Netflix sells what’s left of its soul to turn profit on evils of Jeffrey Dahmer

Netflix’s Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has splatted itself across the screens of many homes this season. With one of the most morbidly captivating true crime cases in this state, or any other,  it makes sense that the streaming giant’s new television series has become a hit. It comes as no surprise, especially considering the recent resurgence of true crime documentaries, podcasts, and movies. However, while October’s spooky season turns the corner, many are correlating real true crime with falsified supernatural stories and questioning the morality of exploiting such pain for profit. This has become a huge issue, and it began with the director’s choices in the series.

Bypassing the boring, predictable chronological order, the first scene of the show features the climax. After being lured to his apartment complex, Tracy Edwards (Shaun Brown, The Great Outdoors), who is under the impression that a few pictures and a couple of beers was all that was going down for the night, had no clue what was really going to happen to him. Netflix teases viewers as they realize that if Edwards doesn’t escape, he would become Dahmer’s next meal. Thankfully, Edwards raises an eyebrow when Dahmer (Evan Peters, American Horror Story) offers him an oddly fizzy drink (which was spiked with sedatives). Viewers see a victim who doesn't blindly follow Dahmer and doesn’t succumb to his diabolical perseverance. This scene quickly accomplishes the goal of putting all viewers on the edge of their seats. As Edwards realizes Dahmer has different plans for him, they get into a physical altercation, with Edwards becoming one of the few victims able to get a fair fight with Dahmer as opposed to being drugged into unconsciousness. Viewers were sure to be screaming at their screens as Edwards successfully pushed Dahmer to the floor and struggled with the various locks on his door in an attempt to escape. Fortunately, he escapes and successfully reports Dahmer to the police, leading to his arrest. 

While true crime is undeniably captivativating and alluring, the show does not shy away from the horror of serial killers. With multiple scenes featuring Dahmer partaking in autoeroticism, all viewers - including the ones with dark humor - have a reason to look away from the screen. To say the least, it is not family-friendly. After his arrest, police dragged out acid-filled barrels, frozen body parts, and bones that were scattered around his apartment. Yet, even after these findings were uncovered, the show comments on the fanbase that began around Dahmer. Fury at the crimes becomes even worse when one realizes that this is currently happening - outside of the TV series.

Not only does the series expose the horror of the murders, but it shines a light on the horror of society. More than half the reason Dahmer was able to do what he did was due to police negligence. While it may be easy to dismiss this as Netflix merely portraying the police in a bad light, one shouldn’t forget that this truly happened. The police officers were not only reinstated after blatantly being homophobic and racist, but John Balcerzak, an officer in the case, was later voted president of the Milwaukee Police Association. Although the series doesn’t mention it, the officers, after a successful, shameless career, calmly retired. The show stirs up these feelings of anger and sadness by depicting that it was due to this carelessness that many minorities died, one of whom was a 14-year-old boy, Konerak Sinthasomphone. When Dahmer’s neighbor called the police after the boy came running out of the killer’s apartment naked, if they had only looked into Dahmer and not trusted the white guy they would’ve clearly seen that Dahmer had reports of molestation. Not only that, but this charge was made on account of Sinthasomphone’s older brother, who had been drugged and had explicit photos taken of him by Dahmer. The only reason Sinthasomphone followed Dahmer was because he knew his family needed money and he had promised he would pay him for pictures. Yet when the police came and Dahmer said they were just gay lovers, the police didn’t look into the case at all because they thought homosexuals were weird and unholy. 

Despite the show ending with an implicit invite for viewers to fight for the memorial of the victims, it was almost ironic as the majority of the series focused on Dahmer, in lieu of the actual victims. To make it even worse, Netflix released the series without consulting the victim’s families or allowing them a portion of the monetization. While he may be the main character, the show makes it far too easy for viewers to glamorize Dahmer. Rather than seeing him as a cruel man who used his white privilege to impose himself on gay, young minorities, many see him as a quirky loser who makes humorous jabs at others. It’s true that many serial killers have captivating personalities; after all, by those means they are able to lure their victims and go undetected after killing them. However, with TV series based on real stories with real victims, the directors needed to take it upon themselves to assure viewers that this is more than a show.  After failing to make this clear, the negative effects are many people thinking cosplaying Dahmer for Halloween, thinking that it’s trendy. It’s not a trend and it’s not a joke. For Dahmer’s 17 victims, it was their lives.

B-: Despite the heart-racing moments and unbearable cinematography, Netflix’s Dahmer is not worth watching after knowing all of the nightmares it has brought to the victim’s families.

By Evangeline Lee and Cristi Isaula-Reyes

Oshkosh West Index Volume 119 Issue II

October 31 2022