Season two of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series Monsters was released on Sept. 19. The series focuses on the case of the Menendez brothers, two boys convicted of murdering their parents in 1989. 

Many fans feel as though the show is an inaccurate portrayal of what really happened as more facts about the case and, in turn, the family’s backstory, have since been revealed.

On August 20, 1989, Lyle Menendez made a 911 call from his Beverly Hills home crying out that, “Someone killed [his] parents.” Lyle and his younger brother Erik later confessed in 1990 to committing the murders themselves using shotguns. The brothers, who were 21 and 18 years old at the time, were on trial on-and-off from 1993 until 1996 when they were both convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. During this final trial, however, much evidence presented by the defense about their father, José Menendez, and his sexually predatory nature was excluded by the court. 

Many viewers were drawn to the show because of its conventionally attractive lead actors. This led to a surge of popularity on social media, but not for the right reasons. Few of these people cared about the actual case enough to research and realize that Ryan Murphy’s portrayal of the boys is staggeringly false. So much so that Erik Menendez himself spoke out against the show in an X post shared by his wife on the day the show premiered, calling Lyle’s character depiction “vile and appalling”, and that he thinks the show has “taken the painful truths [of their crime] several steps backward.” The show not only paints Lyle as an arrogant playboy, but also gives credit to the theory that the brothers killed their parents simply to gain their inheritance.

There are numerous pieces of credible evidence and witness testimonies that support the accusation that José Menendez was molesting his children, and that his wife, Kitty, did nothing to prevent it. The brothers’ lawyers argued that they acted in self-defense, and that they worried their father would eventually kill them if they didn’t protect themselves. 

As the show has grown in popularity, so has the public’s support for the men’s release, as they believe life in prison is far too harsh of a punishment for two traumatized and abused boys who acted out of fear.

The Los Angeles court has scheduled a hearing to re-evaluate their sentences on November 29.