By Riya Bathina
On Sept. 19, prominent director Ryan Murphy released the second season of his true-crime series, Monsters, called Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story. This season is based off the crime committed by Lyle and Erik Menendez on Aug. 20, 1989, when they killed their parents, Jose, and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home. For 6 months, the brothers evaded the police, but eventually were arrested and brought to a trial that captivated the public and media. To this day, this trial remains controversial, and Murphy’s season based off the brothers has caused outrage from many of its viewers.
A major complaint about this season is that it does not accurately portray the brothers and their motivation for the murders. For more than 30 years, the brothers have consistently claimed that they killed their parents because of the years of abuse they endured, which eventually escalated in the week leading up to the crime, leaving them with the belief that they had no choice but to kill them. The brothers were victims of sexual abuse for a large part of their childhood, and so the issue with Murphy’s portrayal is the obvious sexualization of the boys through the actors. Many viewers have asserted that the numerous shots of the actors’ bodies have shifted attention away from the actual abuse the brothers faced and instead turned them into sexual objects. Additionally, another issue with Murphy’s portrayal of the brothers is the suggestion of an incestuous relationship between the two. This is prominent in scenes where the brothers kiss each other on the mouth, where their mother finds them showering together, and where the two are shown dancing sensually. Finally, Murphy had said before how extensive his research was on this case, however, many aspects of this season were untrue. One major aspect of this season is its portrayal of Erik Menendez as queer when, in reality, Erik stated in the 1993 trial that he was “real confused” about his sexuality because of the sexual abuse he faced from his father. He had expressed this was a difficult topic but asserted that he identified as straight. Many viewers feel that this season is inappropriate and disrespectful, arguing that it does not accurately express the brothers or their experiences of abuse.
Erik and Lyle Menendez have both expressed their disappointment with this season. Through X, the wife of Erik Menendez, Tammi Menendez said that Erik had this to say about Murphy’s season, “It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives to do this [portrayal of the brothers] without bad intent.” Entertainment Tonight asked Murphy about the brother’s response to his season, and he stated “I think it is interesting that he is issued a statement without having seen the show, I know he has not seen the show in prison. I hope he does see the show.” [and] “What the show is doing is presenting the points of view and theories from so many people who were involved in the case”. On Oct. 1, when being asked by The Hollywood Reporter if the show had done what it was set out to do despite the criticism, Murphy stated, “The Menéndez brothers should be sending me flowers. They have not had so much attention in 30 years. And it has gotten the attention of not only this country but all over the world.”
