outside 196 million views. We can only start from here to talk about Dahmermuch discussed (and disputed) true crime that erupts Netflix. The data would, of course, be relevant to any title, but it becomes even more important when you consider that this is a very disturbing story, albeit a true one, about cannibalism TV series (not surprisingly, there are “horrors” among the tags) and a film and a documentary have already been made on the Dahmer case. Nevertheless, this production makes a splash. At the same time causing a lot of controversy.

Let’s see why.

Story

Let’s start with history. 10-episode series reconstructs a hallucinatory world Jeffrey Dahmer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal: our real life serial killer and in the 90s he killed, dismembered, photographed and ate at least 17 men. You perfectly understand that one material would be enough to give you goosebumps. Netflix however, it adds another element: a point of view. What is really unique here. To start, true crime Dahmer begins from the end, that is, from the day the cannibal was caught. It’s 1991, we’re in Milwaukee, and we see Dahmer going to a gay club and seducing a handsome black guy. “I want to take artistic photos with you,” she explains. Which is partly true: he really wants to photograph, he just did not make it clear that he wants to capture the boy’s internal organs. However, he clarifies this later, when the victim no longer has a way out, stuck in his house. Or so he thinks: with the help of a trick, the boy manages to unlock the door (when it is closed, there are no keys, but only a row of stakes) and runs out into the street screaming for help. So, the police arrive and go to Dahmer’s house: they enter, conduct a search and discover the indescribable. In addition to photographs, Dahmer kept the severed head refrigerated in a vegetable drawer; a pair of genitals in the freezer; five skulls scattered around the house; a whitewashed skeleton in the chest of drawers and a giant barrel of acid. Enough to send him to court immediately.

Racist condemnation

So we start with the fall of Dahmer, and at that moment you think: “But then this Dahmer is nothing if he got caught like this without even escaping.” But then you hit the play button again and go to the second episode. And then the third, fourth, up to the tenth, and you are catapulted into a hell of madness and psychosis, in which the police are also involved. The thesis that was actually defended TV serial is that if Geoffrey was able to kill 17 Christians before he was captured, it is also because police negligenceto. Agents wouldn’t be interested in neighbor reports like colored people. Likewise, since the victims were gay men, the sense of justice would not have been as strong. And that explains why Dahmer doesn’t run away in the first episode: now he feels untouchable.

Charm of Evil

However, the question of the reason for this success remains open. because Dahmer does it ruin the bank? After all, we are not talking about the latest romantic comedy, but about a decidedly repulsive horror. Here, perhaps, this is the reason. From the very beginning, the series reveals the backstory Jeffrey Dahmer: I lost my mother when I was a child. “Loneliness was a problem,” the father admits during a conversation with the police. Also, as a child, Jeffrey underwent surgery for a hernia: “Since then, he has not been the same, he probably had brain damage, possibly due to an excessive dose of anesthesia,” his father continues. At home, by the way, ours kept the devil’s bible (in addition to the film exorcist he wanted to see the victims before killing them). Of course, something is broken in Jeffrey, and the series pulls us into this universe of pain. Even before becoming evil, his is actually a very pure and blind desperation. There is no attempt at justification on the part of the show, mind you. Anyway, we’re trying to contextualize so much of the evil that goes against nature on these levels. For this, the victims are also given a voice that moves from their point of view to that of the serial killer. Thus, victory is a short circuit between a chilling story that you would define as fiction, but it is not. Thus becoming an even more terrible reality. This is the charm of evil that holds the place: the most blind and the most incomprehensible, from which no one is immune.

Contradiction

And here we come, straight ahead, to the controversy. The first can be summed up like this: “Is it right to show so many horrors? Is there a risk of imitation? It’s a dilemma we’ve had years ago Gomorrah only here it is exponential: in Gomorrah good simply did not exist, because in fact it was not put on the subject. It was a storytelling choice that was shareable or not, but which, while ignoring the “good guys”, didn’t even question them. Here, however, the good guys are (or should…) be the police, who, however, do not appear with a completely straight back. Thus the attack is twofold, raising more than one moral dilemma. It is clear that it came immediately response from the then Milwaukee District Attorney, Michael McCann: In an interview with Tmz, he assured that the police will never turn a blind eye to the victims of Dahmer because of their race or sexual orientation. “It’s a ridiculous idea,” he assured.

In fact, the LGBTQ+ community and victims are also unhappy serial killer. The first asked to remove the “Lgbtq+” tag from the related Netflix title: despite the denunciation of homophobia, the idea of ​​emphasizing the homosexual orientation of a serial killer does not bother anyone. By the way, usually only representative stories of the queer universe fall into this category. After a couple of days, Netflix removed the tag.

As for the victims, they are also not happy with the repetition of those moments. At one point in the series, for example, Rita Isabelle, the sister of one of the victims, is called to testify. Errol Lindsey. Well, a few days ago, on Twitter, Errol’s cousin posted Isabelle’s real testimony, comparing it with Netflix’s, asking himself the question: “Do we still need these films / shows / documentaries?”. He then explained, “It’s not for me to tell you what to watch, true crime matters a lot, but if you’re really interested in knowing the victims’ point of view, know that my family is very outraged by this series: there was a need to hurt. over and over again, and then for what?

Ryan Murphy strikes again

There are two reasons for success: a winning combination Ryan Murphy As well as Evan Peters. The first managed to get out of the cheeky atmosphere jubilation to the most murky crime, convincing in both cases. Concerning Evan Peters, almost unrecognizable as the psychopath Jeffrey. He manages to infuse the character with a catatonic charisma, making him even more unsettling – as if it needed to be… The actor is also increasingly in demand: he moved from the Quicksilver saga X-Men and Stan Posesbut we also saw it in Murder in Easttown (it was Colin) and WandaVision. In between, he never abandoned American horror, where he plays the role of Tate. And to say that he says he has a “penchant for comedies”…