{"id":488626,"date":"2025-10-10T15:13:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/488626\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T15:13:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:13:11","slug":"netflixs-monster-works-too-hard-to-humanize-ed-gein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/488626\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix’s ‘Monster’ works too hard to humanize Ed Gein"},"content":{"rendered":"

I understand the fascination with murderers and the dark side of humanity. But Netflix has gone too far in portraying the life of Ed Gein.<\/p>\n

\"play\"<\/p>\n

What to know about notorious serial killer Ed Gein<\/p>\n

Ed Gein only confessed to two murders, but he also exhumed nine bodies from nearby cemeteries, gruesomely cutting and mutilating them into masks, upholstery and more in his Plainfield home.<\/p>\n

Encyclopaedia Britannica<\/p>\n

Note:<\/strong>\u00a0This column contains spoilers from “Monster: The Ed Gein Story<\/a>” and references to murder and necrophilia.<\/p>\n

Some stories are so ghoulish they don’t need to be told.<\/p>\n

This is what I thought while trying to watch Netflix’s newest hit, “Monster: The Ed Gein Story<\/a>.” But I might be the only one.<\/p>\n

The show debuted at No. 2 with more than 12 million views<\/a> and, as of this writing, is the No. 1 TV show on Netflix. It’s the third in the true-crime anthology “Monster” series, created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan<\/a>. The previous two series focused on Jeffrey Dahmer<\/a> and the Menendez brothers<\/a>, respectively.<\/p>\n

But “Gein” has been so popular that I wondered why and started watching the first episode. The series depicts the bizarre life of Gein, played by Charlie Hunnam<\/a>, the handsome star of “Sons of Anarchy.” (Thank you, series creators, for forever ruining Hunnam for me.) If you don’t recognize the name Gein \u2212 I actually didn’t \u2212 you might recognize other famous thrillers his life inspired<\/a>, such as “Psycho,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and even “The Silence of the Lambs.”<\/p>\n

I enjoy a good true crime story, and I understand the morbid curiosity that drives us to peek into the minds of killers from the safety of our couches. But I have to admit: I wondered why the creators of this Netflix show went to such great lengths to make us try to sympathize with Gein.<\/p>\n

What is the value of this to us, the audience?<\/p>\n

‘Gein’ is so gruesome that it’s beyond entertainment<\/p>\n

The series is gruesome, disturbing, and tells the weird story of Gein’s life<\/a>, dramatizing his murders and showcasing his twisted relationship with his mother<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Ed Gein\u2019s fairly obscure<\/a>,” Brennan, who wrote all eight episodes, told\u00a0Tudum, a site Netflix created for fans. “You take the facts and the things that happened and then just try to get in the guy\u2019s head and try to figure out, ‘OK, if that is true, what else is true? What does this world look like?’ “<\/p>\n

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After watching, I didn’t want to know what Gein’s world looked like or why it looked that distorted; I just wanted out of it. “The Butcher of Plainfield<\/a>” confessed to killing two women<\/a> in the 1950s, though he’s suspected of slaughtering more victims. Gein then crafted knickknacks and clothing from the remains of his victims. I could not get through the series.<\/p>\n

It’s these lurid details that seem to beckon creators to feature Gein in the series, as opposed to any other garden-variety murderer and grave robber.<\/p>\n

Hollywood sensationalizes murderers<\/p>\n

Society has long had a fascination with killers, especially really odd ones.<\/p>\n

“We as a society are interested in power. That intrigues us.” John Fisher, assistant professor and coordinator for the University of Texas’ Permian Basin criminal justice program, said in an interview<\/a>. “And we give respect to the alpha male. … A serial murderer is probably the epitome of that alpha domination.\u201d<\/p>\n

This fascination has inspired Hollywood. The show’s creators go to great lengths to connect Gein’s crimes and influence to pop culture phenomena. The emphasis on Hollywood’s connection gives Gein’s crimes and distorted mind a glamorized effect, which is a mistake.<\/p>\n

Opinion newsletter:<\/b> Sign up for our newsletter on conservative values, family and religion from columnist Nicole Russell. Get it delivered to your inbox<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho was the monster? This poor boy who was abused his whole life then left in total isolation, suffering from undiagnosed mental illness?\u201d the actor who played Gein,\u00a0Hunnam, asks Tudum.<\/a> \u201cOr the legion of people who sensationalized his life for entertainment and arguably darkened the American psyche and the global psyche in the process?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hunnam’s question is valid, but ironic: The star, the show’s creators and Netflix all participated in sensationalizing Gein’s life just one more time, as if hoping to add “Monster: The Ed Gein Story” to Hollywood’s lexicon of entertainment featuring murderers.<\/p>\n

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This story, and many others like it, highlight murderers over their victims, too. Gein’s story was so laser-focused on his perverted mind that there was no room left for respect and sympathy for his victims. In a world awash with narcissism, this seems insulting to them and irresponsible to audiences. “Gein” crosses a line and raises ethical and moral questions: Is there value in this blurring of fact and fiction, art and life? Or are some things better left to old newspaper clippings and one’s imagination?<\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole series, it turns the camera right on us,\u201d writer Brennan told Tudum. \u201cIt really matters what you look at and the images and stories you consume. They do stick with you, and they do have an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

They really do, yet this fact didn’t permeate “Gein” enough to leave it on the cutting room floor.<\/p>\n

Toward the middle of the fictionalized series, Gein himself apparently looks<\/a> at the camera and says forebodingly to us, \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be watching this.\u201d I think he was right.<\/p>\n

But millions of Americans have anyway, and I still wonder why. The answer may tell us more about ourselves than it will about the murderers featured in Hollywood hits.<\/p>\n

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY.\u00a0She lives in Texas with her four kids.\u00a0Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track<\/a>, and get it delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I understand the fascination with murderers and the dark side of humanity. But Netflix has gone too far…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[8521,5784,4021,11753,128883,54130,11757,5762,11765,8745,188,77,44225,981,161385,247,161386,3462,5791,119076,6584,451,12,3669,79533,391,11768,11767,7670,5179,6591,11752,28219,5783,7626,28216,23362,145652,11759,5782,382,23788,5790,5181,49,978,659,11758,11770,11769,359,8520,8529],"class_list":{"0":"post-488626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-abuse","9":"tag-affiliate","10":"tag-arts","11":"tag-center","12":"tag-charlie","13":"tag-charlie-hunnam","14":"tag-collection","15":"tag-columnists","16":"tag-columnists-opinions","17":"tag-content","18":"tag-crime","19":"tag-entertainment","20":"tag-fisher","21":"tag-guides","22":"tag-hunnam","23":"tag-john","24":"tag-john-fisher","25":"tag-local","26":"tag-local-affiliate-arts-u0026-entertainment","27":"tag-murphy","28":"tag-negative","29":"tag-netflix","30":"tag-news","31":"tag-online","32":"tag-online-video","33":"tag-opinion","34":"tag-opinion-collection","35":"tag-opinion-content","36":"tag-opinions","37":"tag-overall","38":"tag-overall-negative","39":"tag-politically","40":"tag-politically-center-right","41":"tag-programs","42":"tag-reference","43":"tag-right","44":"tag-ryan","45":"tag-ryan-murphy","46":"tag-sharing","47":"tag-shows","48":"tag-tv","49":"tag-tv-guides-u0026-reference","50":"tag-tv-shows-u0026-programs","51":"tag-u0026","52":"tag-united-states","53":"tag-us","54":"tag-usa","55":"tag-usat","56":"tag-usat-content-sharing-entertainment","57":"tag-usat-content-sharing-opinion","58":"tag-video","59":"tag-violence","60":"tag-violence-u0026-abuse"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}