Here Are The Reasons People Are Upset About Netflix’s Jeffrey Dahmer Show

Since Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story premiered on Sept. 21, it has become one of the platform’s most popular shows and its first week was bigger than that of Squid Game, reportedly racking up more than 196 million hours viewed. It’s unavoidable on TikTok too. With the #Dahmer hashtag raking in more than 1 billion views, the real Jeffrey Dahmer’s life, and the actors’ portrayals have gone massively viral.

The Dahmer Netflix show, produced by horror and true crime aficionado Ryan Murphy, has been praised for shedding light on how police failed the 17 victims, who were predominantly Black, for so long. But any positive takeaway from the show is difficult to parse through its many criticisms, including a depiction of the real-life Dahmer that has endeared the serial killer to some people.

Despite its popularity, true crime as a genre is fundamentally fraught. As Stephanie McNeal wrote for BuzzFeed News in May, the “true crime industrial complex” has increased demand for juicier and more shocking cases for public consumption, regardless of what the families of the victims want. It also happens in spite of the inevitably reductive discourse on social media that romanticizes and capitalizes on murder.

Here’s a look at the controversies Dahmer has created and the people it has affected:

Relatives of the victims say the show is making them relive their trauma.

The show has been commended for the time it dedicates to humanizing the people Dahmer killed. Actor Evan Peters, who stars as Dahmer, said in a promotional interview that Murphy’s “one rule” for the show was that it should “never be told from Dahmer’s point of view.” But those affected by the serial killer’s horrific crimes don’t feel particularly represented, either.

A scene re-creating Rita Isbell’s confrontation of Dahmer in court after he killed her brother Erroll Lindsey has been lauded on TikTok and Twitter for its accuracy. DaShawn Barnes, the actor who plays Isbell, tweeted she is “grateful the victims weren’t an afterthought but their humanity and perspectives were reflected in this series.”