Evan Peters in Monster.Photo: Courtesy Of Netflix
In the second episode of Netflix’sMonster, a white Milwaukee police officer asksJeffrey Dahmerwhy he lives in the Oxford Apartments — what the officer terms “Drug City,” in a historically Black neighborhood.
The question comes as two cops walk the serial killer and his soon-to-be-next-victim,Konerak Sinthasomphone, back to Dahmer’s apartment after the nearly-naked 14-year-old-boy had briefly escaped from Dahmer. On the show, as the officers walk Sinthasomphone into Dahmer’s building, three Black womentry in vain to alert the copsthat something isn’t right.
“What’s a guy like you doing living here?” one cop asks Dahmer.
Ricardo Galaviz, associate director of the Milwaukee LGBTQ Community Center, tells PEOPLE that Dahmer’s crimes made coming out more difficult for him. Galaviz came out in 1999, years after the serial killer’s arrest in 1991. (He is also the son of a Milwaukee police officer, who, according to Galaviz, struggled with his mental health after the revelation of Dahmer’s killing spree.)
Jeffrey Dahmer.EUGENE GARCIA/AFP via Getty
“Knowing this was going on in the city … it made coming out harder and scarier,” he says. “In the late ’90s, especially here in the Midwest, being gay was not as celebrated as it is now.”
Galaviz points out that violence against the LGBTQ community and people of color continues in Milwaukee, citing therecent killingsof three transgender women of color in the city. He hopes the Dahmer series draws attention to what he describes as an ongoing crisis.
“I guess that if it took a Netflix special to shed light, and then now people are revisiting the topic and the victims, I guess that it’s great that people are thinking about the victims,” he says.
“We understand we represent a diverse community and we need to have bridges and levels and ways to connect,” Police Chief Jeffrey Normansaidafter the program was launched.
The series has led advocates to redouble their efforts to create a physical memorial for Dahmer’s victims and their families, according to theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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But Mayor Cavalier Johnson said he’s conflicted about the idea.
“It is entirely appropriate to remember the victims of this horrific episode in Milwaukee’s history. They deserve our respect,” Johnsonsaid in a statementto theJournal Sentinellast month. “I am cautious, however, about a physical memorial. That would have an unfortunate potential to attract people who have a morbid fascination with the killer. That is something I would prefer to avoid.”
‘It Brought Back All the Emotions’
Shirley Hughes, who attended every day of Dahmer’s 1992 trial, told theGuardianearlier this month that the show’s depiction of her son Tony’s death and its aftermath “didn’t happen” how it is shown on screen.
“I don’t see how they can do that,” Hughes told the newspaper. “I don’t see how they can use our names and put stuff out like that out there.”
Last month, Eric Perry, a cousin of victim Errol Lindsey, tweeted that the series is “retraumatizing” his family.
“I’m not telling anyone what to watch, I know true crime media is huge rn, but if you’re actually curious about the victims, my family (the Isbell’s) are pissed about this show,” he wrote onTwitter. “It’s retraumatizing over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?”
Lindsey’s sister, Rita Isbell, discussed the show’s depiction of her victim impact statement at Dahmer’s sentencing in 1992, echoing Perry’s sentiments about the Netflix series.
“When I saw some of the show, it bothered me, especially when I saw myself — when I saw my name come across the screen and this lady saying verbatim exactly what I said,” she wrote in a first-person essay forInsider.
“If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought it was me,” she continued. “Her hair was like mine, she had on the same clothes. That’s why it felt like reliving it all over again. It brought back all the emotions I was feeling back then.”
source: people.com
