The new Netflix limited series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story arrived last week and its harshest critics aren’t professionals. Families of one particular victim are speaking out against the show, bringing attention to an often overlooked aspect of true crime dramas.
A Twitter user who goes by @ericthulhu has lashed out at the producers of Dahmer for further exploiting victims, particularly in his own family. The user is the cousin of Rita Isbell, the older sister of Jeffrey Dahmer victim Erroll Lindsey. The 19-year-old Lindsey was killed in 1991 in a way we are absolutely not going to describe here–not because of a Twitter blow-up but because that is not how we were taught to use power tools.
He continued, explaining how the collaboration between producers and Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims’ families works–in short, it doesn’t. “They don’t notify families when they do this. It’s all public record, so they don’t have to notify (or pay!) anyone. My family found out when everyone else did.” He elaborated on the toll it continues to take. “So when they say they’re doing this ‘with respect to the victims’ or ‘honoring the dignity of the families’, no one contacts them. 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.”
The ten-episode limited series was co-created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. It stars Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed 17 people and committed other wholesome acts like cannibalism and necrophilia. He was murdered in prison in 1994.
Our own Alex Maidy gave Dahmer a middle-of-the-road 6/10. You can read his review here.
What do you think about the deluge of true crime dramas? Should victims’ families be consulted? Let us know in the comments below.
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What’s Not Allowed