Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story - Netflix

[Rollergirl11]

Anyone watching? It’s really quite bizarre; it’s almost played for laughs.

Is that Milli Vanilli they’re playing?! 🤪😂

I’m on episode 3. I’m just a bit surprised at the characterisation of Lyle, and Erik has apparently been complaining about it. Does that mean they have been allowed to watch the programme?

Lyle is portrayed as very loud, aggressive and drug fuelled. Do we think if this was in the UK they would be out by now?

They also came up with the "abuse defence" only once they hired a fancy lawyer midway through the process I believe.

I personally think that the father was hated by pretty much everyone and no one was sorry he was killed, which is why the family supported them, but that the level of SA was exaggerated by them to justify killing their parents for money.

From the C4 documentary, I think Lyle's behaviour after the murders and during the trial was absolutely idiotic and the epitome of the "rich entitled kid".

I found this fun pic of Chloë Sevigny and Cooper Koch that was taken at the Charli XCX concert in New York earlier this week.

I’m finding it very hard to sympathise with the victims of the murder, as they’re portrayed in the series.

I can’t help but feel that the dad in particular got what he deserved, the disgusting pig.

I'm always seeing Cliff Richard with Lyle 😳

Same.

The final scene flashes back to the fishing trip and shows the parents having a normal chat...clearly not planning anything sinister

That's the final message the series leaves?

I suspect they never talked about their abuse because they we're ashamed.

Perhaps their lawyer encouraged them? I cannot imagine they made it all up

Surely no two brothers are both psychopaths

I think it’s very apparent that the lawyer coaxed them into giving the performance of a lifetime when it came to giving their testimonies in court. But that doesn’t mean the abuse didn’t happen.

I think it’s really important to remember the context of it being in the 90s. Male sexual abuse wasn’t talked about so much - I mean we’ve not really moved on a lot from that now if you think of what a big deal it was only recently that Baby Reindeer made the headlines. Homophobia was still rife, with many gay men being (wrongly) blamed for the spread of AIDS (this is touched on in the series). My dh is a male abuse survivor and went through the court process and people have some very odd attitudes to things even now. It must have been incredibly hard for them to come out publicly with all of that, in that time.

Unlikely. Jeremy Bamber is still locked up for killing his family.

The Menendez brothers are locked up without parole, so they'd need a new trial to get the sentence changed. Reading up on their appeal from last year based on the exclusion of SA evidence from the last trial and the new allegations against Jose Menendez, it seems like it's being viewed as a 'Hail Mary' play that is unlikely to succeed. It doesn't add anything new to the evidence, just mitigating circumstances as to motive. Due to the nature and premeditation of the crime, the SA defence isn't likely to move the needle (in the words of the District Attorney) and wouldn't necessitate a new trial.

Cynically, I also think the state of California probably doesn't want to reopen the case again due to millions of dollars that would need to be spent on a retrial and inevitable appeal by the state. It's probably a can of worms they want to keep shut and are just hoping the publicity dies down.

Also, really more cynically I think a lot of the celebs visiting and supporting are jumping on the bandwagon and will be on to the next shiny thing soon. Its all a media circus at the moment but will be overtaken by something else next month. Probably P Diddy and the bombshell that's going to create in Hollywood.

I mean it was premeditated murder - the alleged SA is just mitigating circumstances, not really a defence in my eyes. It's not like they were defending themselves in that moment and killed them in the course of a fight. They planned to execute them in cold blood.

Yeah, and I'm not sure I believe that their parents were going to kill them.

I think if the SA could have been proved
(I have read there were photos found and family members who believed it to be true)
Then they could have got a plea deal, like Gyosy Rose did after her mothers murder.

Just finished the series and I feel quite conflicted about it... I know Ryan Murphy intended it to be told in the style of Rashomon with different point of views but that's a hard watch when it's true crime. I also find his fun style a little jarring with the subject matter. Ep5 was really powerful (Emmy worthy) but also, I think a little too explicit and likely very triggering for survivors of csa.
I'm not sure Murphy & the writer got the balance right overall.

I finished the series believing they were both abused and should have been tried with manslaughter as a possibility. I definitely don't think they should still be in prison.

It's best to remember that Ryan Murphy's main aim is to tell a story and as such events are emphasised or downplayed for dramatic effect and may reflect his own POV rather than an objective account.

If the abuse was as described in the series, then I think the father had it coming.

The boys claim, in the drama, that they witnessed their mother being raped by the father, so that might explain her behaviour?

Episode 5 was incredible art and I think Cooper Koch was perfectly cast and an incredible actor. I think he's going to be huge.

I remember reading Dominick Dunnes ( the Nathan lane character) articles in Vanity Fair at the time. In fact I subscribed to Vanity Fair shortly afterwards because of them though he always had a unique perspective on trials after his own personal experience.

I listened to a podcast recently on this too. In it they mentioned that Erik had gotten a place a UCLA and was looking forward to moving out until his father told him he would pay for rooms at UCLA but he would have to continue living at home. At that point Erik realized the abuse would continue. There was no escaping it. Only on episode 4 so not sure if that’s covered yet. The podcast was on Real Crime Profile if anyone interested.

I think that was mentioned in an episode, but I failed to pick up on the implications for Eric.

But they could have escaped it by literally packing a bag and disappearing. The brothers had each other, they could walk out the door together. They could have sold their cars and possessions and disappeared abroad to start a new life. They were used to international travel and Lyle was already used to living away at Princeton. They had the means and the experience to do it. Instead they chose premeditated murder.

Thousands upon thousands of often very young SA survivors have left abusive homes with much less educational achievements and readily available cash than the brothers had. Many young girls with much less worldly experience have walked away from abusive religious cults into the unknown knowing they would be ostracised from all their family. Instead of taking that step, they planned a very brutal premeditated murder.

The Menendez brothers seem to be held to a different standard because of their gendre, wealth and privilege. Like they just weren't capable of walking out the door. They literally had, many times and then returned.

I have the upmost sympathy for the abuse I do believe they suffered but let's face it, they did have choices many SA victims didn't.

I think they were treated badly because of their perceived privilege. The narrative was 'poor little rich boys killed their parents because they were such spoiled brats'.

If they'd been from averagely comfortable families, I doubt there would have been a hung jury for the first trial. There is bound to have been jealousy/classism at play for some jury members.

That's not what I'm saying.

What I'm saying is actually the privilege they had seems to have made people more sympathetic to the narrative that they were somehow trapped in a golden cage and couldn't escape. Its evident in the discussions people are having on this case in 2024. That their privileged background somehow made them more helpless and less able to go out and lead their own lives as grown men.

Many SA victims have escaped situations with much less resources than the Menendez brothers had available to them. Plus they had each other for support to escape. If they were able to plan a murder they were able to plan an escape.

It's a moot point anyway.

No babe they actually shot chloe sevigny x

Well that's one way of doing method acting. She'll get a posthumous Emmy for that then 😂😂

Seriously must have been really complicated to film. It was so up close and personal. Horrific scene to watch.

🤣😆