Hollywood and its love for Exploiting Tragedy
Exploitation in Hollywood is not new. For example, the new “Blonde” movie is about Marilyn Monroe, exploiting her in various ways–as many other pieces of media have–while telling a fictionalized version of her life. The new Netflix original “Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” has the same issues. Not taking into account the victims' families: Netflix continues to profit off the horrific actions of Dahmer.
Many people make inappropriate comments about the “Dahmer” show, and more specifically, how actor Evan Peters, and the character he plays, are attractive. In this situation, it feels like many people forget that Jeffrey Dahmer is a pedophile, necrophile, and cannibal, and that there are real victims and their relatives involved.
Netflix never reached out to any of the victims families, after claiming in an article by Aramide Tinbu, that the series “will give notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims a voice.” The family members of the victims confirmed that they were 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 didn’t,” Rita Isbell, the sister of Errol Lindsey-who is a victim of Dahmer-said in an interview with Insider.
etflix dealt with a similar situation in 2019 with the release of the Ted Bundy biopic starring Zac Efron, titled “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile”. Many people made comments about how attractive he was. And, they weren't just comments about Zac Efron, but also Ted Bundy himself. Netflix addressed these comments in a tweet, but that was the extent of it.
Recently, the new movie “Blonde” starring Ana De Armas has stirred controversy for multiple reasons. The movie is based on a biographical fiction novel written by Joyce Carol Oates. The book and movie are fictionalized versions of Marilyn's life. This has confused many people as the advertising for the movie made it seem like a biographical movie.
The explicit details depicted in this movie are rumors that cannot be confirmed. The movie solely focuses the abuse, sexual assult, and exploitation Marilyn experienced during her time in Hollywood while blatantly ignoring many other important moments in her life.
“All that’s missing from this portrait is, well, everything else, including Monroe’s personality and inner life, her intelligence, her wit and savvy and tenacity; her interest in—and knowledge of –politics; the work that she put in as an actress and the true depth of her professional ambitions,” Manohla Dargis, a writer for The New York Times said.
Many people are concerned that these shows and movies force victims' families to relive their traumatic experiences. The only people who benefit from this are the creators, who continue to profit. As we consume copious amounts of media, we must also continue to critique and analyze what we are seeing. Hollywood's endless exploitation of tragedies thrives now more than ever, and it’s important that we can recognize and put a stop to this.