Netflix has had its fair share of controversy over the years, often finding itself at the center of public debates about content, representation, and ethics. Most notable is its true crime collection, which has frequently been commended for reviving interest in cold cases, but is also not a favorite for many, largely because it blurs the line between entertainment and real-life tragedy. Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s controversial Monster series is one such prominent example that has since been criticized for exploiting trauma and desensitizing violence in each season’s approach to true-crime storytelling.
Of the three Monster seasons, many would agree that the most controversial is the very first one, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which premiered on Netflix on September 21, 2022. Starring Evan Peters as the title character, the 10-episode series focuses on the real-life Milwaukee serial killer, who murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. Upon its release, Dahmer was initially met with unfavorable reviews and sparked outrage, especially from the victims’ families. Still, that wasn’t enough to affect the show’s viewership records as it quickly became one of Netflix’s Most Popular series of all time and, three years later, has found its way back onto the prestigious list.
‘Dahmer’ Explores the Making of a Monster in Graphic Detail
In keeping with the tone of the Monster franchise, Dahmer is a chilling blend of factual history with stylized dramatization, creating an unsettling portrayal that simultaneously horrifies and fascinates viewers. The story is primarily told from different characters’ perspectives, centering most closely on Dahmer himself while weaving in the experiences of his victims and the people affected by his crimes. “Something that we talked a lot in the making of it is we weren’t so much interested in Jeffrey Dahmer, the person, but what made him the monster that he became,” Murphy said of the 57% RT series in 2022. “We talked a lot about that … and we talked about it all the time. It’s really about white privilege. It’s about systemic racism. It’s about homophobia.”
In the first half of the true crime drama, four of which were penned by Murphy and Brennan, viewers are taken inside the lead character’s grim world with flashbacks of his difficult upbringing. The series layers this with graphic and disturbing scenes showing his eventual encounters with victims, most of whom were gay men of color, who were lured and trapped inside his gruesome apartment.
Although Dahmer delivers more than enough gory scenes with the titular character right at the center, it simultaneously offers a not-widely-accepted humanized glimpse into the mind of a deeply broken individual. Rather than depicting the killer solely as a monstrous figure, the series positions him with a complex psychological background, tracing the roots of his violence to a couple of factors. In addition to his difficult upbringing marked by trauma and profound loneliness, there was also his fractured family dynamic, shaped by an absent father and a mother battling mental illness, as well as a series of unsettling coincidences that nudged his life further off course. One worth mentioning is the impulsive killing of his first victim (the hitchhiker), who rejected his advances in Episode 3, “Doin’ A Dahmer.”
‘Dahmer’s Impressive Ratings Prove Controversy Still Sells
When the first Monster entry debuted, it was disapproved by many, from critics to the families of Dahmer’s victims, who claimed that not only was the series created without their consent, but it was also re-traumatizing seeing their loved ones’ stories dramatized on screen. Nonetheless, that didn’t stop viewers from flocking to watch —or re-revisit the crime drama even till now.
In the first week following its premiere, Dahmer was an immediate streaming sensation, dominating the Netflix Top 10 rankings with 196.2 million hours viewed that soon increased to 299.8 million hours in its first full week of availability. It was also reported that during the September 19 to September 25, 2022, viewing window, Nielsen’s tracking logged about 3.7 billion minutes, making it not only the top program of the viewing window, but the tenth most-streamed program in a single week ever recorded by Nielsen.
While reigning atop the Netflix Top 10 for the second week, Dahmer made it to the streamer’s English-language Most Popular list from September 26 to October 2, 2022. The series entered the list in ninth place after only 12 days with 496.05 million hours viewed, reaching approximately 56 million households. The following week was even more impressive as it became Netflix’s second Most Popular English-language series of all time with 701.37 million hours watched, behind only Stranger ThingsSeason 4.
Now three years later, Dahmer has reentered the elite list, ranking as the fourth Most Popular Netflix show of all time with 115.60 million views and 1.03 billion hours viewed. It sits right behind Stranger Things Season 4 once more, which boasts 140.70 million views and 1.84 billion hours viewed. Topping the list is Wednesday Season 1, with the global favorite limited series Adolescence close behind, while the second season of Wednesday rounds out the Top 5.
Dahmer may not be the most loved true crime drama, but it continues to captivate viewers with its scandalous portrayal of the notorious serial killer’s life, even to this day. In other words, controversy appears to be a significant contribution to its success, which its follow-ups, The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and The Ed Gein Story, haven’t been able to replicate so far.
All episodes of Dahmer are streaming on Netflix.
- Release Date
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2022 – 2022
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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Jennifer Lynch, Clement Virgo, Paris Barclay, Carl Franklin
