Released on September 19, 2024, Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story directed by Ryan Murphy ignited a widespread backlash on social media, with viewers arguing that the series depicts the Menendez brothers as villains rather than victims who are multifaceted individuals. Gen-Z’s TikTok flooded with a cascade of videos reviewing and condemning the newly released show.
It was just merely over 3 decades ago when an influx of potent headlines of the two brothers dominated headlines of newspapers all over the nation. Now, a new generation gets to rediscover their crimes as the story unfolds once more on the streaming platform of Netflix.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were two brothers who grew up in the wealthy suburbs of California during the 90s. To the people around them, they were normal teenagers fooling around as they enjoyed the wealth of their parents to the utmost. However, in reality, the two brothers partnered in hiding a dark secret of abuse from his father which resulted in the murder of their parents.
Even though the brothers embodied the quintessential image of success through growing up in a wealthy household, they faced a relentless tide of emotional and physical torment at the hands of their father behind closed doors. José Menendez was a part-time businessman – an executive at Hertz Corporation and RCA Records – and a part-time abuser in the household – a pedophile and rapist.
Through the recollections of memories from Lyle and Erik Menendez through their murder trials, José Menendez was characterized with an obsession of vanity – using the abuse as a punishment for his children not living up to his expectations. Despite the suffering of the brothers, Kitty Menendez – the mother of Lyle and Erik – did not intervene to protect her sons from the husband.
“My father used the sex more as power and control. I think he, uh, never intended for me to live away from him,” revealed Erik Menendez through a video interview with Tudum by Netflix on October 10, 2024.
On August 20, 1989, the Menendez brothers murdered their parents after a lifetime of being raped and tortured by their father, which sparked a fire of media coverage that still burns to this very day. The life sentence they both received has been a controversial debate among the general public, with some arguing that they acted in self-defense from the abuse of his father.
Throughout the years, the Menendez brothers have been subject to ridicule in movies and TV shows and have received a fair share of documentaries and shows based on the murder of their parents. Their stories have often been misrepresented in the media, portraying them as villains rather than victims. The Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story does exactly that by wrongfully characterizing the brothers as rich, conceited, and heartless teenagers who had no shame in killing their parents.
“I think the representation of the brothers in the movie was inaccurate. They were kids who were afraid and pushed people to the edge. They wouldn’t have withheld years of trauma if it wasn’t for their love, fear, and respect for their parents, which the show failed to represent,” commented Narely Ortiz, a senior at Felicitas & Gonzalo Mendez High School, who has recently watched the Netflix show directed by Ryan Murphy. This failure to represent the true story of the brothers may result in a faulty perception of current generation teenagers in the case.
The brothers were represented as being ‘monsters’, just as the title suggests, and not as human beings who were suffering from abuse. Through the entirety of the show, Lyle Menendez, played by Nicholas Alexander-Chavez, was portrayed as being arrogant and self-righteous to dramatize the plot and to entertain the general public. As evident in recordings of the trials, Lyle Menendez is completely opposite to his on-screen portrayal with his more gentle nature. For instance, Erik Menendez is more vocal about the relationship between the media and their case while Lyle Menendez is more reserved.
“It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent. It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward,” said Erik Menendez in a statement against the creator of the Monsters show.
There has been an overwhelming response to the show on various social media platforms like Tiktok and Instagram regarding the murder. Ryan Murphy, the director of the show, is being attacked by the general public for distorting the portrayal of the Menendez brothers in his shows to make some money out of it. Many have even gone as far as to boycott the Netflix show and to publicly condemn the company’s approval of fostering the release of such a show. This backlash emphasizes the impact of media misrepresentation on public perception, especially among young audiences.
“They have the responsibility of educating their intended audience in a manner that is accurate and preferably unbiased. I understand that Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is a drama series which explains the necessity of certain scenes that are not significant to the plot but overall it is importing for the media creators to make sure those scenes aren’t completely inaccurate,” stated Isabella Garcia, a senior at East Los Angeles Renaissance Academy, who has recently finished the show.
Recent arguments have risen with some stating that the Menendez brothers never deserved a life sentence in the first place while others state that they deserve a life sentence. Seeing misrepresentation of individuals or a certain group unequivocally has an impact on the general public. After the release of the show, it is safe to say that the newer generation may perceive the Menendez brothers as villainous murders, rather than victims of child molestation and abuse.
“The media is way too quick to make judgments about other people without considering any evidence or facts. People on the internet can be hostile to others in a comment section and I think that’s why it’s important for people to know the whole story before jumping to conclusions,” said Isabella Garcia, a senior at East Los Angeles Renaissance Academy.
Misrepresentation in the media has been a fundamental flaw of the contemporary age with the rise of social media platforms and easy access to the internet by the general public. The story of Lyle and Erik Menendez serves as a poignant example of how sensationalized narratives can overshadow the truth. The brothers were portrayed as monstrous figures driven by greed, when in reality, they are victims to the severe abuse of their parents.
A need for accurate media representation does not only apply to the Menendez brothers, but to other issues at large – such as racial typecasts, gender roles, civil rights and liberties, and other criminal cases. High school students are typically the audience for these shows, which makes it crucial in fostering media literacy and encouraging adolescents to question portrayals that may not fully capture the truth.
Misrepresentation in the media not only distort public perception but also perpetuate harmful stereotypes, ultimately damaging the fabric of understanding in society. With a call for change to misrepresentation in the media, sensationalism can be implemented to foster a more informed and compassionate society. By amplifying student voices to analyze and question the media, individuals will better comprehend the nuances of stories and recognize false news. In a media-dominated age where headlines shape public opinion and social discourse, it is fundamental for individuals to be able to fight for accurate representation in the media.
Editor-in-chief of The Vitruvian Thaw is a senior at East Los Angeles Renaissance Academy and the editor-in-chief of The Vitruvian since 2023. As editor-in-chief of the school paper, he is responsible for overseeing the production of the newspaper staff and ensuring that quality content is created for the students of ELARA. He is currently an intern with media research program at UCLA, and is looking forward to majoring in Political Science. In his free time, he enjoys listening to folk/ indie music, reading fantasy novels and watching sitcoms.