In a new interview with The New York Times, Ryan Murphy talked about his two Netflix blockbusters and addressed some of the criticism surrounding the most well-known of them, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
Since its premiere on September 21, the limited series about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer has been the biggest success of Murphy's illustrious career.
According to Murphy, throughout Halloween weekend, the limited series was on track to surpass 1 billion hours of streaming.
However, Dahmer — Monster has also drawn criticism for exploiting trauma with its intense focus on Dahmer's heinous actions from the relatives of the victims, some of whom claimed Netflix and production never reached out to them.
Talking to Maureen Dowd for the profile that was published over the weekend, Murphy said he took on Dahmer’s story to shed light on the bigotry and homophobia that defined the case because "it was the biggest thing I’ve ever seen that really sort of examines how easy it is to get away with things with the white privilege aspects."
Adding, "What are the rules now? Should we never do a movie about a tyrant?"
He also differed with the streamer's choice, made in response to complaints from certain viewers, to remove the LGBTQ tag from the programme.
"I also don’t think that all gay stories have to be happy stories," he said.
"There was a moment on Netflix where they removed the LGBTQ tag from Dahmer, and I didn’t like it, and I asked why they did that, and they said because people were upset because it was an upsetting story. I was, like, ‘Well, yeah.’ But it was a story of a gay man and, more importantly, his gay victims."
He told about the sixth episode in an interview, Silenced, written by David McMillan and Janet Mock, and directed by Paris Barclay, which focused on Dahmer victim Tony Hughes, a Black deaf man, as an hour he’s most proud of: "There’s a five-minute scene of three gay deaf men at a pizza parlor talking in sign language about dating, gay life and how hard is it for them. I could not believe that I was getting the gift of putting it on television."
Murphy does not discuss his plans once his five-month contract with the major streaming service expires in the article.