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Ryan Murphy said his new Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” based on the 1989 murder of Jose and Kitty Menendez by their sons, shows the perspectives of “so many people who were involved in the case,” and defended it against critics who questioned the show’s apparent portrayal of the brothers as having an incestuous relationship.
Ryan Murphy and the cast of Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story on Netflix. (Photo by Steve … (+)
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Murphy, who created the series and wrote several episodes, told Entertainment Tonight he was surprised that Erik Menendez sharply criticized the series in a statement posted on his wife Tammi Menendez’s X-account, claiming Menendez probably wouldn’t have been able to watch the show from prison.
Murphy defended the series’ portrayal of the Menendez brothers as having an apparently incestuous relationship, saying that journalist Dominick Dunne, portrayed by Nathan Lane in the series, had suggested this theory in his coverage of the trial (however, Dunne reportedly did not support this theory in his reporting).
Murphy acknowledged that it might be difficult for the Menendez brothers to watch their trial replayed on screen, but estimated that 60 to 65 percent of the show will be about the trial from the brothers’ point of view.
Some social media users have criticized the series for scenes that suggest that the brothers – who in real life are serving life sentences for the murder of their mother and father, who allegedly sexually abused them – had an incestuous relationship.
In the second episode of the series, the brothers kiss on the lips in one scene while discussing their future plans. Later in the episode, the two dance at a party, holding each other tightly while caressing each other’s faces, earning confused and disgusted looks from the other partygoers.
One post on X (formerly known as Twitter) received over 100,000 likes and criticized the show for portraying the brothers as an “incestuous fantasy.” Another post, which received over 80,000 likes, said, “Creating incest fanfiction about real brothers is INSANE.”
At a retrial in 1995, Lyle testified that he had abused Erik when they were children. However, the series portrays her interactions with Erik as adults and as apparently consensual acts.
What did the Menendez brothers say?
Erik Menendez criticized the “Monsters” series, according to his statement, as a “dishonest portrayal” of their history that was “rooted in horrific and obvious lies.” Menendez claimed Murphy misrepresented him and his brother with “bad faith” and stated that Murphy could not be “so naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives.” Menendez said the series was reminiscent of “an era in which the prosecution built a narrative on the belief system that men were not sexually abused and that men experienced rape trauma differently than women.”
What you should pay attention to
Netflix released a trailer Monday morning for the upcoming documentary “The Menendez Brothers,” which is set to hit theaters on October 7. Both Menendez brothers participate in the documentary through phone interviews they conducted in prison. According to Netflix, this is the first time in 30 years that the brothers have spoken about the murder of their parents. In the trailer, the brothers say that “so much has been untold” about their story, and they say that the media controlled the narrative rather than the brothers themselves. The project, directed by Alejandro Hartmann and produced by Campfire Studios, also features interviews with lawyers involved in the trial of the Menendez brothers and journalists who have covered the case.
Main critics
The series received mixed reviews, with many criticizing its uneven tone, which vacillates between kitsch and the seriousness of a real murder case. Variety, in a mostly negative review, called the tone “heavy” and said the series “vacillates between threatening and slightly cheesy” and contains “excessive homoeroticism” (both brothers stated during the trial that they are not gay). In a three-star review, The Independent called the series the “best and worst of Ryan Murphy,” known for hit television series such as American Crime Story and American Horror Story. Whether his efforts are “interrogative or simply exploitative can be quite uncertain,” and Monsters falls somewhere in between. The Hollywood Reporter said the series comes close to “trivializing two brutal deaths or a decade of sexual abuse, all in the name of rehashing a case that has already been extensively rehashed over the years.”
Important background
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in 1996 of shooting their parents to death in 1989, when they were 21 and 18, respectively. The brothers faced two trials – the first in 1993, when they were tried separately and two juries returned no verdicts, and a second that began in 1995, when they were tried together and convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The brothers argued the killings were self-defense, and said they had endured years of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of their father. Prosecutors argued the brothers killed their parents to inherit their fortune, pointing to major purchases they made after the murders, such as a Rolex and a Porsche Carrera. The first trial, which was televised, attracted significant media attention and also went viral on TikTok in 2021, with many Gen Z users campaigning for her release, the New York Times reported.
Where are the Menendez brothers now?
Both brothers are incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. The brothers’ lawyers filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court last year, requesting a new hearing, citing recently discovered evidence – a letter the lawyers say Erik wrote eight months before the murders, describing alleged sexual abuse by his father.
Surprising fact
Kim Kardashian and actor Cooper Koch, who plays Erik Menendez on the series “Monsters,” visited the Menendez brothers and other inmates at their San Diego prison on Saturday to talk about prison reform. Although it’s unclear what they talked about, Kardashian has been visiting prisons regularly for several years and met with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House earlier this year to talk about criminal justice reform.
tangent
Murphy’s previous series, “Dahmer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” also caused controversy. The families of Dahmer’s victims accused it of reopening old wounds. “This isn’t just a story or historical fact, these are real people’s lives,” Eric Perry, a relative of Dahmer victim Errol Lindsey, told the Los Angeles Times. “I don’t have to see it, I lived it,” Lindsey’s sister Rita Isbell wrote in an article for Insider, criticizing Netflix for not asking the families of Dahmer’s victims “if it bothered us or how we felt about it.” The series received mixed reviews, achieving a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite the controversy, the series received 13 nominations at the postponed 75th Emmy Awards in January 2024, winning one for Niecy Nash’s supporting role.
More information
Ryan Murphy’s ‘Monsters’ series: Were the Menendez brothers incestuous lovers? (The Daily Beast)
The Wild, True Story Behind Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez (Vanity Fair)
