Netflix lands itself in a bind with LGBTQ community over 'Dahmer' series

Netflix

Netflix’s new series, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” has been a hit on the streaming platform, but some fans were upset with the category the show was put in. 

The show, following Dahmer, a homosexual and one of America’s most prolific and infamous serial killers, was initially categorized under the “LGBT” tag, along with other shows such as “AJ the Queen,” “Sex Education,” and “Heartstopper,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Netflix has now recategorized the show after facing backlash on social media. 

“If I need to stay in my lane absolutely tell me but anyone else think it’s pretty gross of @netflix to list Dahmer under #LGBTQ, especially when the True Crime tag would have worked?” writer Frances Danger tweeted just after the series premiere. 

One TikTok user posted that although the tag for the show was “technically true,” the series was “not the representation we’re looking for.” 

Prior to the show’s release, critics claimed that the docuseries shouldn’t have happened in the first place as it exploits the death of gay, black men who were the primary targets of the serial killer. 

Eric Perry, the cousin of Rita Isbell, the sister of Dahmer’s victim Errol Lindsey, wrote on Twitter saying, “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?” Perry tweeted a day after the series aired. 

“Like recreating my cousin having an emotional breakdown in court in the face of the man who tortured and murdered her brother is WILD. WIIIIIILD,” he added. 

Perry added in later tweets that the families of victims are not always informed when projects or shows are made. 

“Ok, I did not expect that tweet to get this much attention,” he wrote. “To answer the main question, no, they don’t notify families when they do this. It’s all public record, so they don’t have to notify (or pay!) anyone. My family found out when everyone else did.”

Perry continued: “So when they say they’re doing this ‘with respect to the victims’ or ‘honoring the dignity of the families,’ no one contacts them. My cousins wake up every few months at this point with a bunch of calls and messages and they know there’s another Dahmer show. It’s cruel.”