Jeffrey Dahmer, the murderous and cannibalistic monster that Netflix has turned into a pop icon

It is already the second most watched series in the history of Netflix after Stranger Things with 856.2 million viewing hours. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story tells the life of one of the most famous murderers in US history, known as “The Milwaukee Cannibal”, who between 1978 and 1991 murdered and dismembered at least 17 people.

Its success has been such that the 10-episode series has become a worldwide phenomenon not without controversy; his simple but recognizable costume, made up of a plaid shirt, horn-rimmed glasses and a combed blonde wig, or the orange prison jumpsuit, has been one of the favorites in Halloween.

Dahmer’s costume banned

The relatives of the victims of the serial killer raised their voices against the sale of the costume on the different platforms. eBay was the first to ban its sale due to its policy of vetoing products that promote or glorify violence, and other stores joined the initiative to prevent the romanticization or fun of the murder of 17 human beings in cold blood.

The same series has been branded as lacking sensitivity and respect for the relatives of the victims, who are very upset with Netflix. According to them, they were never consulted before starting a project that for them means reliving the pain of those horrible deaths: “The series has traumatized us again,” they have assured.

Ryan Murphyproducer of the series and responsible for other hits like Versace y Scream Queenshas defended himself: “We tried to contact about 20 friends and relatives of the victims without success. We were very diligent with that issue.”

The frightening story of a monster

The ten chapters that tell the story took ten months to shoot, but they have been preparing for ten years. Murphy insists: “We have tried to be as truthful as possible. I think we have been faithful to the truth. We are not telling the story of a monster, but how the monster was formed.”

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The Milwaukee monster is represented by the actor Evan Peterswho has also participated in series such as American Horror Story. In statements collected by ABCthe actor explained what the challenge of living with the shadow of the character during the four months of preparation and the six more of filming has meant: “I had my doubts because this is an extremely dark role, but in the end I decided to give myself completely to the character,” he acknowledged.

read also: ‘Dahmer’, the serial killer that overwhelms the entire world and crushes all records on Netflix

Peters spent the months leading up to the shoot wondering if he should play him and how it might affect him. “It’s been a brutal challenge to dive into the psychology of that extreme side of human behavior.”

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has drawn much criticism for the realism with which it portrays the terrifying nature of the crimes of the serial killer, who killed, dismembered and, in some cases, cannibalized 17 victims over 13 years. All of them were men or boys, and most were gay people of color.

Dahmer’s father wants to sue Netflix

Lionel Dahmerthe father of the murderer, who once wrote a book telling the story, has also been upset that the platform of streaming never contacted him to inquire about the production based on his son. The father of the criminal is considering taking legal action against Netflix, and together with his attorney they are gathering information and assessing a possible lawsuit against the production team or against the platform.

Precisely the father of the monster published a memoir in 1994 that did not have the expected success. As can be seen from the viewing of the series, it was he who taught his son from a young age to perform autopsies on animals and fermented his passion for “taxidermy”.