Netflix has come under fire for perceptions that their new season of Monster portrays a serial killer as ‘sexy’, with Charlie Hunnam set to star in the show.
The new season sees Hunnam play Ed Gein, a murderer who inspired many of Hollywood’s most famous fictional serial killers over the years.
Gein was responsible for two murders and is best known for robbing numerous corpses, using their dead bodies to make clothes and furniture which has led to a widespread true crime fascination in him.
Advert
Now, however, an expert has spoken about Netflix’s decision to portray Gein in trailers released so far as ‘sexy’.
The criticism came after the first look and first trailer was released, showing Hunnam playing the ‘Butcher of Plainfield’.
This led to widespread criticism of Ryan Murphy, the TV show’s creator.
One tweet said: “Ryan Murphy trying to make Ed f**king GEIN of all people look sexy is just next level unhinged even for him.
“Like deeply embarrassing that he’s still allowed to make sh*t. It’s all the worst kind of slop.”
Advert
Another quoted one of the first look posters, saying: “What the f**k is this? Making Dahmer 'sexy' was bad enough, but Ed Gein?! This is crazy!”
The show’s first season received similar criticism for its portrayal of Jeffrey Dahmer, with much of the criticism of the second season being the addition of a subplot in which the Menendez brothers seemed to have a sexual fascination with one another.
Charlie Hunnam’s casting however has been the biggest criticism so far in this realm, in part due to how dissimilar he looks to Ed Gein.
A psychologist however has spoken to the Mirror US and dug into the casting news.
Advert
Dr AJ Marsden spoke to the website about the casting, saying: “This is an interesting debate. On one hand, Ryan Murphy does seem to have a pattern of casting conventionally attractive actors in these grotesque roles.
“By doing so, some fans feel that he is inadvertently making a real-life murderer seem glamorous or alluring.
“Some may even go as far as saying that Ryan Murphy is rewriting history in a way that trivializes his victims and changes public memory of the event.”
Dr Marsden went on to add however that Murphy’s purpose is likely to ultimate be to ‘stir conversation around these gruesome murders and engage us as viewers of his content’.
Advert
She went on to finally say that, as long as Murphy sticks to the facts and doesn’t sensationalise things, she sees no problem with Hunnam being cast.
She went on to conclude by saying: “Unfortunately, the claim about hyper-sexualization, in my opinion, isn’t completely baseless – in fact, it highlights a recurring problem in how true crime stories get packaged and sold to mainstream audiences.
“It is important to maintain the victims' dignity and factual accuracy of the crime.”
Monster season three releases 3 October.
Topics: Netflix, True Crime, TV, TV and Film
Michael Slavin