Watched Journal: February 2025
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is Murphy uncensored, with Netflix granting him the autonomy to go full tabloid. We see, more than once, the gruesome gun-down of José and Kitty Menendez, with Javier Bardem's skull exploding like one of Gallagher's watermelons. Split between their posh life in Beverly Hills and the dingy L.A. County Jail, we follow Lyle and Erik before and after the 1989 murders, from upscale tennis clubs to testifying in court wearing their infamous pastel sweaters. As the series weaves through time exploring their motive and coverup, Murphy takes license with the facts, dialing up the homo-eroticism, hinting at a bromance between Lyle and Erik. But Murphy's truth bending is what ultimately makes Monsters so compelling.
The Menendez brothers are currently pleading for their life sentence to be overturned, with a hearing upcoming this year. LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman has rejected their bid for clemency, saying they can't be freed until "finally, after 30 plus years, fully acknowledge and completely accept responsibility for the entire breadth of the crimes and all the lies that they have told, including their defense at trial of self defense."
Hochman is correct. The Menendez brothers did lie. But were they telling the truth about the abuse they suffered at the hands of their father which created an environment of fear, leading them to act in self defense? Murphy harnesses this duality of perspective to ask that question, were the boys afraid of their parents or vice-verse? The last shot of the show is a flashback to an earlier scene on a family boating trip, where Lyle and Erik were convinced that Jose and Kitty were going to kill them and dump them in the water. Lyle and Erik sit at the bow, nudging each other to act before their parents, while José and Kitty stand at the stern, bewildered by their strange behavior.
As the Menendez trial overlaps with OJ Simpson's arrest, the stars collide in Murphy's universe; OJ's held in a cell next to Erik's, with Erik warning him about Robert Shapiro. Nathan Lane, who played defense attorney F. Lee Bailey in The People v. OJ Simpson, portrays Dominic Dunne, the witty socialite and investigative reporter who gossips with his dinner party guests about the Menendez trial he's covering for Vanity Fair. The closeted Dunne is unconvinced of the alleged sexual abuse the boys suffered at the hand of their father, insisting that they are cold blooded killers. But Murphy leans into this internal conflict, as Dunne struggles with his own secrets, later becoming overwhelmed at the courthouse.
The sprinkling of Milli Vanilli, the first episode's titled 'Blame It on the Rain' and Lyle's playing of 'Girl I'm Gonna Miss You' at an awkward memorial for his father José, is Murphy's chef kiss, a perfect metaphor for the Menendez case. The happy family that the Menedezs projected was as fabricated as the pop smashes Rob and Fab lip synced. Milli Vanilli's lie brought them fortune, fame and a Grammy award. Until Erik broke down to the family shrink and confessed on tape, Lyle and Erik were flying high after the murders, with lavish spending sprees and raunchy parties.
As evident by the treatment of Monica Lewinsky, the '90s were rife with victim shaming. The Menendez brothers are convicted murderers while Milli Vanilli, not innocent but far from criminals, were harshly sentenced in the court of public opinion. Unable to cope, Rob tragically passed away in 1998. Fab eventually found peace. Lyle and Erik claim to be reformed. Time will tell if the truth sets the Menendez brothers free.
What I watched in February:
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