Netflix's "DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" (2024)

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About

DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is a Netflix series about American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer that aired in September 2022 and starred American Horror Story actor Evan Peters. After the TV show was released on the streaming platform, it snowballed controversies such as backlash for its LGBTQ+ tag and its romanticization of Dahmer that caused many thirst traps and fan edits on TikTok and elsewhere by Evan Peters stans who ultimately sympathized with Dahmer because he was "attractive." The families of Jeff Dahmer's victims expressed outrage, as well as Twitter users. The show also inspired discussion and memes, such as I Told You We Are Going to Watch X and Then You Can Leave.

History

On March 23rd, 2021, news outlet Deadline^[1] reported that Evan Peters was cast in an upcoming Netflix series called Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. On the same day, Twitter^[2] account FilmUpdates tweeted the information, gaining over 6,700 likes in a year and a half. On August 25th, 2022, the Twitter^[3] account FilmUpdates tweeted a "sneak peak" photo of the upcoming series, set to release on September 21st, 2022, gaining roughly 30,200 likes in two months.

On September 16th, 2022, Netlfix then uploaded the official trailer to YouTube, gaining roughly 4.2 million views and 66,000 likes in 18 days (shown below).

Online Presence

When the series was released for streaming on September 21st, 2022, many internet users took to Twitter to relay their reactions, opinions and memes. For instance, on September 21st, Twitter^[4] user OliviaLeaa captioned Matthew McConaughey Smoking with, "I hope Evan Peters is getting therapy after this portrayal cause this role is crazyyy," gaining roughly 10,600 likes in 13 days (shown below, left). Also on September 21st, Twitter^[5] user mk345773 captioned an image of blind Bart Simpson with, "The Wisconsin police between 1978-1991," gaining roughly 11,400 likes in the same amount of time (shown below, right).

Also on September 21st, 2022, Twitter^[6] user sicssorluv emphasized in a tweet, "let’s not romanticize Jeffrey Dahmer just because he is played by Evan Peters. Remember the victims," earning roughly 250,000 likes in 13 days. On September 22nd, Netflix's DAHMER was the number one streamed show on the platform.^[7]

LGBTQ+ Category Tag Controversy

On September 21st, 2022, Twitter^[8] user Q_Review tweeted, "imagine clicking on the 'LGBTQ' category and this is what you get," in reference to Netflix labeling the DAHMER series as such. The tweet received roughly 17,100 likes in 13 days (shown below). On the same day, TikToker^[9] lizthelezbo referenced the same conflict of interest in a video that received roughly 387,300 plays and 27,900 likes in 13 days.

LGBTQ+ news outlet Pink News^[10] then covered the controversy in an article published on September 23rd, 2022, making the conversation louder on Twitter.^[11] On September 28th, Netflix removed the LGBTQ+ tag due to the backlash it faced.^[12]

Jeffrey Dahmer and Evan Peters TikTok Edits and Controversy

On September 24th, 2022, Twitter^[13] user liliandaisies reposted a TikTok video made by TikToker coursettie (since deleted) that romanticized a scene from the DAHMER show in which Dahmer is luring one of his gay, Black victims to his apartment. Twitter user liliandaisies emphasized in their tweet that the fan edit was unnerving, stating that "this is about a murderer and a man he killed. my heart goes out to the families of jeffrey dahmer’s victims." Over the course of 10 days, the tweet received roughly 5,200 likes and 242,900 views (shown below).

people are making romance tiktok edits about a serial killer and his victim. they didn’t “go from people you know to people you don’t”, this is about a murderer and a man he killed. my heart goes out to the families of jeffrey dahmer’s victims pic.twitter.com/aoxV5xQbZC
— lilian (@liliandaisies) September 24, 2022

On September 30th, 2022, Twitter^[14] user uhhmmily tweeted screenshots of TikToks in which "white women" were "flexing how they were so 'unbothered' and 'unfazed' by the dahmer series on netflix," ultimately expressing disgust towards the TikTok trend. The tweet received roughly 281,600 likes in four days (shown below, left). Continuing into October 2022, more Twitter user levied disgust towards TikTok's promotion of the show. For instance, on October 3rd, 2022, notable TikToker Bryce Hall posted a tweet^[15] reading, "why is jeffrey dahmer all over my tiktok fyp… wtf is wrong with my algorithm," gaining over 2,000 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Jeffrey Dahmer's Prison Glasses On Sale For $150,000

On October 2nd, 2022, TMZ^[16] published an article that Dahmer's eyeglasses worn in prison were being sold by a collectibles agency, Cult Collectibles, located in Vancouver, Canada for $150,000 following the virality of the Netflix series. Multiple tweets surfaced about the news on October 2nd, like one from the Twitter^[17] account PopBase that received roughly 12,100 likes in two days.

I Told You We Are Going to Watch X and Then You Can Leave

I Told You We Are Going to Watch X and Then You Can Leave, refers to an exploitable image macro and phrasal template where Evan Peters, playing serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer sits in front of a TV photoshopped to be playing a bad, memeable or ironically bad movie or TV show with a caption reading, "I told you we are going to watch X and then you can leave," "X" being the show or movie, as well as video games using the "Play" variant. The format first appeared online on September 24th and gained viral spread that month. It then spread to TikTok as a video format where a video clip is imposed onto the TV screen, known as Going To Hang Out, Watch a Movie.