Criminal psychologist issues warning to anyone who’s watched Menendez brothers series on Netflix
In the first four days of its release, 12.3 million viewers tuned into Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, but now an expert has issued a warning to those who were addicted to the controversial true crime drama.
For those out of the loop with Netflix's latest addition to Ryan Murphy's eerie Monsters franchise, the drama tells the story of the real-life brothers who, back in 1989, murdered their parents José and Kitty Menendez after what they claim was years of sexual, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of their father.
Lyle and Erik shot the duo at close range with a shotgun at their Los Angeles home.
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It wasn't until a tape-recorded confession that Erik subsequently made to his therapist was seized by police that the pair ended up behind bars.
The series - which has massively divided viewers - recounts the murders, as well as the televised court case that followed which became a national sensation.
In the days since the show landed, however, many viewers at home have - not only hit out at producers for apparent 'inaccuracies' - but joined various online campaigns to free the duo, who've been behind bars for over 30 years.
According to one expert, however, viewers weighing in on a real-life, extremely sensitive criminal case can have disastrous effects.
Dr Julia Shaw has dedicated her life's work to psychological science, and has carried out vital research in criminal behaviour, as well as the potential for inherent evil to dictate fatal decisions.
As such, one might expect the best-selling author - who also presents chilling True Crime series Killers Caught On Camera - to hold some resentment towards television shows accused of glamourising or sensationalising real-life cases, an example being the latest Menendez brothers series.
Surprisingly, however, Dr Shaw admitted she enjoys such shows - but only to a certain extent.
"I like drama," she told Tyla this week. "The good and bad thing about drama is that you can really lean into the excitement of a crime. The bad aspect is that it can sensationalise crime."
In fact, she also has a stern warning against those who plan on watching the show, as well as those who'd already chimed in on the controversial debate surrounding the brothers' release.
Claiming she 'definitely' believes the series has the potential to influence the way that viewers think about the global judicial systems currently in place to punish killers, she called out so-called 'armchair detectives'.
"I think [true crime recreations] are already swaying people’s opinions," she began. "I think that creators of true-crime and fictional crime shows are absolutely having an impact on the way we think catching criminals works and how justice should work and what prison sentences should be."
Dr Julia continued: "One thing I struggle with a lot in my true crime work is people inserting the word ‘only’ before discussing the length of a criminal’s sentence.
"They’ll say, ‘This person only got 15 years’, and every time, my reaction is ‘What do you mean, "only"?'.
"Even if a person did terrible things, the sentencing is related to a much more complex picture of that person, as it should be."
Explaining that our goal should not be to lock everybody up, she added: "The goal should be trying to make society safer, and so I think the problem with true crime series is that it can make people turn into couch warriors.
"They’re sitting there, feeling like they should be judging these criminals, and it’s having the opposite effect of empathy.
"There’s one side where you’re trying to empathise and relate to the people that commit these crimes, but there’s another side where you think, ‘Well, given these peoples’ life circumstances, a long prison term is unjust’, or ‘They shouldn’t be in prison at all."
Dr Shaw continued: "But those at home will never know the full extent to what happened or what was said in the trial, necessarily.
"They’ll never know all the details, the lawyers who’ve worked for years to make sure the case was well-researched, and so, audiences need to be careful not to think they have a better understanding of a case, just because a one-hour long episode claims to tell the whole story."
Explaining that making such assumptions about how a criminal is feeling can be harmful, she added: "You’re allowing that character to say things out loud that you don’t know were real. That allows you to try and go deep with empathy, potentially.
"I like fictionalised versions of these true crime shows as long as they compliment the real cases, including the footage and the people, and that it’s not just glamourised dramas all the time."
Naturally, therefore, Dr Shaw is a huge advocate for more true-to-life tellings of criminal behaviour, including Killers Caught On Camera - the third series of which landed on the True Crime channel recently.
Giving potential viewers a glimpse into what they can expect from the series, she explained: "The show is as it suggests. It's camera footage of people committing crime, including the moments before and after murders are committed.
"What you get is a real insight into how people live their lives, and because quite a lot of these cameras are inside people's homes or are dash-cams, the individuals involved aren't thinking about the footage as something that's going to be made publicly available.
"So, you get a real insight into people's lives that you would never get otherwise, which is really interesting for me as a psychologist because I go on to analyse some of that in the show."
Killers Caught On Camera airs on True Crime every Thursday at 10pm and Fridays at 2am.
True Crime is available on Freeview (67), Sky (146), Virgin (148) and Freesat (135).
The programme will also be available to stream on WATCH FREE UK after the linear premiere and True Crime UK on ITVX.
Topics: Netflix, True Crime, Crime, TV And Film, US News, UK News
Rhianna Benson