Netflix's Monsters Slammed For "Implying" Incest Between Erik And Lyle Menendez

22 September 2024, 19:08 | Updated: 22 September 2024, 19:48

By Sam Prance

Were the Menendez brothers lovers? Is Erik Menendez gay? Monsters is facing backlash over its homo-erotic themes.

[TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains details about sexual assault and abuse.]

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is being called out for making the Menendez brothers story homo-erotic and "implying" that there were incestuous undertones to the relationship between Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez.

Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is a dramatisation of the horrifying true story of Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Erik Menendez (Cooper Koch) who killed their parents José and Kitty Menendez. In their real court trial, the brothers claimed that they committed the crime after being victims of parental sexual abuse.

Like many Ryan Murphy TV shows, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story has homo-erotic themes throughout but fans are now criticising Ryan and Netflix for how they portray Lyle and Erik given what they experienced in real life.

• Read more: Where Is Dr. Oziel Now? Menendez Brother's Therapist And What Happened In Real Life
• Read more: How Old Were Lyle And Erik Menendez When They Killed Their Parents?

Was Erik Menendez gay?

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story trailer

Were Erik and Lyle Menendez lovers?

In Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, there are multiple scenes in which Lyle and Erik Menendez are shirtless or naked together and they are very tactile with each other. In one scene in episode 2, Lyle actually kisses Erik on the lips. In another, their mother catches Lyle and Erik showering together and washing each other's bodies.

Lyle also confesses in one scene that he sexually abused his brother Erik with a toothbrush after being sexually abused by their own father.

It's also heavily implied that Erik is queer. There's a scene in the prison where Erik showers and quickly catches the eye of another inmate who seems to be attracted to him. The pair soon begin touching themselves and smiling while looking at each other. The inmate later asks Erik if he's gay and he says no but that he likes the inmate.

In a separate episode, Erik tells his lawyer that he had a consensual sexual relationship with another boy as a teenager.

Later in the show, reporter Dominick Dunne (Nathan Lane) suggests that Erik and Lyle made up that they were victims of abuse. He then accuses Erik and Lyle of murdering José and Kitty because they were worried that their parents would discover that they were lovers.

Reacting to the show, one person wrote: "creating fanfiction involving incest between real-life brothers especially when they have been victims of abuse and incest themselves is absolutely vile and insane Im literally speechless."

Another added: "taking a story about two brothers who suffered from sexual abuse from their dad and turning it into an incestuous fantasy is horrid."

• Read more: Where Are The Menendez Brothers Now? Lyle and Erik's Prison Sentences Explained

Is Erik Menendez gay? Is Lyle Menendez gay?

In real life, Lyle and Erik Menendez have both asserted that they are straight in interviews and there is no actual evidence to suggest otherwise. Both men have had relationships with women and continued to date and even married women in prison.

That being said, some of the scenes portrayed in Monsters are based on fact. For example, Erik did testify in court that Lyle once penetrated him with a toothbrush like their father. There were also people in real life, both in and out of the court room, who suggested that Erik and Lyle were gay and in love with each other, whether or not there was any truth to it.

Deputy district attorney Lester Kuriyama suggested that Lyle and Erik Menendez committed parricide because they were secretly together and this caught on in the media. He also suggested that Erik was only able to describe his father's sexual abuse in detail because he was gay - a homophobic narrative often applied to male victims of child abuse.

Many of the scenes depicted in the show are based on unreliable reports or theories. Monsters is ultimately a dramatisation, and not completely factual.

If you, or someone you know, is a survivor of sexual assault, the following organisations may be able to help.

• Childline
• NSPCC
• NHS - Help After Rape And Sexual Assault
• RAINN (USA)
• Samaritans
• The National Association for People Abused in Childhood

Read more Capital Buzz here:

• How Were The Menendez Brothers Caught In Real Life? The True Story Explained
• Where Are The Menendez Brothers Now? Lyle and Erik's Prison Sentences Explained
• How Old Were Lyle And Erik Menendez When They Killed Their Parents?
• Who Plays Erik Menendez In Monsters? Cooper Koch's Age, Height And Previous Roles
• Who Plays Lyle Menendez In Monsters? Nicholas Alexander Chavez's Age, Height And Previous Roles

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