Dahmer: The Monstrous Story That Took Over the World

Throughout the winter break, students have a lot of free time on their hands. Some travel, others relax at home, but many use this opportunity to binge-watch TV shows. One of the most popular shows over the past year was " Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.” The shocking story made an impact on many people across the world, but is it worth your time?

The show’s first 28 days since release has garnered a whopping 824.2 million hours watched. It ranks 3rd most watched of all-time, only behind " Squid Game” (Season 1) and " Stranger Things” (Season 4). It was also the only non-fiction series in the top 33.

What makes this show so fascinating? On paper, it doesn’t seem like it’s a fun thing to watch. AUBG student, Neda Yordanova said, “Although it spikes my interest, I wouldn’t watch it because I don’t like this type of genre, and I will feel uncomfortable watching it.” 

This is a valid reason to avoid the show. “Dahmer” can give off a disturbing feeling to the audience, whether it’s through the actions of Dahmer himself or the aftermath of his deeds, including the reactions of the victim’s families. There are many moments throughout the show that are jaw-dropping, not in a good way, but rather in a “what the hell” kind of way. 

Serial killer shows are nothing new to the industry. They have been a staple in the crime genre for quite some time. But to many, the “Dahmer” series is not like any other show. “I find murder mystery or crime shows really interesting, so I thought I would enjoy watching this one, but this one was a little more disturbing,” Sydney Cook said, an exchange student at AUBG.

The disturbing nature of the show caused her to stop watching it and she further explained that “watching shows about serial killers is always a little disturbing, and I have found others interesting, but this one is a different level.” 

AUBG Professor Ezra Winton, with a Ph.D. in Communication Studies, brings up a lot of negative aspects of the show. For example, it doesn’t show us why these acts of violence are committed, but rather they just happen with no explanation other than the fact that Jeffrey Dahmer had a troubled personality. 

The “Dahmer” series has established itself as an eerie show like no other. Even though the main storyline is Jeffrey’s life and his cruel actions, there are episodes dedicated to others in the community, such as Tony Hughes, one of Dahmer’s victims; Glenda Cleveland, his next-door neighbor for many years; and even Lionel Dahmer, Jeffrey’s father. The show places you in their shoes, and instead of just looking at it from the killer’s perspective, you get to experience the injustice and cruelty that Dahmer committed the same way everyone around him did.

Another AUBG student, Erika Poynter, talked about her favorite story from the show. “I adored Tony. He had just moved away from home to pursue his dreams and was trying to find a genuine connection,” she said. These emotional factors allow us to relate to the victims and show us that they weren’t just random people killed by Jeffrey Dahmer, but rather people that lived meaningful lives and still had so much ahead of them. 

The victims are a whole different side of the story. The series mainly starts off by looking at the situation from Dahmer’s perspective, but throughout the second half, the viewer gets to experience exactly what the victims went through. Dahmer’s victims were primarily homosexual men of color. This is an important thing to remember because unfortunately, this allowed him to get away with more murders. 

Furthermore, “this show did a wonderful job of showing that his victims had lives, families, and dreams they wanted to pursue,” Poynter said. She also felt that “the series was genuinely a tribute to his victims and showed what a vile, inhumane, and disgusting person he was.”

Another point of view from Prof. Winton is that the show is very problematic. After all, this is a show about a man who committed horrifying acts of violence against innocent people. According to Prof. Winton, in the Dahmer case, the creators are dangerously creating identification with him by portraying him as enigmatic, troubled, handsome, and sexy to go along with dreamy sequences as well. He also said that “It’s tone deaf for the victims of violence and all of the surviving families of the Jeffrey Dahmer victims.”

The series also exposes black people’s injustice when dealing with the police for help. There are many cases where we see different African Americans warn the police about Dahmer and how dangerous he really is but get ignored. This is an issue that is rarely depicted in such a detailed way that it makes you actually feel the injustice at hand. It shows the struggle of being black in America, which is an issue to this day. 

Although the show doesn't put this theme into a detailed storyline, it gives viewers a good starting point and general knowledge of some of the things the minority groups had to deal with on a daily basis, such as discrimination and social injustice. 

Regarding the way that minority groups were portrayed in the series, Prof. Winton believes that “the show is intersectional in really exploring violence against those communities by white people, including police.” He also said that “you never fully grasp the full devastating brutality of the acts that Jeffrey Dahmer committed by watching this show.”

Prof. Winton said that “they missed an opportunity to have a deep reflection on society”. According to him, the series does not help viewers get an understanding of why people commit violence or trigger the feeling of empathy for the victims. 

However, from personal experience with the show, I do feel empathy toward the victims. All of a sudden people went from living normal and prosperous lives to being manipulated, intimidated, and peer pressured by Dahmer, which led to their eventual deaths. 

According to Prof. Winton, “It’s not focused enough on the larger part of society and especially the victims.” 

He said, “In 2022 they should have better ethical practices than to not even consider for a second the dozens of survivors, surviving family members, and friends.”

Although the show can be very disturbing, there are still many aspects to be appreciated. Evan Peters, who plays Jeffrey Dahmer, depicts the character as creepily as possible. His portrayal has received more acclaim than any other in his career. Yordanova stated that “Despite becoming aware of the horrors that this serial killer committed, a positive would be to appreciate the way in which the series was shot, the actors’ acting, and generally how the series was made.”

Moreover, the tone of the series is very serious from beginning to end. The show does not try to glorify Dahmer’s actions, but it represents them in such an uncomfortable way that it makes you hate the character. As soon as things seem to be working out for Jeffrey, he falls flat on his face and ruins his life. There are moments in the show where the viewer starts feeling hopeful that Jeffrey will go on the right path, but he never learns. 

Cook believes one of the positive aspects of the show is that “it gives perspective to how serial killers think and understand how and why they think that way.” She also goes on to say, “On the other hand, it helps people think about being aware of their surroundings to help them stay safe.” Both of these arguments are valid, and these details can be very beneficial to anyone in the real world.

All students are different and have varying opinions about the show, but all can agree that the story is disturbing. However, Poynter makes a good point that the content surrounding the story is well worth anyone’s time. 

Finally, after all, would AUBG students be interested in watching it? 

Yordanova thinks that “everyone has their preferences, and some would like to watch it if that is their type of series, but others might not, for the same reason as me.”

Cook also believes that some students would watch it, but the content is definitely not for everyone.

“I would recommend the show,” Poynter said. “It really plays to the curious side of the viewers' attention. Everything from casting, dialogue, camera angles, costumes, and lighting within the scenes really make this series phenomenal, despite the story it’s telling.”

Overall, I enjoyed this show more than I could have imagined. Apart from the obvious story being told about Jeffrey Dahmer, it explores many themes far beyond that, such as grievance, social inequality, manipulation, and more. “Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” proves to be far more than just another serial killer show and is unlike anything else in mainstream media.