39. The Dahmer Dilemma

Sarah finally caved and watched Ryan Murphy’s Jeffrey Dahmer series, the second most-popular show in Netflix history. (Can you guess the first?). It was difficult viewing, if also able to inspire a kind of love for one of Dahmer’s victims. As she and Nancy discuss, the reasons to watch/not watch these shows are complicated. Is it possible to humanize victims who met a most inhumane end? Who gets to profit from misery, and what, if anything, do creators of dramatized true crime owe to those whose real lives were forever scarred? Nancy instead watched part of the Dahmer documentary, and she and Sarah compare notes on fictional vs. nonfictional tragedy.

Did Alex Jones learn the meaning of “fuck around and find out”? Oh yes he did, and yet does not seem to care that he owes the parents of the children murdered at Sandy Hook nearly $1 billion. Nancy is appalled by Stewart’s much-praised interview with Arkansas AG Leslie Rutledge, Sarah misses the old Jon Stewart, and we compare Stewart’s smug “take-down” to a deeply reported, illuminating Reuters story on trans issues.

We read some moving reader comments, offer our hotbox picks, and (drumroll!)…

Announce our first Zoom meet-up. Wednesday, October 19 at 9pm ET. An email invitation with link will go out to paid subscribers the day before. Join us!

The leaves are turning, the wind whistles down the avenue, it’s the perfect season for becoming a paid or free subscriber.

Episode Notes:

Chris Andrade Walks the World, and recommends Nancy do so in Buenos Aires or Lima. Thoughts?

DAHMER: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story official trailer

Sarah forgot to mention to her fellow Gen X-ers that Molly Ringwald is in this series, playing Dahmer’s stepmother Shari.

Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes official trailer

Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes official trailer

The cast of Stranger Things seasons 3 and 4, pre- and post-pandemic

The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story official trailer

A Father’s Story, by Lionel Dahmer

Richard Jenkins, who stars as Jeffery Dahmer’s father Lionel, and perhaps best known for his role in Six Feet Under (such a good show!)

“Interview: Richard Jenkins: ‘If a serial killer is your son, do you stop loving him?’” by Jonathan Romney (Guardian)

The Humans, upcoming film starring Richard Jenkins, official trailer

Rita Isbell, sister of Dahmer victim Errol Lindsey

“Controversy over Netflix's Jeffrey Dahmer show has taken over social media, from TikToks 'romanticizing' his crimes to calling out its 'LGBTQ' marketing,” by Michele Theil (Insider)

“Mother of Dahmer victim condemns Netflix series: ‘I don’t see how they can do that’,” by Ramon Antonio Vargas (The Guardian)

“What's real and what's fiction in Netflix’s Jeffrey Dahmer series, ‘Monster,’” JR Radcliffe (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Photo of Robert De Niro because why not?

“Alex Jones Ordered to Pay Sandy Hook Victims’ Families Nearly $1 Billion,” by Elizabeth Williamson (New York Times)

Jon Stewart gives a lesson in how not to conduct an interview by acting like a self-satisfied know-it-all interviews Arkansas attorney general Leslie Rutledge about the state banning gender-affirming care for minors

“As more transgender children seek medical care, families confront many unknowns,” by Chad Tehune, Robin Respaut and Michelle Conlin (Reuters)

“He came out as trans. Then Texas had him investigate parents of trans kids,” by Casey Parks (Washington Post)

“The Trouble with Tavistock,” by Jesse Singal (Spectator World)

We Were Feminists Once by Andi Zeisler

Fan Art always appreciated!

What’s in your hotbox? (Ed: Nice transition …)

Nancy: The Information by Martin Amis

Sarah: Hasan Minaj: The King’s Jester

Outro song: When Nancy was writing To the Bridge, the CD in her car was the soundtrack to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. The music, and especially “Rather Lovely Thing,” was plaintive and seemed not of this world, a sort of musical representation of the story she was writing about a murdered child. She listened to it at least 400 times, until the CD disappeared. Now she listens to it on Spotify.

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