Ryan Murphy Defends ‘Monsters’ Against Erik Menendez Criticism and Backlash Over Homoerotic Brother Scenes: ‘We Had an Obligation to Show All of That’
Ryan Murphy is defending his latest Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” which has stirred up controversy since its streaming debut on Sept. 19. The show covers the 1989 murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez by their sons, Lyle and Erik, and the subsequent trials that ended in their conviction in 1996. The real Erik Menendez has slammed the show, saying Murphy was “naive and inaccurate” in his portrayal of the brothers.
“I think it’s interesting that he’s issued a statement without having seen the show,” Murphy said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight in response to Erik’s criticism. “It’s really, really hard — if it’s your life — to see your life up on screen.”
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“The thing that I find interesting that he doesn’t mention in his quote, is if you watch the show, I would say 60 to 65 percent of our show in the scripts and in the film form center around the abuse and what they claim happened to them,” Murphy continued. “And we do it very carefully and we give them their day in court and they talk openly about it.”
Murphy co-created “Monsters” and was a writer on several episodes. He said that dealing with matters of sexual abuse on television “can be controversial” but stressed that it was important for his show to consider and portray all the points of views that emerged during the murder trial.
“It’s a ‘Rashomon’ kind of approach, where there were four people involved in that,” Murphy said. “Two of them are dead. What about the parents? We had an obligation as storytellers to also try and put in their perspective based on our research, which we did.”
One of the most controversial elements to emerge from “Monsters” are scenes where Erik and Lyle display a homoerotic and incestuous connection. The show at one point even depicts the two brothers showering together. Murphy was asked about the “romantic relationship” that forms between the brothers and said, once again, that it all stemmed from a real point of view that emerged during the trial.
“If you watch the show, what the show is doing is presenting the points of view and theories from so many people who were involved in the case,” Murphy said. “Dominick Dunne [the Vanity Fair journalist played by Nathan Lane] wrote several articles talking about that theory. We are presenting his point of view. And we had an obligation to show all of that and we did.”
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” is now streaming on Netflix. Watch Murphy’s full interview with Entertainment Tonight in the video below.
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