims' or 'honoring the dignity of the families,' no one contacts them," He also added that the show was ‘retraumatizing’. “How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?”
