Dahmer Directors Stir More Controversy With Comments About Victims
The controversy surrounding the show is showing no signs of abating.
Netflix's Dahmer became a global sensation early last year. The series, centred on one of America's most notorious killers, managed to strike genuine fear into the hearts of millions. Yet, despite breaking several streaming records upon its release, thousands petitioned for the show to be cancelled, contending that its graphic portrayal of real-life murders was in poor taste and displayed insensitivity on Ryan Murphy's part. Even though none of Dahmer's victims' families endorsed the show, these criticisms were initially brushed aside, only to resurface with renewed vigour early last month.
In July, Dahmer got 13 Emmy nominations, causing many to express astonishment at the acclaim bestowed on a series that follows a brutal serial killer. Predictably, the allegations against Murphy, showrunners Carl Franklin and Paris Barclay, and even star Evan Peters re-emerged, with some even demanding that their Emmy nominations be revoked.
However, Franklin and Barclay have since chosen to defend the series, albeit in a manner some deem controversial. They suggest that Dahmer pays tribute to the victims rather than reducing them to mere plot devices.
There's a semblance of truth to this argument, as the series dedicates significant screen time to portraying the lives of the victims before their encounters with Dahmer, often in a compassionate light. Still, this rationale has met with scepticism from some quarters. Critics assert that regardless of the showrunners' intentions, they, in effect, benefited financially from other people's tragedies.
'I don't understand why people defend this show. Especially since they did the whole "look at his home life as child" thing. Why even try to give sympathy to a man who raped, murdered, and eaten multiple people. Two of the victims were even 14,' a fan fumed.
It should be noted, though, that the trend of Hollywood leveraging real-life tragedies as fodder for films and series predates Dahmer, and despite all the righteous indignation the current uproar is infused with, it is unlikely to change this long-standing practice.
'This Dahmer show isn't the first time Hollywood has profited off of other people's tragedy, and it won't be the last,' another fan noted sagely.
Source: Reddit.