Hollywood is just another business, we know that. But with business in the 21st century comes social responsibility. The entertainment industry has a profound influence on culture and is therefore quite consequential. This is why artistic freedom has its limits.
Netflix’s new show Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, based on the life and crimes of notorious serial killer Jeffery Dahmer, is making waves. However, the show follows a longstanding Hollywood trend of romanticizing serial killers. This is wrong in many ways and needs to be exposed and corrected.
Dahmer: turn a monster into a hero
Sure, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has great visuals and strong performance. However, the despicable serial killer is glamorized. The show portrays the uncannily intelligent Jeffrey Dahmer in a romanticized way. What unfortunately remains in the foreground is the sad story of the victims and their families.
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The fate of the community where Dahmer lived and committed his crimes is not emphasized enough. Nor the tragic dimension of racism on the part of the police.
Instead, in the Netflix series, Dahmer is portrayed as a cool, confident killer who deceives his victims perfectly. Shows like these need to portray these killers responsibly. In a way where these freaks aren’t glamorized. Where they are portrayed as the absolute worst in humanity and not as pseudo-heroes accomplishing their exploits.
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The series follows a long-standing trend
Unfortunately, tapping into consumers’ morbid curiosity is nothing new in Hollywood. In fact, movies and shows based on true crimes and especially serial killers regularly do good business. However, the common thread that runs through most of these productions is the glorification, intentional or not, of serial killers. This is detrimental to our society, which is plagued by ever increasing levels of violence, mass shootings and school shootings. What compounds the harmful effects of such content is the consumer audience, which is usually young and therefore impressionable.
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Hollywood needs to take responsibility and rethink its portrayal of these monsters. The tragic story of the victims and the pain of their families must not be despised and exploited for commercial gain.
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is currently streaming on Netflix.
