Netflix’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” isn’t out of the woods yet. The streaming platform, which was slammed for the “cruel” series by the family of one of Dahmer’s victims, has come under fire for initially categorizing it as an LGBTQ show.
“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?,” tweeted writer Frances Danger on Wednesday, when the series premiered.
Other users noticed how Netflix tagged the series as part of its LGBTQ content. For reference, other series under the streamer’s LGBTQ tag include “Heartstopper,” “Sex Education” and “AJ the Queen.”
“Nah Netflix wrong for filing dahmer under LGBTQ,” said another Twitter user.
“Hey hi @netflix I IMPLORE you please reconsider having Dahmer with the LGBTQ tag, especially as one of its tags right when you open the app,” said @Sinuzaki.
On TikTok, one user said it’s “technically true” to label the series “LGBTQ,” given that Dahmer was gay, “but this is not the representation we’re looking for.”
Upon its release, the series also fell under the platform’s “ominous,” “psychological,” “horror,” “vintage crime” and “dark” categories.
As of Tuesday, Netflix listed the series under “Crime TV Shows” and “Social Issue Drama.” However, it’s unclear when exactly Netflix dropped the “LGBTQ” label.
“Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” which stars Evan Peters as the serial killer, revisits the late ‘70s to early ‘90s when Dahmer killed 17 people, most of whom were people of color.
Even before it premiered, the new Netflix series sparked criticism for its trailer.
“Idk about some of y’all but I don’t think the murders of black, gay men should be used for entertainment or profit,” one Twitter user said.
“Do serial killers really need this much screen time?” said another Twitter user.
Just a day after “Monster” debuted, Eric Perry tweeted that the series is making his family relive the nightmare of Errol Lindsey’s murder, and the trauma his sister Rita Isbell faced.
“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,” he said in a tweet last Thursday.
Perry retweeted a video that seemed to compare a scene from the Netflix series to real-life courtroom footage of Rita Isbell, Lindsey’s sister, charging at Dahmer. In the scene, actor DaShawn Barnes portrays Isbell and rushes toward Peters’ Dahmer before she is stopped by courtroom security.
“It’s retraumatizing over and over again, and for what?” Perry said in his first post. “How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?”
