Ryan Murphy defends his controversial Dahmer Netflix series
"I also don’t think that all gay stories have to be happy stories,” says Ryan Murphy.
Ryan Murphy has defended his Netflix show Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story against mounting criticism.
The Emmy-winning 56-year-old writer-director said he joined the project to spotlight the racism and homophobia that was attached to the case.
“It was the biggest thing I’ve ever seen that really sort of examines how easy it is to get away with things with the white privilege aspects,” Murphy said, speaking to The New York Times.
He added: “What are the rules now? Should we never do a movie about a tyrant? I also don’t think that all gay stories have to be happy stories,” Murphy continued.
Murphy also addressed Netflix’s decision to remove the LGBTQ tag from the show after complaints.
“There was a moment on Netflix where they removed the LGBTQ tag from Dahmer, and I didn’t like it, and I asked why they did that, and they said because people were upset because it was an upsetting story,” Murphy explains.
“I was, like, ‘Well, yeah.’ But it was a story of a gay man and, more importantly, his gay victims.”
In the 10-part Netflix series, American Horror Story’s Evan Peters plays Jeffrey Dahmer, the gay American serial killer and sex offender who committed the murder and dismemberment of seventeen men and boys between 1978 and 1991.
Upon the show’s release, Dahmer broke Netflix opening week streaming records becoming Netflix’s most-watched new series on record for week one of its release.
Dahmer received heavy criticism from the victims’ families who accused the show of exploiting the victims in retelling the serial killer’s life.
Eric Perry, cousin of Dahmer victim Errol Lindsey, pointed out the show’s handling is traumatising: “I know true crime media is huge [right now], but if you’re actually curious about the victims, my family (the Isbell’s) are pissed about this show. It’s retraumatizing over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?”
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is available on Netflix now.