Netflix’s show, “Monster: The Ed Gein Story,” tells the life of Ed Gein, the man who killed two women and inspired characters in media such as Norman Bates from “Psycho,” Leatherface from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and Buffalo Bill from “Silence of the Lambs.” What Netflix gets wrong is their attempt to dramatize, humanize and romanticize him.
The show comes after previous Netflix hits like “Dahmer,” based on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.” These shows give an inside look into the men’s lives, along with the lives of those they hurt.
The Ed Gein show — to put it simply — is disturbing and fake. It differs from “Dahmer,” “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and “The Ted Bundy Tapes,” which are highly accurate depictions of what the men were like and what they did regarding their crimes.
The show depicts Gein killing two men with a chainsaw: his brother and a babysitter, for which he was never convicted of, but heavily suspected of. He never received letters from Richard Speck, a mass murderer in Chicago, and he did not assist in the capture of Ted Bundy, both events that the show depicts him doing.
Rather than explore the unspeakable crimes he committed, the show chooses to dramatize him, painting him as someone who isn’t aware of the atrocities he commits because of a mental disease. The show makes him commit murders he was never convicted of to bolster the kill count and dramatize him further, despite him already being a bad person.
In the last episode of the show, a dance number occurs in the mental hospital where Gein spent his life post-arrest. In the scene, people such as Charles Manson, Jerry Brudos, Ed Kuemper, Richard Speck and Ted Bundy all seem to congratulate Gein for “inspiring” them to commit crimes of their own.
The scene highlights the mental state he’s in, showing absolute absurdism, but also puts him on a pedestal, almost like a god. The show tries to emphasize the people and media Gein influenced, rather than Gein himself. There is more than enough information on Gein to create an eight-episode series without adding in false details.
What Netflix got right with “Dahmer” and “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” is that they painted Dahmer for what he was: a monster. They showed the treatment of the Menendez brothers and the pain they endured, humanizing them for the right reason. Ed Gein does not need to be humanized. The show is called “Monster,” which is what he was.
Yet despite the crimes he committed, they show him in a light where the audience is meant to feel bad and sympathize with him. His mother was devoutly religious and his father was an alcoholic. However, many people have a similar upbringing, where the family dynamic isn’t safe for children. He isn’t the only person who experienced this, especially in the 1910s.
Certain instances and events in his life act as an excuse for his actions rather than a reason. Many scenes end with a saddish look on his face, as if he fell short of completing something moral, or feeling disgusted with himself for doing something bad.
For all of his life he had an undiagnosed mental illness, a common denominator for many serial killers. The show highlights his struggle to form relationships with others, depicting one of his murders out of heartbreak rather than cruelty and revenge.
The show gives Gein a mild-mannered personality and soft voice. This is seen most while he’s in the mental health institute, treating everyone kindly and being treated kindly back. This choice paints him as timid and vulnerable, further making the audience feel sorry for him.
His upbringing, failed relationships and undiagnosed mental illness all act as excuses rather than contributing factors for his actions. The show doesn’t depict him as evil, rather as someone who is misunderstood. The title of the show is simply inaccurate. Rather than a monster, he’s depicted as a victim.
