We Do Not Need More "Hot" Serial Killer Shows
Dahmer, the problematic Netflix drama about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, isn't getting a second season but Monster, the serial killer-focused series of which Dahmer was only the first chapter, will indeed be back for more. The news was actually announced in late November 2022 but began trending once again on social media in early April 2023, for seemingly no reason besides one person mistakenly resharing the news as if it was breaking all over again.
Despite the weird bump in the news cycle, it's worth remembering the many problems fostered by Monster, which will focus on different serial killers in its forthcoming second and third seasons.
The Jeffrey Dahmer-focused first iteration brought to light an extremely unfortunate side effect that's inevitable with any true crime boom: the glamorization of serial killers.
Dahmer, which starred Evan Peters as the titular serial killer, spawned anti-thirst think pieces and Halloween costumes alike, as viewers indulged in fetishizing the objectively good-looking Peters as Dahmer.
Of course this Dahmer was handsome. Plenty of these guys were: that's how they charmed their victims and why their cases became national news.
As these men become the fixation of the news cycle, their deceivingly attractive facades overshadow the evil they wracked upon innocent people, cruelly obscuring the brutality of their crimes and the suffering of the affected families.
That's partially why it sucks to see more of this content being produced. We don't need an attractive person playing Richard Ramirez, we don't need Zac Efron making the case for Ted Bundy.
This has been a persistent cultural issue since far before Peters inadvertently thirst-trapped as Dahmer, but the Monster series only serves to underscore the problem.
It sucks that the endless demand for more high-volume, high-discussion content yields this sort of miserable discourse but here we are.
Like, it didn't even matter that Monster was confirmed for renewal as far back as November; the fact that "Dahmer" began trending simply because someone decided to inexplicably repost the news of series was returning — and incorrectly assert that Dahmer itself was returning for more — is proof of the car-wreck phenomenon at play, where even people disgusted by the situation can't help but crane their necks.
