Netflix's (un)ethics
I am sure you have heard about the latest Netflix’s original production Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Since it came out, a couple of months ago, the miniseries about the Milwaukee cannibal has been in the top ten most watched series on Netflix and millions of pictures, videos and memes started circulating on social media such as Twitter or Instagram. Since the very beginning, the wide appeal of the series has been clear. As the fame of the series grew, many people started being concerned about was perceived as an unethical approach and wondering about what really brought Netflix to produce a true-crime series for the umpteenth time: is it a way to give victims a voice or just a way to make easy money by profiting off trauma? As a matter of fact, there is no doubt at all that in the last few years the interest for true crime has grown, so the success of this product was almost certain. But is all this ethical? Actually, I wouldn’t say so. I think that the story behind Monster was very well known even before its production, so there was no need to film another portrayal leaning towards a sensationalist narrative. I believe the real aim of the series is not to inform people about this story and perhaps give a deeper insight into Dahmer’s mental illnesses, but it is just to show and portray once again this character (that has arguably already been glamorised too much in the last decades), fuelling that obsessive taste for the macabre that people tend to have nowadays. I think we should really draw a line between truth and entertainment, between what can be freely portrayed on the screen and what actually needs a more cautious approach.
Also, the victims’ families had not even been told about the series before its release, nor asked permission to film it: they just found themselves portrayed on the screen, without even being aware of it. The cousin of one of the victims, asked about the series, commented what follows: It is retraumatizing over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need? And as a response to the concerns about the unethical approach of the series, a grief recovery specialist said: Imagine the absolute worst torment that could ever happen to you being turned into entertainment for your friends and colleagues to watch with their favourite party snacks and then chat about, around the watercooler at work next day. So what might be entertaining for viewers is deeply traumatising for the families of those affected by the crimes reenacted on screen.
To sum up, Netflix aims to make money out of its products (just like all the other platforms) and needs to find out what people fancy watching and seeing on screen. And people like true crime shows, that’s a fact. But there are different ways to produce this type of content: producers can keep on sensationalising and glamourising these stories, making superstars out of the worst humans on Earth, or they could speak with the victims’ families and produce shows that justly help memorialise those who lost their lives.
Anna Donà
