Netflix
While much of the controversy surrounding Netflix has shifted from last weekend’s “Dahmer” to this weekend’s “Blonde,” the former has remained the subject of criticism in numerous quarters since the show launched.
The Ryan Murphy-produced series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, starring Evan Peters as the serial killer, was a ratings juggernaut for the service. However, it has also been met with criticism not only from viewers and victims’ families, but also from staff who worked on the show.
The latest to speak out is journalist Anne Schwartz, who uncovered the story of Dahmer’s murders while working as a crime reporter for the Milwaukee Journal in 1991.
In a new interview with The Independent, Schwartz has criticized the show for different reasons than most — namely accuracy and how much artistic freedom the series requires. Schwartz says:
“[The show] bears little resemblance to the facts of the case. In the first five minutes of the first episode, Glenda Cleveland knocks on his door. None of that ever happened. I had problems with the buy-in because I knew it wasn’t correct. But people don’t watch it like that, they watch it for entertainment.”
Schwartz, who later worked in communications for the Milwaukee Police Department and the Wisconsin Department of Justice, said portraying city police officers as racist and homophobic was also wrong:
“I spent a lot of time with them and interviewed the people who were at the crime scene. Again, this is a dramatization, but at a time when it’s not easy for law enforcement to garner trust and support from the community, it’s not a very helpful portrayal.”
Dahmer reportedly hunted marginalized men whose disappearance did not raise alarm bells, allowing him to get away with murdering seventeen boys and men before his crimes were discovered.
Schwartz says the people of Milwaukee are “absolutely exhausted hearing about the case.” The series broke Netflix records and watched 196.2 million hours in its first week to become the streamer’s biggest new series debut to date. The full ten-episode run is available now on Netflix.
Source: Indiewire