Since Netflix released Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story on September 21, the series has gained insane popularity. 

The mini series Dahmer is based on the true crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer, the murderer and cannibal who took the lives of seventeen victims. Dahmer’s victims were all men of color, and because of this, Dahmer got away with the awful crimes he was committing for over a decade.

Thanks to going viral on the social media platforms Tiktok, Twitter, and Instagram, the series has become very popular very quickly. And with that comes a good amount of love and hate for the series.

Don’t get me wrong; many Lewis students, including myself, are huge fans of actor Evan Peters, who plays Dahmer, himself, and the director Ryan Murphy (from Glee). Their work and their talents are incredible.

But some things about this series aren’t so incredible. In fact, it’s recommended you should do some research before clicking start on this gruesome and graphic show.

The real-life serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is becoming romanticized more and more each day as the series grows in popularity. Dahmer gives the real-life Dahmer a platform. In fact, many viewers are creating Dahmer edits over this show, romanticizing and idolizing Dahmer on the platform Tiktok. These viewers create an image of the character Dahmer in certain clips as being dreamy and appealing to the eye. 

The series tends to humanize Dahmer himself, taking a closer look into his childhood and his teenage and high school years. The series shows Dahmer’s struggle of fitting into society standards and his being an outcast. He shoulders the trauma with which his parents left him. Many viewers on the social media platform TikTok have made content saying they feel bad for Dahmer. This series may leave the wrong message for some audiences. 

The script isn’t actually painting Dahmer to be the villain but is vilifying the law enforcement and justice system instead. The justice system in Milwaukee, Wisconsin neglected and ignored Dahmer’s problems and are completely in the wrong and should be held accountable for their actions. But Dahmer is still the villain and is a monster who took the lives of many innocent young men.   

The families of the victims have to relive all the trauma once again through this series. Rita Isbell, the cousin of one of Dahmer victims, Errol Lindsey, expressed her outrage in an interview with  Insider.com. “Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it,” Isbell said.

It’s not fair to the families of the victims to have to experience this nightmare over and over again. Creating a series all about Dahmer’s horrible and inhuman crimes is supposed to be giving the victims a voice. Instead they are adding dramatization (which inevitably adds extra untrue information) to make the series more interesting to watch. Netflix didn’t even bother to at least ask if the relatives of Dahmer’s victims were okay with having to relive this again.

Overall, there are many things wrong with this series that need to be more spoken up about. This isn’t just a show; this happened in real life. Jeffrey Dahmer was a monster who destroyed many lives. Viewers need to do their research about this show before deciding to watch it.