THE MENENDEZ BROTHERS SHOWS: THE MONSTERS AND DOCUMENTARY

By Emily Ontiveros

Photos by Emily Ontiveros

Content Warning: This article includes information about a true crime case and mentions violence. 

Netflix presented both a documentary and series about the Menendez Brothers. The “Menendez Brothers Documentary” was released October 7, 2024 directed by Alejandra Hartman covering the real story on what happened to the Menendez brothers including real life audio and visual recordings. The series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” was a reenactment of how the public interrupted the Menendez situation which was released September 19, 2024 directed by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. 

The Lyle and Erik Menendez case was these two brothers who fatally shot their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. Erik was 18 years old and Lyle was 21 years old at the time and their defense attorneys argued that they acted in self-defense after years of abuse by their father, but prosecutors didn't believe them, saying they lied to help create an alibi. They ultimately were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. 

The series is very well acted out, the actors played very well to the script they were given but the way the Menendez brothers were portrayed shows how Hollywood can take a tragic story and turn it into a compelling yet exploitative show. For starters the name of the show is called Monsters already by the title they have portrayed these two brothers as some sick people who murdered their parents, already influencing the viewers perspectives. Throughout “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”, they continued to characterize these brothers as greedy, selfish, self centered, and ultimately unremorseful, when those emotions may have been very far from the truth. In the show they illustrated that the Menendez brothers’ motive for the murder of their parents was merely for the inheritance money. Hollywood had a great opportunity to show the effects of what abuse can do to a person and how it can break them mentally, but instead they choose to over dramatize it for the views of the public. Overall the show was good because it had great detail, but it included a lot of false information. It's honestly very disturbing how the show industry can glorify such a tragic story, this not only affects the Menendez brothers but it also affects the Menendez family and everyone that was involved with the case. 

In comparison, documentary was a true and accurate representation of the Menendez brother case. Throughout  “The Menendez Brothers Documentary” they included real footage of the crime scene and investigation which I think is very important so the viewer can build their own perception of the crime.  “The Menendez Brothers Documentary” also included footage of the Menendez brothers in court and you can clearly see how distraught and remorseful they were, you can tell that they regretted the murder of their parents through their actions. In  “The Menendez Brothers Documentary” there were many other sources such as the Menendez lawyer, aunt, grandma and other family members and they shared their perspective of what happened and how they interrupted the situation. Which is beneficial to get the whole story of the crime. Overall  “The Menendez Brothers Documentary” was really great and it was very informative. I think it cleared a lot of false allegations that were put on the Menendez brothers.  “The Menendez Brothers Documentary” also gave the Menendez brothers a great opportunity to share their side of the story and really just vocalize their emotions. 

Overall I think that the show “The Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” was more for the appeal of the viewers and wasn’t wasn't really a show to give you true facts, but it was really interesting and entertaining. On the other hand “The Menendez Documentary” gave relevant facts and showed the case not only through perspective of the people but also of the lawyer, other family members and the Menendez brothers themselves. If you want to watch a show that fulfills a cinematic crime story the show “The Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” would be just the show to watch, but if you are interested in real life crime story  with definite facts “The Menendez Documentary” would be a great fit for you. 

Beetlejuice Movie Review

By Melina Garcia

Photos by Melina Garcia

The “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” movie (Beetlejuice 2 in other words), came out in theaters on September 6, 2024. This movie is a sequel that takes on the 1988 Beetlejuice movie.

It’s been a couple of weeks since the new Beetlejuice movie came out. Students from South Gate gave out their thoughts and ratings of the movie. Alissa Moran, an 11th grader attending South Gate High School gives out her opinion and rating of the Beetlejuice movie.

“My favorite part of the movie would probably be when beetlejuice tries to marry Lydia again,” said Moran.

A little after the Beetlejuice movie came out, Moran went to go watch it. Now Moran’s favorite part was when beetlejuice attempted to remarry Lydia again. Moving forward, 

“No, the movie wasn’t scary.” Moran said.

The theme of BeetleJuice is supposed to be about love and family. According to Moran, the movie wasn't a scary movie. 

“Like a solid 9.5 it was pretty funny and I liked it.” Moran said.

Moran's overall score of the movie was a 9.5, she seemed to like it. She found the movie to be funny. Next, she explains about the plot.

“I think the movie plot is pretty good. I like how they gave beetle juice to a wife and how she tried to suck the living soul out of him, well, dead soul. It was technically a pretty good plot. I think it was funny,” Moran said.

Moran explained how the movie plot was good, she liked the fact that the movie producers gave a wife to Beetlejuice.  She still found the movie plot funny. Moving on, Moran explains how packed the theaters were.

“It wasn’t packed when we went, but the day before my friend had gone and she said that it was really packed.” Moran said.

10th grade student Delilah Medrano liked the movie and also liked the graphics of the movie. This was Medrano’s first time watching BeetleJuice, since she didn't watch the 1988’s BeetleJuice movie.

“I gave it a 7,” Medrano said, “It was alright. I liked it, there was just some where I was confused, like a bit. Like the fact that they didn’t really show much of the dad, and how the girl recognized the dad off the point when he didn’t even have his face. He was just covered in fishes and she recognized him off the bat”

Medrano's overall rating of the movie was a 7. She found a liking to the movie, but she was slightly confused about some parts of the movie. 

“I think it was worth watching,” Medrano said, “It was very fun and it was very interesting. I like the characters too and it was worth watching.” 

Medrano tells us how she believes the movie was worth watching. She found the movie to be interesting and found a liking to the characters. Next, Medrano explains important parts of the movie.

“Something important that i saw is that like where the guy he was a ghost and like I didn’t really notice it but I thought it was an interesting that Jenna seen him as well because she got it from her mom”

 Delilah saw where a man was a ghost. Moving forward, Medrano talks about how she didn’t watch the 1988 Beetlejuice movie.

“No, I did not watch the original movie so that's why it was like my first time watching it and I think it was very interesting.” Medrano said.

Medrano said she couldn't feel any nostalgic feelings towards the remake. But, when she watched the remake, she found the movie to be interesting. Moving forward, Aaron Sanchez and 11th grader talks about which character he connected with the most.

“I feel like I connect to Lydia the most because I feel like she's really misunderstood throughout the movie or there are parts where the characters try speaking to her and when she tries speaking her mind no one really listens to what she’s saying.” said Sanchez.

Sanchez connected to Lydia the most. Moving forward, Sanchez gives out his thoughts on the movie not being a musical.

“There were some song parts but I would say it was more of a regular movie. I wouldn't say it was a musical.” Sanchez said.

Sanchez doesn’t think the movie is a musical. Next, Sanchez gives his opinion on the actors/actresses acting out the characters.

“I think they did a really good job actually acting out the characters,” Sanzhez said, “Maybe they had a little bit of a gap maybe because of the script itself but I think the characters did well especially because it was the same characters from the first movie so you still had all the same things.” 

Sanchez believes the actors and actresses did a very good job on playing out the characters. Moving forward, he talks about the type of movie it was.

“I think the theme of the movie is kind of like adventure and action and although I think thoughts are themes I think something that also explains the movie is like building relationships or just finding connections.”he said.

Sanchez said that the theme of the movie is adventures with action. Moving forward, Sanchez gives out his opinion on who had the best outfit.

“I think Beetlejuice had the best outfits in the movie because he changed them a lot and like especially with his powers he had the ability to go through it and kinda just change whenever he wants but like the outfits it showed really good.” Sanchez said.

Sanchez’s opinion on who had the best outfit was Beetlejuice himself. Overall, the people found the movie to be good.

“Like a solid 9.5 it was pretty funny and I liked it,” said Alissa Moran.