The students at the Regional have taken an interest in the show “Monsters” on Netflix. The show is a reenactment of the story of the Menendez brothers, Erik and Lyle, who were convicted of murdering their parents in 1989. The documentary takes the viewer through the series of events that led up to the murders and the legal proceedings that followed with the ultimate conviction.
“I think a lot of the show was blown out of proportion and was meant more for entertainment purposes than an actual representation of what happened,” said junior Rylie Head.
While the show was meant to tell the tragic story of what the Menendez brothers went through and how they carried out the murder of their parents, many question the validity of the events that were told. Some viewers of this show believe that the boys’ side of the story happens to be overlooked.
“I decided that I wasn’t going to watch the show because I know about the case and have heard that it doesn’t depict what the boys went through and shows and portrays an inaccurate story,” Said junior Adly Atanian.
Since the show was released there has been a lot of influence from social media to reopen the case. The criminal case against the Menedez brothers and their claims of molestation were uncommon during the time of the murders, which has led many to believe that the criminal case evidence should be reexamined.
“I think social media is compelling because now the case is being talked about and the case might be reopened. I think the whole show was exaggerated and all the stuff they added to it was used to fill in the blanks of what nobody knows,” said senior Emma Devlin.
The Netflix series showed the deeper complexities of society’s impact on these events. It’s important to understand when viewing this documentary that it is a series of stories told from the perspective of the Menendez brothers, but it does not necessarily include all the facts from the original criminal case.
“I think the show is depicted differently to different generations due to the topic of assault in the case because older generations didn’t think something like that could happen to boys,” said junior Tierney Brush.
Some might say true crime shows are made inaccurate just for the show’s entertainment. It’s often said that there are three sides to the story, the Menendez brothers, the parents’ version, and the truth.
“I think that the case was not talked about enough due to the father’s authority and not wanting the information to get about the abuse that was going on,” said Matthew Lane.
Jose Menedez was a successful businessman from Cuba who moved to Beverly Hills. The high profile case about this wealthy family and their dark secrets were covered up and with the parents deceased, we can only speculate their version of how the events unfolded.
“I think that the boys were treated differently because of them being boys and if they were girls the case would have been treated differently which is very sad,” Said sophomore Erin Cross.
The Netflix documentary tells the tragic story of molestation that led to the murders, cover up, and conviction of the Menendez brothers who are currently serving life sentences. It’s important to know that this series is not an accurate depiction of the events that occurred and all the legal facts of the case have not been disclosed in this series.
The Menendez are scheduled for a resentencing hearing on March 20-21, 2025.
