In a world full of woke remakes where characters are gender-swapped, race-swapped, or made gay in the name of inclusivity, one might think it wouldn’t be all that controversial if a new Netflix series about a notorious gay person accurately acknowledged that this person was, in fact, gay.
Nope. Wrong. It turns out the LGBT community is not thrilled that Netflix’s new series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was tagged as LGBTQ on the streaming platform.
Dahmer, the notorious serial killer and cannibal who killed 17 people over a 13-year period, was indeed a homosexual. But acknowledging this fact clearly goes against the preferred narrative that the LGBT community is just, like, universally awesome and cool and nonviolent and loving and stuff. And so, members of the community are fuming at Netflix for daring to tag the series as an LGBTQ story.
If I need to stay in my lane absolutely tell me but anyone else think it’s pretty gross of @netflix to list Dahmer under #LGBTQ, especially when the True Crime tag would have worked? pic.twitter.com/wPzwc2oOKP
— Frances *Deadly SoverAuntie* Danger (@FrancesMFDanger) September 21, 2022
@netflix you’re representation for the LGBTQ community is starting to be disgusting considering you cancel all the lesbian shows. But adding #lgbtq to Dahmer is way too far. Seriously considering cancelling my subscription when you dont represent my lesbian people. 😪
— Kathryn crowley (@Kathrynruthh) September 25, 2022
yo it’s kinda weird that the dahmer series is in the lgbtq genre on netflix… right?
— cas (@gothussy) September 21, 2022
They really put #DahmerNetflix under the LGBTQ tag🙃like yes he was clearly gay but um let’s be honest how does that have anything to do with him being a crazed serial killer & cannibal?!?
— Vanity (@Viciouz_Monster) September 21, 2022
One user even went so far as to say it was a “hate crime.”
Jeffrey dahmer being listed as LGBTQ on Netflix is a hate crime, in this essay I will—
— ashleighhh (@kuribohichooseu) September 22, 2022
I have to say, I found this whole controversy amusing. For a while now, I’ve noticed the way popular streaming services have been increasingly tagging and organizing shows based on racial, ethnic, gender, or sexual identity. They have been quite loose with these, too. I’ve seen movies listed as “black stories” even though I never thought of them as being for black viewers only. And I’ve seen films listed as LGBTQ stories due to the presence of one gay character, such as the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
There may be something to the question of whether or not the Dahmer series is an LGBTQ story, but let’s face it, that’s not what’s triggering these delicate snowflakes. The problem they have is that they don’t like negative portrayals of LGBT people. But whenever there’s a positive portrayal, they amp up the gay. Seriously. Did you know that Freddie Mercury’s bisexuality was erased in the 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody in favor of establishing him as gay? Or that the new Amazon series A League of Their Own was written as an LGBTQ story?
Also for our VIPs: GLAAD Thinks Gay Jokes Are Okay When Attacking Conservatives
In recent years, the Oscar-winning 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs has similarly triggered the left because of how it “negatively” depicts the transgender community. The serial killer in the movie, Buffalo Bill, is a man who wants to be a woman, and goes on a murder spree to make himself a suit from real woman skin to satisfy his delusion.
“LGBTQ+ critics and audiences have pointed out that, regardless of the intentions of the film’s creators, Buffalo Bill still has a connection to trans identities that will encourage some viewers [sic] will to internalize prejudiced generalizations,” bemoaned Screen Rant back in June. The article insisted that transgender people are more likely to be victims of violent crimes than perpetrators, and that movies like The Silence of the Lambs not only demonize transgender people but contribute to a cycle of hostility towards them.
Well, cry me a river. If I had a nickel for every movie where the baddie was a straight white male, I’d be a rich straight white male — and coincidentally the perfect archetype for a movie villain.
Obviously, the only demographic that can be portrayed as a movie villain anymore without causing outrage is straight white males.
While Hollywood is increasingly giving us more diverse superheroes and protagonists, antagonists and villains will doubtless lack the same diversity. Gotta keep them white, male, and straight, because we can’t have minorities, women, or LGBTQs portrayed negatively on screen, can we?
Nope. That’s a hate crime.