How many film and TV adaptations does it take to expose the unconscionable crimes of a serial killer?
Six, apparently.
The Secret Life: Jeffrey Dahmer in 1993, Dahmer in 2002, Raising Jeffrey Dahmer in 2006, The Jeffrey Dahmer Files in 2012, My Friend Dahmer in 2017.
And now in 2022, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
The 10-episode Netflix series has left viewers divided. Some feel the series honoured the stories of Dahmer's victims.
Others have expressed concerns that it capitalises on their trauma.
Who is Jeffrey Dahmer?
Dahmer was an American serial killer and sex offender.
Also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, Dahmer murdered and dismembered 17 boys and men from 1978 to 1991.
His victims were mainly people of colour. Two of his victims were just 14 years old.
In 1992, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Two years later, Dahmer was beaten to death by an inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin.
Does Netflix's Dahmer series offer anything new?
Co-created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the series aims to "showcase the points of view of Dahmer's victims," a press release from Netflix states.
It's currently the number-one most watched show on Netflix's international list, with 196,200,000 hours viewed.
The series doesn't reveal any new information about Dahmer's killings. But some viewers felt it drew attention to bigger issues in society — something that previous adaptations were unable to achieve at the time.
Some viewers believe the series reveals how systemic racism, white privilege, homophobia and institutional failures enabled Dahmer to commit these murders for 13 years.
Associate Professor in the the University of Sydney Law School, Tyrone Kirchengast, said the explosion of true crime in streaming series, podcasts and books has fuelled our interest in violent and dangerous perpetrators.
An international expert on crime victims' rights and improving victims' access to justice, Dr Kirchengast said the new Dahmer series "adds to an already crowded field".
"There is often a complex psychological and psychiatric explanation that perhaps, may not have been fully understood or appreciated at the time," he told ABC News.
"This doesn't absolve Dahmer of his crimes, but it does give us more information to help us understand the consequences of someone's upbringing."
Movies and documentaries about the life of Dahmer have already chronicled his younger years, his high school years and his killings.
"Many people already know what he did. This is purely entertainment now," Dr Kirchengast said.
Victims 'never asked to have a Netflix series made about their trauma'
Rita Isbell is the sister of Dahmer victim Errol Lindsey.
In 1992, she gave a victim impact statement in a courtroom with Dahmer present.
The Netflix series recreated the entire scene.
In an interview with Insider, she said none of her family were contacted by the show's creators.
“I feel like Netflix should've asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn't ask me anything. They just did it," she told the publication.
Another member of the Isbell family, Rita's cousin, Eric, went viral after he retweeted side-by-side videos of the real courtroom footage with the Netflix re-enactment.
He said his family was not contacted by the show's creators and called the depiction “retraumatising".
In a later tweet, he revealed his family found out about the show "when everyone else did".
Line between reality and entertainment becoming blurrier
Dr Kirchengast said the courtroom scene was "so well recreated, that it's difficult to tell the original from the re-enactment".
"We're at a point where Hollywood can make you question what's real and what's entertainment," he said.
"From the clothing and set design, to the mannerisms of the actors, the show has recreated every exact time and place Dahmer was in."
While this may be a testament to the entertainment industry, Dr Kirchengast said it had real consequences for victims.
"They could feel like they are living the same nightmare over and over," he said.
"Victims are never asked to be a part of this. They're never asked to have a Netflix series made of their trauma.
"There may not be a legal duty here, but there is a moral and ethical one."
'What else do we need to know?'
Some viewers have questioned whether the lives of serial killers and their victims should be the subject of entertainment in the first place.
One viewer compared Netflix's new Dahmer series to the streaming giant's 2019 biographical film about the life of another serial killer, Ted Bundy.
Despite the mixed views, Evan Peters, who plays Dahmer in the series, said the Jeffrey Dahmer story was "so much bigger than him".
"It's called the Jeffrey Dahmer story but it's not just him and his backstory," Peters said in a Netflix interview.
"It's the repercussions, it's how society and our system failed to stop him multiple times because of racism and homophobia."
On October 7, Netflix will release a new instalment in its Conversations with a Killer series, which will be subtitled The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes.
According to Netflix, the series "will showcase unheard audio and never-before-seen footage of Dahmer and his defence team".
