Just a warning. If sexual child abuse is a trigger for you, you might want to skip both of them.
So I went into Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story without knowing much about the murders. I knew the brothers had been convicted of killing their parents for their money, and that was pretty much it. I didn’t know what to expect.
The facts of the case seem straightforward, but they are not. On August 20, 1989, at their mansion in Beverly Hills, Lyle and Erik Menendez shot and killed their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. After three trials, the brothers were sentenced to life in prison without parole. They confessed; there is no mystery whodunnit. The real controversy is why.
The limited series does not take sides and doesn’t pretend to know the truth. Everything that was said about the case – theories, actual evidence, hearsay – is dramatized by the exceptional cast, even when it conflicts. (Or maybe especially when it conflicts.)
At first, I was completely revolted by Lyle and Erik. They were greedy and privileged and made astoundingly stupid decisions, certain that they would get away with the murders and inherit millions of bucks. They were buying Rolexes and Porsches and were easy to despise. And the murders were so horrifyingly violent; in mid-shooting, Erik went back out to the car to get more shells in order to finish off his mother. Who could do that?
The turning point for me was episode five, "The Hurt Man," featuring an amazing performance by Cooper Koch. The entire episode is one continuous shot of Erik sitting at a table in prison, telling his lawyer Leslie Abramson (Ari Graynor) about his childhood abuse by his father. It is framed from behind her with the entire focus on Erik as she asked questions and the camera moved slowly toward his face as he answered.
At one point, after Lyle testified, famous author Dominick Dunne (Nathan Lane), who covered murder trials for Vanity Fair, told lawyer Abramson, "Either those two boys endured the most sickening abuse imaginable and their parents got exactly what was coming to them, or you were able to coach that performance out of a lying, murderous psychopath. I don't know which one of those possibilities scares me more." That's really the case in a nutshell.
This limited series is affecting, salacious and revolting. The exceptional actors gave outstanding performances, especially Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Erik and Lyle, Javier Bardem as the shuddery Jose Menendez, and Chloë Sevigny as the creepy and uncaring Kitty. I thought the way they used idiotic pop songs in the score was clever; it was commentary on the brothers as banal and lacking depth, a product of their time and place.
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| Lyle and Erik Menendez, left; Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch, right |
The Menendez Brothers is a 2024 documentary, also on Netflix, that features Lyle and Erik telling their own story today. They are now in their mid-fifties and have spent their entire adult lives behind bars. I can’t help but wonder if this documentary was commissioned deliberately to counterbalance the limited series. If so, it worked for me.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were 21 and 18 at the time of the murders in 1989. Back then, it wasn’t universally accepted that boys and men could actually be sexually abused. The timing of the final trial that convicted them was right after the OJ Simpson debacle; the hung jury of the earlier Menendez trial had embarrassed the judge and the DA, resulting in the defense not being permitted to present their only explanation for the killings, the extreme sexual abuse by their father and complicit behavior of their mother. The verdict: life without parole for both brothers.
The limited series and the documentary dovetail well. The series ends when the brothers are separated and sent to separate prisons to serve their life sentences. The documentary begins with them reunited after 21 years apart. During their incarceration, Erik has found solace in creating art, while Lyle helps other inmates deal with sexual abuse.
So yeah, I came out of these two shows with an opinion. It is absolutely true that many people are sexually abused as children and don’t commit murder. Abuse does not excuse the Menendez brothers. But it does explain them.
In the limited series, young Erik came across as fragile, emotionally ill and suicidal, while young Lyle was overbearing, bullying and filled with rage. Lyle even confessed to abusing Erik in the exact same way his father had abused him. They both reported a great deal of explicit detail in the abuse that occurred. I think it's more likely that this is the behavior of victims, not psychopaths. Some people believe strongly that the brothers invented the abuse. I don't think that it's possible.
What do you think?
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
I haven't seen either of these yet, but the Menendez Brothers are one of those cases that appear on a lot of true crime series that I have watched. 2022's "Menendez Brothers: Misjudged?" dove into the media surrounding the case and how it may/definitely affected their trials. It's on Max, and was very interesting if you're looking for more stuff on them.
ReplyDeleteI tend to come down on the "definitely abused, definitely guilty" side of things. I don't know how I feel about their sentencing, but that's tied up with my wider thoughts about the American judicial system that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with them.
Thanks, Fangirl.
DeleteThere was indeed a lot about the effect of the media on the case, the timing with Rodney King and OJ and how the brothers became "unpopular" with the public during their final trial. I don't think they should have gotten away with murder. But I also think, after watching all of this concentrated content, that they've more than served their time.
A few years ago, this would have been at the top of my watch list. Now, I'm not even tempted. Have I matured or am I now less mature than I was when I watched stuff like this? Maybe both.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the former if you ask me. Good for you!
DeleteI just spent a majority of my Sunday watching both of these programs. I already had a fairly good idea of what the issues had been, but I was shocked at the level of abuse alleged by both brothers. I do believe they were abused -- horrifically.
ReplyDeleteHowever, was what they did the answer? No. The biggest problem I have is with Lyle. He has admitted that he lied and that he is very good at it. I am, therefore, unable to take anything he says as truth. Erik, on the other hand, is so damaged I struggle to believe everything he says either. It's hard to feel a great deal of sympathy for either of them.
But, the biggest issue I have with the entire scenario is that final trial. I would love to read the transcript because I find it difficult to believe that any relatively competent attorney could not find grounds for an appeal. From what we were shown both in the series and the documentary, the judge and the prosecutor committed multiple transgressions that would be more than enough to argue for a new trial.
So, long comment short, I am torn. I think these two kids suffered enormous abuse at the hands of both of their parents but I also think they should pay for what they did. I believe the trial that determined the rest of their lives was deeply flawed. Perhaps they have paid enough.
ChrisB, that's how I felt, too. Growing up in that twisted situation, how could they learn to make good decisions about anything? One thing that came up in the limited series was them saying their father would have been proud of them getting away with murder.
Deletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/us/menendez-brothers-prison-sentence.html?unlocked_article_code=1.U04.xNla.nhp2xNUls5d0&smid=url-share
ReplyDeleteI heard about the Menendez brothers but did not follow it when it was happening due to work pressures, so it was really interesting to me. Yes, Lyle lies all the time and always tries to find the easy, quickest way out - but he seemed to truly love Erik, so is capable of at least one good emotion.
ReplyDeleteI think the abuse was real, and we also know that sexual abuse, especially of boys, was not taken seriously back then.
They should have realized that if they could not get away with burglaries, that they would not be able to get away with murder.
I liked how the series presented so many different points of view. Will watch the bit with the older and real Menendez brothers soon.