Ian Brennan, one of the co-creators behind Netflix’s hit drama Dahmer, has hit back at claims the show is too “sympathetic” to its subject.
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story debuted on the streaming giant last month, as part of TV super-producer Ryan Murphy’s ongoing deal with the platform.
The miniseries tells the life story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, played by American Horror Story star Evan Peters in this version.
Although the show received a decidedly mixed response from critics, it has been a success in terms of viewers, becoming Netflix’s second most-viewed original series in the English language, and fourth most-viewed overall (behind Squid Game, Stranger Things and the Spanish drama Money Heist).
Asked whether he agreed that the show was “sympathetic” in its portrayal of Jeffrey Dahmer, Ian insisted to Page Six he didn’t agree with the criticism “at all”.
“I think we show a human being,” he explained. “He’s monstrously human and he’s monstrously monstrous and that’s what we wanted to sort of unpack.
“We tried to show an objective portrait as possible. We did our homework.”
Around its debut, Netflix’s Dahmer series was also slammed by a number of the killer’s real-life victims.
Eric Perry, the cousin of Errol Lindsey, who was murdered by Dahmer in 1991, tweeted in the lead-up to the show’s release: “I’m not telling anyone what to watch, I know true crime media is huge right now, but if you’re actually curious about the victims, my family… are pissed about this show.
“It’s retraumatising over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?”
Lindsey’s sister Rita Isbell also told Insider: “I was never contacted about the show. I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it.
“But I’m not money hungry, and that’s what this show is about, Netflix trying to get paid.
“I could even understand it if they gave some of the money to the victims’ children. Not necessarily their families. I mean, I’m old. I’m very, very comfortable. But the victims have children and grandchildren. If the show benefited them in some way, it wouldn’t feel so harsh and careless.”
“It’s sad that they’re just making money off of this tragedy. That’s just greed.”
An official synopsis for Dahmer describes it as a “series that exposes these unconscionable crimes, centred around the underserved victims and their communities impacted by the systemic racism and institutional failures of the police that allowed one of America’s most notorious serial killers to continue his murderous spree in plain sight for over a decade”.
In recent years, Jeffrey Dahmer has also been portrayed on screen by Ross Lynch in the biopic My Friend Dahmer, while Netflix recently released the three-part documentary Conversations With A Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes.
This documentary was directed by Joe Berlinger, who previously helmed the divisive film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile, in which Zac Efron portrayed the serial killer Ted Bundy.