Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer, and Richard Ramirez. Such simple names with such malevolent histories. Today’s generation knows all about it, but at cost. 

Due to a plethora of documentaries, books, shows, and other forms of entertainment, we’ve been exposed to the most poisonous forms of knowledge. However, we take it too far. Some people dedicate their lives to learning about serial killers and sharing information, but there comes a time to stop. That time is now.

There are over 250 shows and movies portraying serial killers, real and fiction, and Netflix takes up a large amount of them. Netflix’s newest serial show, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, is now Netflix’s top 2 with reaching over 300,000,000 viewing hours, according to FlixPatrol.

 Ever since the release of Dahmer, the creators, Ian Brennan and Ryan Murphy have been receiving criticism due to the empowering question of the romanization of said serial killer. This show has sparked the attention of many social media sites, Tik Tok being one of them. Several people have been posting videos, showing their “love” for Dahmer. Clearly, they don’t believe in a digital footprint because almost everything you put onto the internet can be traced back to you, not a good look. 

This gives Deja Vu over the Night Stalker case, which funny enough, is translated into a Netflix Series. The Night Stalker series was based on Ramirez, a serial killer who killed 13 from 1984 to ‘85. People threw themselves at him even knowing the horrific things he’s done. It scares me that we have still not grown up and come to our senses about these serial killers, how they are not something to fetishize or love. They obviously have no regard for human life, so why should people have regard for them? 

After much fanfare towards the Dahmer series, the victims’ families are starting to speak out about their concerns. Some even mentioned that they had no idea of the role they would play in the Dahmer series. According to etonline, Shirley Hughes, mother of Tony Hughes – Dahmer’s 11th victim – said  “I don’t see how they can do that,” and how it’s hard to talk about her son’s death.

The sister of Elroy Lindsey, another victim of Dahmer, says she wasn’t aware her court statement would be played in the show. No wonder Murphy and Brennan are getting the backlash they are, as they nor Netflix, made it clear to the families of the show. This proves the selfishness and the blind-eye their tuning towards the effect of this show.

Did we really need more Dahmer media or any serial killer media at that? Did we need education? 250 shows and movies are more than enough to get the “awareness” across. Even the first 100 was more than enough. It should be, to stop the need to produce more, but it’s not and unfortunately never will be. We no longer feel the fear we should have at the mention of serial killer names. It went from “I pray it never happens” to “Have you seen the new show?” How would the victims feel when they see their killer plastered on billboards and Halloween costumes? In songs and books. I’d be hurt and so should you.