Evan Peters as Jeffery Dahmer in Monster: The Jeffery Dahmer Story Image: Netflix
Dahmer – Monster: The Flashy Nature of Netflix’s Dahmer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story continues to prove a double-edged sword in the face of fresh criticism from a production assistant who worked on the set. Kim Alsup calls Ryan Murphy’s limited series “one of the worst shows” she’s ever worked on — especially as a black woman, she tells the Los Angeles Times.
Alsup initially shared her dissatisfaction in a private setting Twitter thread and has since opened up to The Times about why she chooses not to watch the series. Though Alsup said things got better while filming the series’ sixth installment, “Silenced,” directed by Janet Mock, the main thing Alsup attributes to her monster experience is newfound “PTSD.”
“I just feel like it’s going to bring back too many memories of working on it. I don’t want to have PTSD situations like that,” says Alsup. “The trailer itself gave me PTSD, which is why I ended up writing this tweet and didn’t think anyone would read it.”
According to Alsup, this PTSD stems from her “exhausting” experience on a set with no mental health coordinators, made worse because she’s one of only two black crew members working on the series. “I was always called by someone else’s name, the only other black girl who didn’t look anything like me, and I learned the names of 300 background extras,” she recalls.
Despite opening weekend’s colossal numbers, Monster’s streaming premiere was riddled with controversy. Alsup is not the first human to criticize the series’ handling of Dahmer’s violence. She’s not the first black woman to do so either — Rita Isbell, sister of Dahmer victim Errol Lindsey, has also spoken out against the series.
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Isbell, whose 1992 emotional impact statement from Dahmer’s sentencing trial is recreated on the series, said Netflix never contacted her about using her likeness or monetizing her brother’s trauma. It’s cruel irony, given that the series explores how the authorities’ refusal to investigate the young, gay, and mostly POC men Dahmer killed victimized them a second time.
“I think Netflix should have asked if we mind it or how we felt doing it. They didn’t ask me anything,” Isbell shares in an essay for Insider. “They just did it … But I’m not money hungry, and that’s what this show is about, Netflix is trying to get paid.”