Netflix told to stop ‘romanticising serial killers’ after Charlie Hunnam cast as notorious murderer

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Kelly Rissman

US News Reporter

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Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam has been cast as the notorious serial killer Ed Gein in season three of the Netflix show Monster by Ryan Murphy and not everyone is happy about the choice.

The true crime anthology series is set to return to Netflix on 19 September with the focus being on the Menendez brothers, Lyle and Erik, who were convicted of the murder of their parents in 1996.

Season one of the hit show saw Mare of Easttown and X-Men star Evan Peters play Jeffrey Dahmer, the man also known as the ‘Milwaukee Cannibal’ or the ‘Milwaukee Monster’, who committed the murder and dismemberment of 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991.

Even before season two has landed on Netflix, the show has announced that season three will concentrate on Ed Gein, a serial killer who has inspired numerous fictional killers in pop culture including Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Norman Bates in Psycho and Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs.

44-year-old Hunnam will play Gein, who in 1957 was revealed to have murdered two women and robbed multiple graves, using the stolen body parts to decorate his home and even create furniture and clothing.

This won’t be the first time that Gein’s story has been recreated. A 2000 film named In the Light of the Moon, but also known as Ed Gein, starring Steve Railsback was largely panned by critics.

Reaction to a new depiction of Gein’s story has already faced some pushback on social media, with many feeling that Hunnam isn’t the right person to play the role.

One person wrote: “Unpopular opinion: we need to stop romanticising serial killers. I love Charlie Hunnam and am willing to see this portrayal, but Ed Gein is not a person I’d ever want to meet in real life.”

A second added: “Ed Gein is evil. These killers are evil. These Ryan Murphy shows are making them into sex symbols.”

A third said: “Ed Gein was one of the worst serial killers to ever live, he inspired Psycho and Leatherface and he did not look like Charlie Hunnam. He should not be hot.”

The Monster series, despite becoming a sensation has not been without controversy. After the first season became a hit it was soon condemned by many viewers who felt it was exploitative.

Families of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims also spoke out, saying the series was re-traumatising. A Milwaukee attorney, who previously represented a number of the families, later called on Murphy to share the profits with his former clients.

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“The only meaningful Dahmer victim family action on Murphy’s part would be a monetary consideration from the Netflix profits for their exploitation and continuing trauma,” attorney Thomas M Jacobson said at the time.