The streaming giant Netflix has been getting roasted on social media for giving the new series about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer an “LGBTQ” label.
Dropped on Netflix last week, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, has been a lightning rod for controversy since day one, sparking arguments on whether the Ryan Murphy-helmed series exploits Dahmer’s gruesome murders or tastefully explores the mind of an unflinching monster. Over the weekend, a new controversy erupted when LGBTQ+ viewers noticed that Netflix had used their alphabet moniker to tag the film. Since Jeffrey Dahmer almost exclusively had sex with men and picked up most of his victims from gay nightclubs, the label appeared to have some merit, but viewers disagreed, charging that Netflix perpetuated harmful stereotypes. Per Pink News:
A TikTok user posted a clip of the series as it appeared on Netflix with the tags ‘Ominous’, ‘Psychological’, ‘Horror’ and ‘LGBTQ’. They questioned “why the f**k” Netflix made the decision to tag the series as LGBTQ+ content and said this is “not the representation we’re looking for”.
One person commented on the video saying that Netflix may have done it as it was “something that greatly impacted the LGBTQ community” and wondered if it might be for “educational purposes”.
People on Twitter were equally displeased with the label.
The family of one of Dahmer’s victims also criticized the show upon its release, saying it retraumatized them. Eric Perry, the cousin of Rita Isbell, who famously raged at Dahmer in the courtroom upon his sentencing for the murder of her brother, said his family was downright “pissed” about the show.
Watch below:
“I’m not telling anyone what to watch, I know true crime media is huge rn, 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?” he tweeted.