DEC 12, 2024 | OPINION | By Lily Ljiljanich
The Golden Globe-nominated Netflix mini-series, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” has taken the world by storm, stirring mixed responses in the media and the courtroom. The second season of the biographical crime drama “Monsters” succeeds the 2022 critically acclaimed series’ premiere, recounting the life and crimes of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” received 196.2 million hours of viewership in its debut week, and the Menendez story continued the show’s popularity, receiving 97.5 hours viewed in the first four days of release. Show creator Ryan Murphy mixes fact and fiction in this absurd romanticization of the horrific realities endured in the Menendez house.
Social media platforms have ignited the self-taught murder detectives and amateur victim advocates in the case of Lyle and Erik Menendez into action. Now 56 and 54 years old, the brothers find themselves the subject of viral fan edits and dedicated TikTok and Facebook pages, leading the charge against their incarceration.
A quick “Menendez” word search on any social media platform will produce thousands of homemade montages, clipping scenes and soundbites from the show into trendy videos garnering millions of views, widening the spread of misinformation about the case. Comment sections reveal two major (and troubling) opinions from viewers: the sex appeal and desire for the immediate exoneration of the Menendez brothers. The dominating position amongst the show’s fans reveals the haunting truth behind inaccurate and glamorized stories with real-life repercussions.
To provide an analytic critique of the season’s plots and portrayals would be to dignify Ryan Murphy’s production. “Monsters” monetizes the atrocities committed against two adolescent boys at the hands of their parents from an ill-informed viewpoint, lacking critical perspective from the Menendez brothers themselves. Murphy alludes to an incestual relationship between Erik and Lyle, a grossly inaccurate representation as both brothers have denied it. The questionable narratives portrayed in the show are further complicated by the glamorization of the brothers on social media, where young TikTok users applaud the brothers for conspiring to murder their parents while also pining for them.
The mass mobilization of fans calling for the Menendez brothers’ freedom has proved fruitful. The Los Angeles District Attorney filed a motion recommending a judge re-sentence the siblings based on new evidence pointing to abuse at the hands of their father, José Menendez, as well as widespread support of the brothers’ model behavior in prison. Regardless of legal knowledge or critical thinking, a call to action stemming from praise of Netflix’s “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” has resulted in legitimate potential for parole. If lustful Instagram and TikTok users can monetize the Menendez brothers for views, just as Murphy did with his problematic miniseries, certainly our collective Gen Z efforts can be put towards the more pressing incarceration issues permeating our legal system nationwide. Is support only earned if the subject of such advocacy is deemed attractive?
Where is the empathy for sexual assault victims seeking mental health resources or the mobilization for at-risk youth in abusive households? Does it take a problematic Netflix original to generate widespread social and legal change for sexual assault survivors convicted of conspiracy to murder? Looks like it.
The massive response to “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” bred sympathy for the victims Erik and Lyle Mendez, but should this expunge their indisputable first-degree murder charge? I don’t think so.