The mega-success of Monsters: The Story of Erick and Lyle Menendez is somewhat obvious, considering that the crime from 35 years ago became a craze on social media like TikTok due to the curiosity of generations that did not live with the impact of the crime and that look at the fact with updated cultural values. It was precisely the force that resurfaced with the videos questioning the brothers’ sentence that Ryan Murphy decided to address them in his Netflix franchise.

You know, there is nothing more youthful than thinking you are the owner of the truth and the “discoverer” of facts. Just as the opposite is true: nothing is more old-fashioned than thinking you are the owner of the truth and the knower of the facts. This binary element is inherent to the human condition, but technology has added an element that effectively separates generations and arouses mutual irritation. Therefore, when Millennials and Generation Z “discover” stories from 30 or 40 years ago, not only Baby Boomers react, but also Generation X. The example of the Menendez Brothers is one of the best examples.

When Erick and Lyle coldly murdered their parents, who were asleep and watching TV at home, the world was left in a state of confusion as to what would lead two handsome young millionaires to commit such a brutal crime. Greed was both obvious and exploitative, but when the two revealed the sexual, moral, and physical abuse they suffered at the hands of their parents, especially their father, José Menendez, the world was divided between believers and incredulous.

The taboo of just four decades ago did not only include speaking openly about perversions or violence against women, it was even greater with men. With the incestuous element as the cherry on the cake, conservatives decided that the two men had lied and were sociopaths, punished in an exemplary manner after the justice system failed to deal with the other two contemporary crimes (Rodney King, who freed the police officers who killed him; John Sweeney, who killed his girlfriend, Dominique Dunne, and was sentenced to only two years in prison; and of course, O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted after practically slitting his ex-wife’s throat and killing a friend of hers). And the trial of Lorena Bobbit, who argued that she cut off her husband’s penis as a result of the trauma of years of sexual abuse and was sentenced to psychiatric treatment before being released. Indirectly, these four cases, seen today in parallel, were the basis for an online movement to review the conviction of the Menendez brothers, who are serving two life sentences each for crimes similar to those of O.J. Simpson and Lorena Bobbit.

Simplification is also a modern evil. The above comparison seems logical, doesn’t it? But it isn’t. The big ‘flaw’ in the brothers’ defense argument is on the financial side. None of the cases above included material gain and here is their Achilles heel: they claim that they took the initiative because they were sure that their parents were going to kill them after they threatened to make the abuse public, so they acted in self-defense. But as soon as their parents were dead, the two began to squander their $12 million inheritance, spending almost $1 million in less than a month buying cars, and watches and throwing parties in expensive hotels.

It is not a shame for the two to argue their innocence: the sentence on the table was the Death Penalty, and for the Justice in the 1990s, being with Life, seemed like a relief because of what they said as motivation. However, as today’s young people are outraged, the two were the target of prejudiced jokes and are still questioned today about the sexual abuse that even relatives testified was true. It would be time for a new trial that would have more empathetic ears to the suffering of the two.

In this long introduction, necessary for contextualization, comes the Netflix series. Ryan Murphy, who loves True Crime and was in Los Angeles at the time the Menendez brothers were arrested, saw an opportunity to reinterpret the story. The potential for controversy was inevitable, we knew, and it has been generating gossip on the Internet. With Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, the victims’ families were upset with what they considered the showrunner’s insensitivity. Now, unsurprisingly, it is the Menendez brothers who are bothered by what is on the platform.

In an interview with the Netflix website, Murphy admitted that the growing wave in favor of the brothers inspired him because the belief that prolonged abuse can determine a delayed reaction (Lorena Bobbit’s argument), in the case of the brothers, was not even admitted in the second joint trial and led to the conviction of both. He says he is in favor of reviewing the sentence, but he was shocked by those who considered that the series fuels arguments against the brothers’ possible freedom.

“This season really holds up a mirror to people and society, and that makes a lot of people uncomfortable — I think it’s good that they feel uncomfortable,” Murphy told Tudum.

For him, the series doesn’t dictate a single position but presents several versions so that the audience can choose the one they find most plausible.

“The show has a Rashomon approach, where it talks about multiple perspectives, and a perspective is not a lie. A perspective is an opinion, and the show has an obligation to all of those opinions, including the parents, including the lawyers … and so on,” he says.

For Ryan Murphy, the franchise is based on the question of “Are monsters made or born?”, so questioning the brothers is equally essential. “This season is particularly interesting because the subjects are still alive. They’re incarcerated. They have great points of view, and I think this show is starting a lot of conversations about sexual abuse. It’s asking a lot of cultural questions — which I like. Like every season of Monster, it’s brought its share of controversy, but that’s to be expected,” Murphy says.

And what about the reaction of the Menendezes and the fans? The answer is straightforward:

“I think this show is the best thing that has happened to the Menendez brothers in 30 years of imprisonment. They said that. They told their lawyers that,” he insists. “[The show] brings with it its fair share of controversy. As an artist, I am someone who is always, even when I’m not trying, I think, drawn to provocative things. In the case of Monsters, it is, by nature, controversial,” he agrees.

The issue of incest is one of the most delicate, not only between the father and the children but a possibility between them as well. “I think there has been some misunderstanding. For example, there is an incestuous part in the show, but it is so small. Maybe it is less than 1% of the show, but people have latched onto it as if we were presenting it as a fact. No, we are not. We are presenting it as a theory, one of many theories that exist in this case. So we are not defending anything. We are just presenting things that were discussed then and now. I wish people could understand that a little bit better,” he explains.

And what’s his take on the case?

“There were four people involved. Two of them are dead, so only God and those four people know what really happened. And I think the unknown aspect of it is interesting and provocative, trying to get to the bottom of it,” Murphy says. “Honestly, when we first started talking about promoting the show and what we were going to talk about, I think our approach was, ‘Well, let’s let the work speak for itself. Let’s not rush in with too many of our own opinions.’ But I think now that the brothers and the family have spoken out, we can speak out as well. And as I’ve said to everyone on the cast — and everyone has a stake — I don’t believe that anyone should spend their entire life in prison. I just don’t believe that, and the Menendez case is a perfect example of that. I think if there’s more evidence and if there’s a different perspective that the [brothers’] attorneys have, I think that should be heard. I think a lot has changed since the mid-90s, when this case was tried, and I think people understand this topic a lot more and have the bandwidth and education,” he argues.

Well, I came away from the series thinking that it didn’t do the brothers any favors, but everyone has a different view. What’s yours?

Ryan Murphy’s full interview with Tudum is here.

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