Jeffrey Dahmer and the controversy surrounding true crime

Jeffrey Dahmer has been on a lot of minds lately – understandably so. The serial killer is the subject of not one but two Netflix programmes released just slightly more than two weeks apart from each other. First, Ryan Murphy’s Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, a dramatisation of the case, came out on 21 September. A three-part docuseries, Conversations With A Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes, will follow on 7 October.

Murphy’s show has enjoyed considerable success, debuting as the most-watched Netflix show on the day of its premiere. As I write this, two weeks after its release, the series remains the number one show on Netflix’s US ranking – and, according to the streaming platform itself, it’s now the second most-watched English language series in a week, behind the fourth season of Stranger Things.

Along with this success has come some criticism, mainly from people who have questioned whether more content about Dahmer’s case is needed. One of the most poignant voices was that of Eric Perry, a relative of Errol Lindsey (who was himself one of Dahmer’s victims). On Twitter, Perry said the show had been “re-traumatising” for himself and his family. Equally important was the account of Rita Isbell, Errol Lindsey’s sister, who shared her experiences with Insider. “The show bringing up old feelings did hurt, but it also benefits me,” she said. “I benefit from it because I can deal with it differently today than I did in the past. I can talk about it with not as much anger.”

There is a crucial conversation to be had about how true crime content should relate to the surviving relatives of the victims of the crimes it inspects. It should be an ongoing concern – one that should refine the genre and inform choices moving forward.

I do believe there are valuable elements to true crime dramatisations and documentaries. Netflix’s Dahmer shows, for example, highlight the failures of law enforcement to stop him – even when others tried to raise the alarm. They illustrate how a white man targeted mainly gay men of colour and went undetected by the police, even though he was a convicted sex offender with a criminal record. “If the victims had been white and straight, the search would have been more in-depth, more specific,” a participant in Conversations With A Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes asserts.

As viewers, we have the power to focus on these instructive moments and to steer the conversation towards them. Indeed, it’s our responsibility to do so.

Yours,

Clémence Michallon

Senior people writer