There’s already been a true crime show on this subject
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story has been getting plenty of attention on Netflix since it released.
Not all of it has been positive, however, as Erik Menendez himself has criticised the true crime drama’s creator for what he claims are ‘blatant lies’.
Erik and his brother Lyle shot dead their parents in 1989 and their trial became a high profile court case in the 90s, which led them both being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being found guilty by a jury.
He said in his statement about Monsters: “I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show.
“I can only believe they were done so on purpose. It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.”
Whether you like Monsters or not, you might be interested in watching a previous take on the Menendez trial which released in 2017.
Edie Falco as defence attorney Leslie Abramson. (NBC)
Law and Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders stars Edie Falco as Leslie Abramson, the defence attorney who represented the Menendez brothers at their trial.
For some who have an interested in the true crime story, they’ve claimed this version lets the audience ‘see things more accurately’, and evidently given the statement from Erik Menendez, the events as portrayed in the Netflix series have been disputed.
While others said they were ‘glued to it’ and had plans to ‘watch it again’.
Some Netflix viewers have also complained about the show and the portrayal of the shooting of Jose and Kitty Menendez by their sons.
They claimed that ‘Jose never saw who shot him’ and said that the shooting didn’t happen quite like it was portrayed in Monsters.
Miles Gaston Villanueva and Gus Halper as Lyle and Erik Menendez. (NBC)
This is an ongoing debate with shows of this ilk, which are based on a true story but may dramatise certain elements.
How is the audience supposed to know whether what they’re currently seeing is exactly how it happened or the moment has been polished up for TV?
For some who say the Law and Order version is slightly closer to the truth that’s more what matters to them, while others reckon that ‘things are going to be dramatised’ and audiences just have to roll with it.
Still, if you’ve watched Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and not had your fill of the true crime tale, now you know there’s another version out there to watch.
