What defines a person as a monster? Is it someone who does something inhumane or unthinkable? Is it someone who commits a vicious crime against humanity? According to the co-creators of the “Monsters” anthology series on Netflix, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, that is the only criteria needed for a person, or people, to be labeled as a monster.
Their latest selection for the label of “monster” in their series was the Menendez brothers, a set of siblings who killed their parents in the late 1980s. Joseph Lyle Menendez (Lyle) and Erik Galen Menendez (Erik), at the ages of 21 and 18 respectively, graphically murdered their parents, Jose Enrique Menendez (Jose) and Mary Louise Menendez (Kitty), on Aug. 20, 1989, in their Beverly Hills home.
This case gained a bunch of traction in the media in the late ‘80s, mainly because of Jose Menendez’s job as an executive for Live Nation and RCA Records, the fact that this was one of the most notable parricides in American history and the murder itself was intensely vile and brutal. Coincidentally, the second trial of the Menendez brother case was occuring during the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
In “Monsters: The Menendez Brothers”, the audience receives an “in-depth” view into the murder, as well as what led Lyle and Erik to commit such a crime. Episode one, entitled “Blame It on the Rain,” begins after the crime, while the brothers are in a limo, heading to their parents’ funeral service. Lyle is going on and on about how he wants to own a wing franchise called “Mr. Buffalo” and how their dad would be so proud of them.
The most notable part of the episode, in my opinion, was when the boys spoke at the funeral and Lyle closed out his speech by dedicating “Girl, I’m Gonna Miss You” by Milli Vanilli to his mother. I, personally, hadn’t heard much of Milli Vanilli until I watched this show.
Following the funeral, Erik began having intense negative thoughts surrounding participation in the murders and the guilt he began to feel. After wrestling with these thoughts, he calls his therapist, Dr. Oziel, and schedules an impromptu therapy session.
Dr. Oziel, curious about Erik’s frame of mind, beckons Erik to explain to him where his head is at. Erik, folding under pressure and feeling immense sorrow/ regret, confesses to Dr. Oziel that he, along with his brother Lyle, murdered their parents, Jose and Kitty. Shocked by this revelation, Dr. Oziel tells Erik that he feels that he should begin recording the counseling session. Erik gets really defensive about this, but concedes to the recording.
Oziel also suggests to Erik that he call his brother, Lyle, to get both of their sides of the story about the murder. Things sort of start to spiral from there, as Lyle begins freaking out while driving to Dr. Oziel’s office. While waiting for Lyle to get there, Dr. Oziel calls his mistress, Judalon Smith, and tells her to come sit in the office, pretend to be a waiting patient and listen in on his conversation with the boys.
Essentially, Dr. Oziel was trying to trap the boys by having an eye, or ear, witness, since he couldn’t break doctor/patient confidentiality by releasing the tapes or his notes. Smith listened to their entire conversation while sitting on the couch outside, including the part where Lyle basically threatened to murder Dr. Oziel to cover his and Erik’s tracks.
This pretty much sums up the first episode.
I was definitely hooked on the series after watching this episode, especially considering that I had a general understanding of the Menendez case prior to watching the show. I first heard of the case from my mom, who was around six years old when the murder took place, but she grew up hearing about it. When I first heard about it, I thought it was quite insane that two boys could just kill their parents, but it wasn’t until I heard why they did that it made sense.
Episode two, entitled “Spree,” details the life of Lyle and Erik during the months after the murder. The brothers, who already know they are no longer a part of their father’s will, intend on spending as much money as they can until the will is located and executed. Lyle ends up buying a Rolex watch and a brand new Porsche, while Erik hires a top-notch tennis coach so he can join an international team in Israel.
Lyle and Erik believed they were finally in the clear, until Judalon Smith reported to the police, due to Oziel dumping her, that she heard Lyle and Erik confess to murdering their parents in Oziel’s office and that Oziel had recorded them saying as much. From there, the boys were taken into custody by the police and arrested for their parents’ murder.
In episodes three through five, viewers are given insight into why the brothers killed their parents, which was because they had both endured over a decade of mental, physical, emotional and most importantly, sexual abuse from their father, Jose, and their mother, Kitty, was aware of it, yet did nothing to protect them. As I watched and listened to the accusations the brothers had against their father, I was consistently in tears.
Episodes six through nine were mostly centered on the trials of the case and what prison life was like for Lyle and Erik.
Viewers could also see how the public reacted to the case, from feeling remorseful and sympathetic for the boys to hating their guts and calling for vengeful justice.
In the end, as we all know, Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of first degree murder with special circumstances for lying in wait and are currently serving two consecutive life sentences with no parole opportunities. However, I do not believe that ruling was justice in the slightest and the creators of “Monsters: The Menendez Brothers” did not accurately portray Lyle and Erik’s story.
The show definitely tried to steer the audience more towards the opinion of the prosecution, which was that Lyle and Erik killed their parents for money, due to the fact that even if they killed their dad, the inheritance would go to their mom before them.
While I understand that the prosecution’s perspective could be plausible, it feels very negligent to be dismissive of the abuse and to even go as far to imply that the two boys could have possibly been involved in an incestuous relationship that they were attempting to cover up by committing the murder. Also, it’s incredibly disrespectful and insensitive towards Lyle, who admitted to and felt guilty about sexually abusing Erik once, due to trauma.
Recently, there has been an overwhelming wave of support for the Menendez brothers, as new evidence has come out in the past year from an outside individual that has come forward with abuse allegations against Jose Menendez and Erik’s daughter, Talia, has pioneered a TikTok campaign garnering support for the brothers’ release.
It has been recently confirmed that in November, the Los Angeles District Attorney will review their case again, considering the abuse evidence from the brothers and the new person, along with other new evidence. While it is not a guarantee that they will be released from prison, I can definitely say that I am a full supporter of the #FreeTheMenendezBrothers movement.