The downfall of humanity’s curiosity is imminent, and “Monsters” proves it. “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” created by Ryan Murphy, is arguably one of the most iconic TV shows of 2024, just like its sibling show, “Dahmer.” Through “Monsters,” it is evident that the same rabbit hole the viewers of “Dahmer” had fallen into is reopening once more.
Controversy is what sparked a lot of public interest in both shows. The 2022 show “Dahmer” tells the story of serial killer and cannibal Jeffery Dahmer, and has been repeatedly accused of manipulating the viewers into feeling sympathetic for Dahmer, almost as if Murphy himself is siding with him. Despite complaints against the show from the victims’ families, the show was still produced, which is also what happened for “Monsters.”
Like in “Dahmer,” the actors portraying Lyle and Erik Menedez are conventionally attractive. Portraying these boys in this manner wanes and diminishes the story at hand. This is a problem for various tragic events when brought up in the 21st century, especially among the younger generations, and it only gets worse with social media. Viewers of shows like “Dahmer” and “Monsters” are constantly manipulated because of how the media portrays serious events. This also represents how gullible people are when it comes to someone they find attractive.
During the Menendez brothers’ case, their defense was that they killed their parents in self-defense, seeing as, allegedly, they had been molested by them for years. That’s the main problem people take for granted: while I nearly always believe the victim, thousands of those who are fawning over the brothers and taking their side completely forget that there isn’t any hard evidence, and their alleged defense gets spread around the internet as if it were fact. With the growth of social media and how it plays a role in millions of teenagers’ lives, people have grown to simply accept what they’re being told, no longer having the desire to question anything or to come up with their own opinions.
People are becoming more trusting of social media than ever before: if one would easily just believe a story created by a TV show, it’s scary to imagine what other stories regarding serious topics people will blindly accept. It’s infuriating to listen to people just absorb what they’re being told without asking further questions. One could question if people are losing the ability to think on their own.
While you can’t easily change one’s opinion to the opposite, spreading awareness is the simplest way to bring to light this issue. Encouraging those subject to this naïvety to be aware of their situation is the biggest thing one can do. If these people blindly believe what a random person on TikTok says on topics as small as a TV show or as big as an election, humans as a whole will no longer be freethinking creatures.
At the rate that humankind is going, it’s evident that if this progression stays linear, individualism will decrease, and a prime example of this is the viewers of “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” Whether it’s becoming victim to the Hollywood effect or being gullible enough to believe whatever you’re told, this issue is seen everywhere, and it’s growing larger every day. In the end, this problem won’t be solved without other voices speaking up, but with something as simple as a conversation, some form of change can happen, but only if one is open and willing.
