Netflix & Their Weird Serial Killer Revisionism

Why is Netflix portraying the Menendez brothers as being gay and incestual?

Yet another new Netflix miniseries with the aim of turning serial killers into yet another fandom for childish adults is on its way. This time, Netflix is retelling the story of the Menendez brothers, Lyle and Erik, who killed their music industry executive father and socialite mother, Jose and Kitty.

When Lyle and Erik were brought to trial, their defense was that the killings were done in self defense, out of fear they had towards their father, who they claimed molested them, as well as their mother, who they claimed helped cover it up. These claims were scoffed at and thrown aside by the courts and the media as the Menendez brothers would be sentenced to life in prison for the killings. 

Lyle and Erik as seen in a 1990 Hoops card.

Close to 3 decades later, Roy Rosselló, a member of the band Menudo, would claim that he was a victim of Jose Menendez as well. When he was 14, Rosselló claims that he was drugged and raped by Jose at the Menendez home. At the time, Jose was the head of RCA Records. It did not stop with Jose, as Rosselló along with other members from Menudo have let it be known they were made victims of underage sexual abuse many times, including by the groups founder and manager, Edgardo Díaz. With all that being said about Menudo, it is worth noting that they are one of the most famous boy bands of all time, and the band is still going on today, with a new and youthful lineup. During their reign, the band has churned out notable stars like Ricky Martin, who has been accused of incest by his nephew. The band is now managed by Mario Lopez, the former child actor that has twice been accused of sexual assault by women. 

In recent years, however, more light has been shed on the Menendez brothers story, as well as the pedophilia problem in the music industry, causing people to reexamine the killings, with many even changing their minds on the case, and offering support for the brothers. A lot of the credit for this change in the wind surrounding this case is to be given to Robert Rand, author of The Menendez Murders: The Shocking Untold Story of the Menedez Family and the Killings that Stunned the Nation. The book has now been updated, and is set for re-release next month, around the same time as the new Netflix series. 

I will admit that I was pleasantly surprised with Netflix’s retelling of the Ted Bundy story in the movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. I watched it soon after reading Programmed to Kill by David McGowan and was shocked at how accurately they portrayed the railroading of Ted Bundy by the courts, their lack of evidence against him as well as the illegally obtained and laughable evidence that was used against him. Of course, they had to put some bullshit scene at the end of the movie where Bundy admits to his ex-wife how he killed a victim. This was probably put in there in order to keep the audience comfortable with demonizing Bundy without questioning the official story at all. 

However, this miniseries about the Menendez brothers is being made by the same guy who made the Jeffrey Dahmer miniseries that was recently the most popular miniseries on Netflix. That guy is Ryan Murphy. I also watched the Dahmer miniseries, and as of now don’t have too much of an opinion on it. But I do already have an opinion on this Menendez brothers miniseries, despite it not even being out yet.

In the teaser for the new miniseries made by Ryan Murphy, we see the Menendez family, of course portrayed by actors, taking a family photo before a chilling voiceover conversation between Jose and Kitty cuts in, and their characters leave the scene. Then, the scene changes and suddenly the brothers are only in their underwear. After this change sets in, the brothers then embrace each other in an incestuous, romantic way. 

There’s one problem with that: the brothers weren’t incestual with each other. It was their father that they claimed was incestual with them, and only him. Putting a gay overtone on the story by making the brothers gay seems to not only be in bad taste, but also obscure from the real story, which is one of sexual abuse of children by their father, a powerful music industry executive who was covered for by his wife, the children’s mother.

Now, it should be mentioned that Ryan Murphy is gay himself, and others are also already criticizing this teaser as being one for another overly gay piece of media. Now that I think about it, I do have one thought on the Dahmer miniseries: while it seemed very much accurate and followed the story in a very comprehensive and well put together way, the fact that Dahmer and many of his victims were gay did sometimes feel overemphasized. This probably was just Murphy putting his spin on it as a gay man, showing off what he knows best. But I’m sure Netflix doesn't mind this. While Murphy did a good job of accurately telling the story and being detailed with the facts surrounding it, it is more than likely that the dumbed down audiences of today’s America were more enamored by the LGBTQ themes within the miniseries. Also probably emotional about the tragedies that met so many of the gay men that crossed Dahmer’s way. This helps ensure that those in the audience won’t question some of the facts presented to them in the miniseries. Such as, how the hell did Dahmer just phone up Vice President Mondale’s office and set up a meeting with the guy? Especially given the fact he was just a teenager on a school trip at the time.

Regardless, Murphy did seem to do right by the story in depicting it as accurately and factually as he could while still making it entertaining. To that, I say bravo. We need more of that in entertainment. However, making the Menendez brothers gay at all, especially in an incestual manner, is a straight up lie. Again, the Menendez brothers miniseries itself has not come out yet, but this teaser still has me wondering about some things. Like, are they going to use LGBTQ themes excessively this time in order to avoid having to focus too much on the fact that the father, a music industry executive, has been accused of sexual abuse not only by his sons but young musicians under him too? This could further expose many to the music industry’s pedophilia problem. The music industry isn't too far down the road from the film industry, of which Netflix dominates. 

It is worth noting that Marc Randolph, a co-founder of Netflix, is literally a direct descendent of Edward Bernays, the father of public relations, whose uncle was Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. In other words, this family knows a whole lot about propaganda and the human psyche, and how to make money from it. Perhaps by using one to exploit the other. It would also make sense that it’d be in their interests to keep the entertainment industry in general clear of as much controversy as possible. 

Netflix has proven to be persuasive when it streams propaganda to its young audiences. While the Menedez brothers miniseries has yet to come out, the teaser for it has already told me a lot about the story it is going to tell. And I doubt it will be the true story it advertises itself to be. As for what the father of propaganda (another title given to Mr. Edward Bernays) had to say about the matter itself: “Propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government.” When you start to figure out what this propaganda is made for, you will put together who exactly this propaganda protects. Then you start to figure out who exactly that “invisible government” is and what exactly it deals in.