Somewhere in the annals of entertainment sayings, surely one must go something like: If you can make a killer think he’s the victim, you need not to any other press. But Erik Menendez – one half, along with fellow parent murderer and New York Knicks fan Lyle – of the Menendez Brothers has a serious problem with Ryan Murphy due to his depiction of them in his latest series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Erik Menendez – who, like older brother Lyle, is currently serving a life sentence – wrote the following statement, which was shared by his wife Tammi on social media: “I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant likes rampant in the show. I can only believe they were done so on purpose. 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 so as to do this without bad intent.” He added, “It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward — back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women. Those awful lies have been disrupted and exposed by countless brave victims over the last two decades who have broken through their personal shame and bravely spoken out. So now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander.”
So, a couple of things here. First, we all know that what the Mendendez brothers did was heinous, acts of parricide that shocked the nation and rocked headlines in the ‘90s. But anyone presenting all of this in any form of media does have a responsibility to aim for the truth, even if some liberties are taken. Then again, Ryan Murphy isn’t exactly known for his subtlety or couth delivery, somehow even making larger-than-life figures such as Bette Davis and Truman Capote more of caricatures than we already knew them as. When you think about it, the Menendez brothers are just the latest target, whether you think Murphy intended harm or not. But the damage he has done (at least according to Erik Menendez) may have greater implications than ever.
Erik Menendez ended his statement by calling out Murphy for diminishing the effects of child abuse. “Let the truth stand as the truth. How demoralizing to know that one man with power can undermine decades of progress in shedding light on childhood trauma. Violence is never an answer, never a solution, and is always tragic. As such, I hope it is never forgotten that violence against a child creates a hundred horrendous and silent crime scenes darkly shadowed behind glitter and glamor and rarely exposed until tragedy penetrates everyone involved. To all those who have reached out and supported me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Murphy’s interpretation of the Mendenez brothers story isn’t the first time Ryan Murphy has faced criticism for his depiction of other real-life infamous killers, as the first season of Monster was accused of exploiting the murders of Jeffrey Dahmer in a way no one else in movies or TV had before.
Do you think Ryan Murphy went too far with his depiction of the Menendez brothers? Does Erik Menendez have a point here?