‘Retraumatizing Over and Over Again’: Family of One of Jeffrey Dahmer’s Victims Rages Against Netflix’s ‘Cruel’ Series

A new Netflix series by Ryan Murphy seeks to offer a new outlook on one of America’s most infamous serial killers — Jeffery Dahmer.

However, some of the families of his victims believe the series is uncalled for and accuse the studio of being insensitive.

True-crime TV fans have an endless appetite for macabre entertainment, but true-crime victims have had enough.

Eric Perry, the cousin of Jeffrey Dahmer victim Errol Lindsey, raged against the project on Twitter, expressing his frustration with “Monster: The Jeffery Dahmer Story,” a new series by Ian Brennan and Ryan Murphy that stars Evan Peters (from the American Horror Story series) as Jeffrey Dahmer.

I’m not telling anyone what to watch, I know true crime media is huge rn, but if you’re actually curious about the victims, my family (the Isbell’s) are pissed about this show. It’s retraumatizing over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need? https://t.co/CRQjXWAvjx

— eric. (@ericthulhu) September 22, 2022

“I’m not telling anyone what to watch, I know true crime media is huge rn, but if you’re actually curious about the victims, my family (the Isbell’s) are pissed about this show,” he wrote.

“Recreating my cousin having an emotional breakdown in court in the face of the man who tortured and murdered her brother is WILD.”

Perry also mentioned that because the murders are public records, the producer of actual crime shows do not have to notify the families of the victims they portray.

Perry says no one from “Monster” got in touch with the families, and they learned about the show the same way everyone else did.

“So when they say they’re doing this ‘with respect to the victims’ or ‘honoring the dignity of the families,’ no one contacts them,” he wrote. “My cousins wake up every few months at this point with a bunch of calls and messages and they know there’s another Dahmer show. It’s cruel.”

Meanwhile, the show’s production team defended the project, saying the goal was never to humanize Dahmer but to show all his victims’ perspectives and explain how race and sexuality informed the murders.

“We had one rule going into this from Ryan [Murphy], that it would never be told from Dahmer’s point of view,” Peters said in a promotional video. “It’s called ‘The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,’ but it’s not just him and his backstory: It’s the repercussions, it’s how society and our system failed to stop him multiple times because of racism, homophobia. It’s just a tragic story.”

Still, Perry doesn’t believe those efforts justify the show’s existence.

“It’s retraumatizing over and over again, and for what?” he wrote. “How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?

You can also watch a video about this story below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlyNLCX7JJQ

And here is a clip featuring the trailer for “Monster.”

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Sources:

1. “Family of Jeffrey Dahmer Victim Slams ‘Cruel’ Netflix Series: ‘Retraumatizing Over and Over Again’” IndieWire.