The controversy surrounding the Lyle and Erik Menendez story, explained

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“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” a new Netflix series from Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan based on the 1989 murders of José and Kitty Menendez by their sons, is causing controversy among viewers and critics because scenes viewers say suggest the brothers had an incestuous relationship.

Ryan Murphy and the cast of Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story on Netflix. (Photo by Steve … (+) Granitz/FilmMagic)

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“Monsters,” Murphy’s sequel to his Emmy-winning Jeffrey Dahmer series (also titled “Monsters”), has drawn mixed reviews and critical reactions on social media following the release of all nine episodes on Thursday.

Some social media users have criticized the show for scenes that suggest that Lyle and Erik Menendez – who in real life is serving a life sentence for the murder of their parents, who they claimed sexually abused them – had an incestuous relationship. However, there is little evidence that this was the case in real life.

In the second episode of the series, the brothers kiss on the lips in one scene while discussing their future plans. Later in the episode, the two dance at a party, holding each other tightly while caressing each other's faces, earning confused and disgusted looks from the other partygoers.

Later in the series, journalist Dominick Dunne claims that the brothers killed their parents to hide the fact that they were lovers. However, the real Dunne never expressed this theory in his coverage of the trial.

One post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that received over 100,000 likes criticized the series for portraying the brothers as an “incestuous fantasy,” while another post that received over 80,000 likes said, “Creating incest fanfiction about real brothers is INSANE.”

At a retrial in 1995, Lyle testified that he had abused Erik when they were children – but the series portrays their interactions as adults and as apparently consensual acts.

Main critics

The series received mixed reviews, with many criticizing its uneven tone, which vacillates between kitsch and the seriousness of a real murder case. Variety, in a mostly negative review, called the tone “heavy” and said the series “vacillates between threatening and slightly cheesy” and contains “excessive homoeroticism” (both brothers stated during the trial that they are not gay). In a three-star review, The Independent called the series the “best and worst of Ryan Murphy,” known for hit television series such as American Crime Story and American Horror Story. Whether his efforts are “interrogative or simply exploitative can be quite uncertain,” and Monsters falls somewhere in between. The Hollywood Reporter said the series comes close to “trivializing two brutal deaths or a decade of sexual abuse, all in the name of rehashing a case that has already been extensively rehashed over the years.”

Important background

Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in 1996 of shooting their parents to death in 1989, when they were 21 and 18, respectively. The brothers faced two trials – the first in 1993, when they were tried separately and two juries were inconclusive, and a second that began in 1995, when they were tried together and convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The brothers argued the killings were self-defense, saying they had endured years of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of their father. Prosecutors argued the brothers killed their parents to inherit their fortune, pointing to major purchases they made after the murders, such as a Rolex and a Porsche Carrera. The first trial, which was televised, attracted significant media attention and also went viral on TikTok in 2021, with many Gen Z users campaigning for her release, the New York Times reported.

Where are the Menendez brothers now?

Both brothers are incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. The brothers' lawyers filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court last year, requesting a new hearing, citing recently discovered evidence – a letter the lawyers say Erik wrote eight months before the murders, describing alleged sexual abuse by his father.

tangent

Murphy's previous series, “Dahmer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” also caused controversy. The families of Dahmer's victims accused it of reopening old wounds. “This isn't just a story or historical fact, these are real people's lives,” Eric Perry, a relative of Dahmer victim Errol Lindsey, told the Los Angeles Times. “I don't have to see it, I lived it,” Lindsey's sister Rita Isbell wrote in an article for Insider, criticizing Netflix for not asking the families of Dahmer's victims “if it bothered us or how we felt about it.” The series received mixed reviews, achieving a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite the controversy, the series received 13 nominations at the postponed 75th Emmy Awards in January 2024, winning one for Niecy Nash's supporting role.

More information

Ryan Murphy's 'Monsters' series: Were the Menendez brothers incestuous lovers? (The Daily Beast)

The Wild, True Story Behind Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez (Vanity Fair)