The series starts out with a shot of infamous serial killer Jeffery Dahmer in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin apartment on the night of July 22, 1991, with a man who would end Dahmers 13-year murder streak, in which he killed at least 17 men and boys. From this moment, the Netflix show “Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story'' details the life of Jeffrey Dahmer and the impacts his actions had on not only his victims' families but the world. It has gained a plethora of attention and viewers have many mixed emotions. While watching the show, viewers see several tragic storylines of how Dahmer killed his victims, the impacts these murders had on the victims’ families and those around Dahmer, along with a glimpse into the murderer’s life from childhood through adulthood.
The whole experience of watching this new limited series is one that is hard to describe. Many viewers, however, are fascinated that one man could have caused so much pain.
We get to see Dahmer as a little boy growing up and then throughout his life. The show seems to focus a lot on Dahmer and his past rather than the victims and how their lives lead, unfortunately, to him. There are many complaints from the victims' families saying they were never contacted about the show. Errol Lindsey, one of Dahmer's last victims, has a sister who was very upset she was never contacted. She told the Los Angeles Times she was never contacted and has no desire to watch the show. “I lived it, I don't need to watch it,” she said.
Shirley Hughes, mother of Tony Hughes, another victim of Dahmer, said in a phone interview with The Guardian, “I don't see how they can do that. I don't see how they can use our names and put stuff like that out there.” It's hard to imagine someone's pain and suffering becoming a show that a friend might binge in one weekend.
Having a show like this come out on such a well-known platform is bound to get a lot of attention. Dahmer quickly became Netflix’s number-one watched show only days after its release with 196 million hours viewed. Is this shedding light on the heinous crimes or is it just putting Dahmer in the spotlight again?
It also exposed a lot of racism against African Americans and people of color during the time, as well as the LGBTQ+ community. When making a show this serious, the directors tried to create an authentic portrayal of the situation at the time. However, bringing up those issues of racism and prejudice can understandably be triggering to viewers.
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