Families Continue to Live In Pain

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Variety.com

Evan Peters portrays convicted murdered Jeffrey Dahmer in the Netflix series.

Serenity Smith, Staff Writer

   Shirley Hughes, the mother of one of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims, is calling out Netflix and all the people who support it. She told “The Guardian” that she hadn’t seen the full Dahmer series, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” which focuses one of many episodes on her son, Tony Hughes. Hughes’ son was deaf and 31 years of age when he was murdered.

   “It didn’t happen like that,” Hughes said. “I don’t see how they can use our names and put our stuff out like that.”

   Family members of Dahmer’s victims have formed a group to voice their opinions on the Dahmer series. Neither Netflix nor the creator of the series consult with the families about the series or the making of it prior to its release. Although Netflix was not required to consult victims’ families because the tragedy is in public records, it’s still common courtesy and kind of disrespectful to not let them know.

   “I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it,” Isbell, another victim’s family member said in an essay published by Insider. “They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it.”

   Series creator Ryan Murphy has insisted that the series was to show the trauma that the victims went through, but the series also includes scenes from Dahmer’s childhood and how he got away with many murders. The show also demonstrates how law enforcement chose to ignore the concerns of Black and other minority community members.

   “So when they say they’re doing this ‘with respect to the victims’ or ‘honoring the dignity of the families,’ no one contacts them,” Eric Perry, another victim’s family member wrote on Twitter. “My cousins wake up every few months at this point with a bunch of calls and messages and they know there’s another Dahmer show. It’s cruel.”

   Most recently, parents have been dressing their kids up as Dahmer for Halloween. Victims’ family members have come out to say it’s triggering to see people dress up as the man who took their family member’s life.

   According to a TMZ report, Shirley Hughes says that “it hurts for Netflix and all the online stores to profit off her son’s death, while none of the family members have received a dime.” While people are able to dress up like the infamous murderer for one day for fun, the families’ pain never goes away. Hughes goes on to say that “Dahmer was pure evil, I don’t understand how the folks who chose to dress like him sleep at night.”

   Dahmers own father, Lionel, is considering suing Netflix for bringing up past trauma, according to netflixlife.com.