In case you missed it, Netflix came out with a new drama series called Monsters starring Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch who play Lyle and Erik Menendez. The Menendez brothers are currently serving life sentences for killing their parents in 1989 at their Beverly Hills home in California. Now, however, their case is being reexamined due to the introduction of new evidence.
Since the show came out in September, it has blown up all over social media, which fawns over the brash yet charming characters and colorful scenes. However, many argue the story is dramatized to increase viewership, so it is important to keep in mind that there are many ways that sensationalizing stories like the Menendez brothers’ can be both beneficial and dangerous for the public eye.
Psychology teacher Mrs. Gomez talked about both the good and bad of emotionally-loaded documentaries. On one hand, “it may glorify some of the violence without that being the intention,” Gomez said. Towards the beginning of the show, the murder of Menendez parents occurs from Erik and Lyle’s point of view, who later in the show go into detail justifying the brutality. Gomez questioned how “depending on how we look at it—are they the victims or the parents?”
Another thing Gomez warned about is media literacy and how viewers should not blindly trust the show to form opinions on the case. “If it is focused on entertainment value, inherently it is going to be a little more salacious and not as much presenting the human factor, but going more for the entertainment value,” she said.
However, because the case was originally opened 35 years ago, Monsters is able to shine a light on the case to newer generations that otherwise might never have known about it. “Maybe it sensationalized it, but it also brought about curiosity to their case, which opened some doors to have their case looked at again,” Gomez said. The media’s recent fixation on the case may be a reason why it has gained enough momentum to possibly allow the brothers to get parole, she said
More than that, many media trends have emerged since the Monsters premiere. “Everybody’s falling in love with Milli Vanilli again,” Gomez said, as songs like “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You,” “Blame It on the Rain,” and “Girl You Know It’s True” in the show’s soundtrack have grown from around 439,000 streams to 6.9 million in the beginning of October, according to Billboard Charts.
Similarly, 80s fashion trends such as the clothes, accessories, and hairstyles the actors wear are resurfacing. These include the signature short-shorts, sweaters, and vintage glasses that are now being praised as the “old money” style.
While the show is certainly entertaining, it is still important to not create opinions based onthe show regarding the actual case. “If there’s controversy in what’s being presented, there should be a pause and red flags going off,” Gomez said. We should ask, “Why are people pushing back against this?”
Some of the people who are pushing against the show are members of the Menendez family. “The Menendez brothers were perhaps portrayed as exactly what the title of the show is, as monsters. And I think we have to be careful not to dehumanize people,” Gomez said.
In response to Monsters, the Menendez family put out a documentary called The Menendez Brothers to counteract the negative view associated with the family. However, the family’s documentary may have just as much bias as the drama series. “We have to go back to the primary sources in some of these cases, also looking at it through the lens of the larger historical context of the time,” Gomez said.
A year before the Menendez brothers were sentenced to life without parole, NFL running back OJ Simpson was proven innocent in a similar case regarding the murder of his wife and her friend. The ruling was widely unpopular and Simpson’s career never recovered after the trials. “There were many people who believed the Menendez brothers had to get a guilty verdict because of what had happened with the OJ Simpson case and the criticisms about the criminal justice system,” Gomez said.
Another piece of historical context that was not regarded during the original trial was the brothers’ justification of the murder. After they confessed to the crime, they claimed they did it because of the abuse their parents inflicted upon them.
Because the trials took place in a time where many found it hard to believe it was possible for men to be abused in this way, the court concluded the murders were not an act of self defense. “People didn’t even want to hear it, and it probably makes them uncomfortable, but sometimes that’s where great discussions happen, and learning happens,” Gomez said.
Another factor that might influence how the public views the case are the actors chosen. “When you have good looking actors, that can change the way people view it,” Gomez said. Edits of the actors have swarmed platforms like Tik Tok, and people may begin to ask “how can these kids be murderers if they are so good looking?”
Monsters is a well loved show and covers the Menendez brothers’ trials in an entertaining way that helps inform a newer generation of the case. “I continue to advocate for media literacy and doing our own research on events and what’s being presented to us,” Gomez said. No harm comes from watching the show if you make sure to take into consideration all the facts regarding the case.