Recently, Netflix has blessed our insatiable appetite for morbid stories by releasing two shows about the Menendez brother’s case at once. Monsters; the Story of Erik and Lyle Menendez, a TV show, and The Menendez Brothers, a documentary. These films both detail the murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. However, the show was especially interesting because it was made with actors instead of retellings by the brothers like the documentary. But I since found the brothers never wanted this show to get made. They didn’t want their trauma acted out and displayed for the entire public to gawk at. This blatant exploitation of tragedy just to get some money is something I think the true crime industry constantly fails to account for. 

There’s no surprise that a murder case is a point of interest to the public, including me. As humans, we have a tendency to be drawn towards things that are morbid and shocking. I am no exception. There’s something so intriguing about terrible crimes the people of our own species have committed. But this case was special because it didn’t cease to matter after the killers were sent to prison.

As a woman of disturbing taste, I threw myself into the pit of chaos that is the Menendez brother’s case. I consumed every episode of ‘Monsters’ like a starving dog being offered a lifetime of steak. I burned the image of actor Nicholas Alexander Chavez, who played Lyle, into my mind so severely that when I closed my eyes, the shadow of his chiseled face was painted on the underside of my eyelids. I fell in love with the characters. The depth and pain that lurked inside the brother’s souls touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes. I loved every second and talked about it incessantly. 

Erik and Lyle killed their parents with 12 gauge shotguns in their living room. The sons, Erik and Lyle, 18 and 21 respectively, lied about their crime. At first, their motives were unclear, since the show details the brother’s relief and agony after the murder. Erik seems to be distraught in particular, the show implies he suffers from nightmares about his parent’s death. While watching, I felt gripped by Erik’s emotions, something that killers don’t usually show, especially towards their victims. I knew this was going to be a unique case. Erik’s guilt ravaged him and he eventually met with his therapist. There he shared he was contemplating suicide, and needed to confess to his therapist. Something that seemed especially peculiar was his willingness to relieve himself of his guilt. This murder couldn’t be as cold blooded as it seemed, I thought, as Erik’s emotions contradicted an image of a heartless sociopath his crime implied.

My confusion and intrigue spiked when it was revealed that the therapist was recording Erik’s confession, and intended to use it as blackmail. Eventually, the therapist leaked the recordings. And Erik and Lyle had no more reason to lie. 

 They were searched and found to have damning evidence framing them as the killers. The boys were tried in court, they testified to the murder being a response to years of sexual abuse from their father. They detailed the abuses and had several witnesses to support their story. After an initial mistrial the court retried the case and both men were found guilty of premeditated manslaughter. They were given life in prison.

After watching the show I believed that the Menendez brothers did not deserve to be in prison. Their abuse story seemed so raw and real that no one, not even a sociopath could make it up. The show also made me believe that there were things happening in the Menendez home, that were merely speculations, closer to fiction than the truth. But I didn’t once stop to consider how the Menendez brothers felt about this show. 

Until I did. 

One day, as I was avoiding schoolwork on my laptop, an article popped up.  NPR’s Article: Erik Menendez says Netflix show is full of ‘blatant lies’ about him and his brother . This article explained recent claims from Erik Menendez himself, that the Netflix show I had burned into my Phone screen was untruthful. 

Impossible. 

Me? Having a lapse in judgment? It couldn’t be.

Like the screenager I am, I immediately went to Tik-

Tok. Everyone was agreeing with this opinion. I felt like Amy Schumer reading You-tube comments about her comedy show. Confused and reluctant to take a hint. 

Then I did something I didn’t think to do. I thought about it. 

The show acted out the death of Jose and Kitty. They showed gore and blood in graphic detail. They showed scenes of implied sexual assault on a child. They played out Erik and Lyle in court, making them appear cocky and spoiled. 

But, that wasn’t the issue. This wasn’t a scene that writers in a room chose to make, about actual events from someone’s life. And… I watched all of it like it was a movie. 

I realized that if this was a footage tape from the actual events being played out instead of acting on a show, I would stop watching, sob, and throw up. This shouldn’t be designed for people’s entertainment. 

According to people.com, the Menendez brothers testified to never having a consentual incestious relationship. Which is strange considering that in the TV show, the two brothers passionately kiss, which implies that they were in a sexual or romantic relationship with one another. 

But that was never the truth. While Lyle has testified to using objects to assault his brother Erik, this was not a case of lovers being intimate. It was a trauma response from what the brother’s father had done to them. 

“I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant [lies] rampant in the show,” Erik said in an interview with people.com.

“I can only believe they were done so on purpose. It is with a heavy heart that I say. I believe Ryan Murphy (the director) cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent,” Erik Menendez concluded in the interview. 

I felt dirty. 

I loved this show. And to think… is it exploiting lies without the Menendez brothers’ consent? I couldn’t believe it. 

A show was made about a traumatizing event. A disturbing family secret that was so devastating, that it caused a double homicide. And the worst part, the victims of the abuse never consented. They were forced to have their ugly secrets exploited without consoling, therapy, or even human compassion.

 Instead their trauma was tossed around like a game of hot potato, never letting the brothers speak on if they wanted to be represented in this way. Killers or not, they went through something horrific. And no one cared to think how they felt about it. All they cared about was if they would convict them of murder or not. 

The show only highlights this premise. We’re all human. We all have feelings and passions and desires and our actions don’t compromise that. Why is it ok to reenact someone’s life on television? Including their most terrifying experiences? Is this not disgusting behavior? Dear god, why do we need to see every gritty detail of everyone’s personal life, and why do we not care that it might affect them to do so?