The New Documentary “Dahmer, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” premiering on Netflix, has a lot of talk and drama surrounding it. Its debut on September 23 was just the beginning of the controversy and popularity. Monster became one of the streamer’s most-watched series since debuting within its first week; it was the streamer’s Top 10 in 92 countries. This made it second next to Stranger Things 4 when it comes to the views/viewership of a series in a single week. But why? Why is it gaining so much attention? And why is it so controversial? 

With today’s generation (Gen-z), word spreads and teens become intrigued with the documentary. 

The documentaries, stories, shows, movies, etc, about Dahmer have been around for quite some time. People are familiar and are already aware of the mess and trauma he has caused. But why make another documentary? Individuals say that the documentary advises and educates others on their well-being and safety out in the world,but not all of the commentary is positive. Critics say that the documentary repeats and brings up the unnecessary topic repeatedly over again, which is not needed. It brings light upon the negativity the show is presented with. 

Emma S., a student at MHS, stated that the “show was very gruesome. And some of the scenes were quite disturbing and uncomfortable.” Ella said she found that “some clips were strange, how unexpecting and suspenseful it was.”

She understood why the show was so controversial. 

  The families of the victims even chose to speak up and respond to the documentary. The few families who reached out were irritated with Netflix reminding them of the horror and trauma they experienced. Rita Isbell, the sister of Errol Lindsey, and one of Dahmer’s victims, said that she was very bothered, and that it was only recreated “for entertainment and the money.” Her cousin, Eric Perry, also spoke out against the show. He stated that it’s “retraumatizing over and over again.”

Critics also mentioned that Netflix categorized and tagged the documentary as “LGBTQ” content which created an increasing amount of controversy over platforms such as Twitter and Tiktok. This did not look good for Netflix and they later decided to remove it. 

Monster has been gaining new viewers and opinions everyday with a mix of both positive and negative comments.