The Menendez Brothers have been imprisoned for almost three decades for the murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. Their case gained a great amount of media attention during their trial in the 90s. When they were ultimately convicted, they were sentenced to life in prison. Ryan Murphy’s season 2 of Monsters follows the story of the Menendez Brothers and has received negative feedback from the brothers themselves. In the 9-episode series, it explores the emotional and psychological difficulties the brothers faced leading up to the murders. It also recreates the highly publicized Menendez Brothers trial and shows a dark family dynamic.
Season 2 of Monsters
The second installment of the Netflix Series Monsters follows the story of the Menendez Brothers, who murdered their parents in 1989. It was released to Netflix on September 19. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story stars Nicholas Chavez as Lyle and Cooper Koch as Erik. It explores the events that led to the Menendez Brothers’ conviction in 1996. The series goes back and forth between portraying the brothers as victims and cold-blooded killers. At some points, it even suggests the brothers had an incestuous relationship. That point of view led to fan outrage on social media.
Twenty-four members of the Menendez family took to social media to express their irritation with Ryan Murphy’s portrayal of the brothers. In a statement on X, they described the series as “a phobic, gross, anachronistic, serial episodic nightmare that is not only riddled with mistruths and outright falsehoods but ignores the most recent exculpatory revelations.” Tammy Menendez, Erik’s wife, also published Erik’s response to the series on X. He found it misleading and condemning of their true character. However, co-creator Murphy explains the purpose of the series is to show the point of view of everyone involved.
Ryan Murphy’s Response
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ryan Murphy gave his thoughts on the Menendez Brothers’ reactions. He said, “The Menendez brothers should be sending me flowers. They haven’t had so much attention in 30 years.” He goes on to explain that he had a duty to show the point of view of everyone involved, not just Erik or Lyle. He finds it interesting how the Menendez Brothers are choosing to play the victim, even now, which Murphy finds “reprehensible and disgusting.”
The co-creators, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan claimed to accomplish what they set out to do with the Menendez Brothers’ story. During Murphy’s interview with Hollywood Reporter, he said, “I was never that interested in the Menendez brothers. What I was interested in was the topic of sexual abuse. I was interested in, specifically, the topic of male sexual abuse, and I wanted to talk about it.” He believes the outrage from the Menendez Brothers, their family, and fans is fake. He is seemingly unbothered by all the backlash. In Murphy’s interview with E! News, he said, “I’m used to this. I write about provocative things and controversial things, and my motto is ‘never complain and never explain.”
Final Thoughts
The most captivating thing about the Menendez Brothers is that no one will ever know what truly happened. No one knows the story as accurately as the brothers themselves and their parents whom they shot in the head. In his interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Ryan Murphy said it best that “two things can be true at the same time.” The story the Menendez Brothers give could be completely factual. They could have been abused by their parents, which led to them becoming murderers. Their parents could also have been abusers that did not deserve to be murdered.
