It seems that each decade Americans must reckon with an age-old controversy. With Netflix’s Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, America’s macabre fascination with one of the worst mass murder cases in Milwaukee history has been revived. The series is an account of Dahmer’s life, ranging from his troubled childhood to his eventual death in prison, tying in several of his victims’ stories as well. Yet as the series reaches groundbreaking popularity, it has also sparked that age-old controversy. The question remains: is it unethical, or downright dangerous, to create entertainment out of human suffering?
The American media has always had a soft spot, a deeply concerning soft spot for its serial killers. Jeffrey Dahmer has been no exception. After his arrest in 1991, and the testimony of survivor Tracey Edwards, his crimes became known to the public. Once the media caught wind of this, they took his story and ran with it. Today we are once again seeing the echoes of those awful narratives through our television shows, our articles, our daily gossip. The show has sparked a wave of Snapchat articles, portraying Dahmer as a sort of sick celebrity. In other words, his horrific crimes are being used as clickbait. Many may be quick to dismiss the attention directed toward Dahmer as harmless, or a little strange at best. Yet they are overlooking what really matters here. How do the actual victims feel?
Unsurprisingly, they are enraged. Many of the families have expressed sentiments of retraumatization. They are shocked that the show creators did not reach out to them, or ask permission to tell their stories. While the writers of Dahmer have been vocal about wanting a story that focuses on the victim’s suffering, they have seriously failed in this regard; if that was, in fact, their ambition. While viewers are indulging themselves in the specifics of these crimes, real people are reliving their worst nightmare. Whatever the show’s intentions, it is evident that their portrayal of Dahmer is having harmful effects upon the culture.
The romanticization of violence promotes the distorted view that somehow it is the killer that deserves our sympathy, and not his victims. Many of those who lost their lives at Dahmer’s hands were young men of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. One thing, however, that the show did right was to expose the corruption within law enforcement that allowed Dahmer to continue killing. The racist, homophobic ideologies embedded within our institutions are responsible for these awful and preventable tragedies. It is the true issue at hand. If you choose to watch Dahmer, or have already seen it, I urge you to focus on the victims’ lives. Ask yourself how you would feel if the death of your loved one was witnessed, on screen, worldwide. Pay attention, and appreciate the bravery of the Milwaukee community, and their willingness to stand up to injustice.
