Because it shouldn’t have been fucking tagged that way in the first place.
Saying that Monster is a good series for people looking for LGBTQ+ shows is like saying, as one Twitter user put it, that “‘Schindler’s List’ is a family flick for Jewish people”. Yes, Jeffery Dahmer was a gay man. He also killed and ate other gay men. It’s just in bad taste. No pun intended. (That was also in bad taste).
Netflix has been on one when it comes to this series. They made this series without consulting (or even informing) any of the family members of Dahmer’s victims, and they’re compounding upon this insensitivity by saying that the exploits of Jefferey Dahmer are just ol’ fashioned LGBTQ+ fun. “Just finished She-Ra and looking for more gays doing stuff? Check out this gay who loves other gays so much he wants to consume them.” It’s fucked up. It also speaks to a huge problem that the LGBTQ+ community has to deal with where we are constantly compared to sexual deviants. People have been using the actions of sex criminals to denigrate the LGBTQ+ community for as long as that community has existed. It just goes to show you that nobody at Netflix thought that this was a bad idea. Like they didn’t consult with even one LGBTQ+ person who would have no doubt told them “y’all, no, this is wrong.”
Eventually, the queer people of the internet did provide Netflix with a free consultation by dragging them across all social media platforms. The general comments section consensus was that while Monster does “technically” count as queer representation, as the actions of Jeffery Dahmer had a lasting effect on the queer community and their families, it’s not the representation that queer people want. In a world that constantly seeks to demonize us, we don’t need Netflix trying to depict us as actual demons like Dahmer himself. This widespread backlash prompted Netflix to drop the LGBTQ+ tag after about two days. If only they would drop those Dave Chapelle comedy specials too.
(Featured image credit: Netflix)
