I feel like it’s important to start this with a trigger warning. The topic of a serial killer isn’t light or pleasant and if this topic or the Dahmer show is triggering, then this article may be one to avoid.
Now let’s get into it. In case anyone’s unaware, the Golden Globes is an award show presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (or HFPA, for short). Usually, the show is hosted in January at The Beverly Hilton Hotel and recognizes different achievements in the television and motion picture world. The award show has had its fair share of controversy over the years (most of it pertaining to the lack of diversity) and even cancelled its 2022 event because of racism and allegations of sexual assault.
It’s been a bumpy road for HFPA to say the least, so their return this year left many people (myself included) with high expectations. Whether or not they delivered is really up for interpretation. In my personal and honest opinion, they did not. There are many things I feel we can unpack from this year’s Golden Globes. From the incredibly boring host to ELVIS not winning “Best Motion Picture – Drama”, it seemed like a pretty poor comeback. And of course, the cherry on top of a really mediocre night—Netflix’s new show Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story walked away with four nominations and one Golden Globe.
Now I’m sure some of you may be asking, “Why is that so bad?”. And those who watched it may have even believed it to be a good show, so why doesn’t it deserve the wins? My answer (and the one I feel many others also believe) is that the show shouldn’t have been made, let alone been nominated four times and won.
It’s always been an incredibly controversial show, as are all shows made about real-life serial killers, and there are so many problems with it. For starters, it rehashes so much of the trauma that Dahmer’s victims’ families have been trying to deal with since his years as a killer. Ryan Murphey, one of the show’s creators, even admitted in an interview the movie crew reached out to around 20 of the victims’ friends and families and received no response. However, Eric Perry (a cousin of Errol Lindsey, one of Dahmer’s victims) took to Twitter to explain his family’s pain as a result of the show. He discredited what Murphey stated and explained that his family (as well as the families of other victims) wasn’t notified about the show. They found out when the show was announced. He also discussed his and his family’s disapproval of the show.
If that isn’t enough to convince you the show shouldn’t have been made, let’s talk about the romanticization of Jeffery Dahmer on social media. It’s disgusting and appalling to see the number of people (both kids and adults) who are romanticizing and justifying what Dahmer did. They’re saying they could “fix him”, that he was “misunderstood” and that they’d let Dahmer do to them what he did to his victims (all of these examples can be found by searching “Dahmer romanticization” on either TikTok, Twitter or YouTube). It’s grotesque and absolutely disrespectful to everyone trying to heal from this event.
At this point, I’m hoping I’ve established how disrespectful and offensive Dahmer is, but let’s talk about one more thing for good measure. The show is not factually correct and glorifies storylines and situations that didn’t necessarily happen. A PopBuzz article written by Katie Louise Smith talks about the reaction of Anne E. Schwartz, a former crime reporter who reported on the Jeffery Dahmer case. Schwartz explains that many parts of the Dahmer show were either false or changed for the benefit of the show. She focused on Dahmer’s neighbour in the show, as well as the smell from his apartment, as examples of how the show altered events to benefit the story it wanted to tell.
The story of the Jeffery Dahmer case has been told many different times by many different people since his imprisonment and death. People know what happened and if they don’t, there are plenty of ways to learn. Dahmer is yet another show that glamorizes his killing spree (and does so by telling stories that aren’t necessarily factual) and is now redundant. All it’s done is bring up the trauma these poor victims’ families are trying to heal from. If you’re going to retraumatize victims’ families make sure the story you’re telling is the truth. Hopefully, we can move past this need to make a docu-drama for every serial killer. By doing so, maybe these victims’ families can finally heal without being reminded of their trauma every time a director wants to make more money.
My last take—I personally haven’t watched the show but I encourage those who want the facts of this case to watch court trials with real people instead of another unnecessary dramatization. Let these poor people heal. The story’s been told and it’s time to move on.
Link to the article referenced: https://www.popbuzz.com/tv-film/news/jeffrey-dahmer-netflix-inaccurate-true-story/