Ryan Murphy’s latest true-crime series is generating a lot of reaction from those who lived through the real-life killings.
Following the debut of Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Ryan Murphy’s scripted Netflix series about the gruesome serial killer, those who lived through the real-life murders of their friends and family are speaking out.
Most notably, relatives of 19-year-old victim Errol Lindsey, including his sister Rita Isbell, and a cousin named Eric, who was later identified as Eric Perry by The Wrap, have responded negatively to the true-cime scripted drama and the ways it has forced them to relive and be retraumatized by such a tragic experience.
In an essay for Insider, Isbell, whose emotional victim impact statement was recreated word-for-word onscreen by DaShawn Barnes, wrote that what she saw of the series “bothered me, especially when I saw myself – when I saw my name come across the screen and this lady saying verbatim exactly what I said.”
Suddenly, “it felt like reliving it all over again,” she explained. “It brought back all the emotions I was feeling back then.”
“The episode with me was the only part I saw. I didn't watch the whole show. I don't need to watch it. I lived it. I know exactly what happened,” she continued.
“Like recreating my cousin having an emotional breakdown in court in the face of the man who tortured and murdered her brother is WILD,” Perry wrote on Twitter, while resharing a side-by-side video of Isbell’s testimony.
He also explained why the show was triggering for her and the rest of their family. “It’s retraumatizing over and over again, and for what?”
Not only that, but both Lindsey’s cousin and Isbell claimed that they were not notified about the series nor were they paid for their story.
“No, they don’t notify families when they do this,” Perry wrote on Twitter. “It’s all public record, so they don’t have to notify (or pay!) anyone. My family found out when everyone else did.”
Reconfirming that statement, Isbell revealed that she “was never contacted about the show.”
“I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn't ask me anything. They just did it,” Isbell shared, before adding that “if the show benefited them in some way, it wouldn’t feel so harsh and careless.”
She added, “It's sad that they're just making money off of this tragedy. That's just greed.”
RELATED CONTENT:
