OCTOBER 2022

DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Do Victims Ever Get Justice?

Olivia Zeman

Content warning: This article mentions topics that might be distressing or triggering to readers.

It’s hard to scroll through social media on your phone without a mention of true crime. It almost seems as though Netflix is releasing a new true crime series every week, keeping social media’s obsession rife. Netflix’s latest docu-drama, DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, is no exception. Starring Evan Peters, the series follows Jeffrey Dahmer from his pursuits of the 17 young men (most were POC and some underage) that he killed, assaulted, and dismembered up to his eventual arrest and prosecution. Although, at the time of writing, the series has topped Netflix’s streaming charts since its September 21 release, it has caused waves of controversy, fueled by Dahmer’s surviving victims and their families. 

Several family members have spoken out, each claiming that neither Netflix or the show’s creator had contacted or asked for their permission to use their stories. Eric Perry, cousin of victim Errol Lindsey, tweeted that the show is “retraumatizing over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?” He follows up saying “recreating my cousin having an emotional breakdown in court in the face of the man who tortured and murdered her brother is WILD.” 

In fact, Errol Lindey’s sister Rita Isbell, whose emotional testimony was recreated in the show, wrote a personal essay for Insider stating that the show “brought back all the emotions [she] was feeling back then.” She added that she didn’t understand why at least a portion of the show’s profit wasn’t donated to the family members: “If the show benefitted them in some way, it wouldn’t feel so harsh and careless…It’s sad that they’re making money off of this tragedy. That’s just greed.”

When asked if the show brings back any horrible memories in an interview with Inside Edition, surviving Dahmer sexual assault victim Billy Joe Capshaw asserts, “Yes, it does. I have been through hell because of this one person.”

 Dashawn Barnes, who portrayed Rita Isbell in the series, tweeted that “the victims weren’t an afterthought, but their humanity and perspectives were reflected in this series.” Despite the creator's intentions, true crime content makes it nearly impossible to create a product that doesn’t re-victimize the victims or exploit their trauma for a profit. These stories are so much more than TV show drama; real people are still affected by these projects. 

In a promotional video for the show, Evan Peters said that the show is “not just about him and his backstory: it’s the repercussions, it’s how society and our system failed to stop him multiple times because of racism, homophobia.” To its credit, the show does call out the Milwaukee police’s failure to acknowledge that the missing queer young men of color were victims. The show highlights this institutionalized racism and homophobia as reasons that the police didn’t realize that Dahmer was a serial killer despite his neighbors repeatedly calling the police and FBI to alert them of Dahmer’s suspicious behavior. 

But as the title suggests, the show’s lens is mostly focused on Dahmer himself instead of pointing the lens at the victims like the creators suggested. How different and fresh would the show have looked if the show centered around the Sinthasomphone family, or the Lindsey-Isbells? Instead of Dahmer being the “hero” of his own story, he would be out on the edges like his working class, POC victims have all these years. A change in perspective would have made this a unique, refreshing and potentially more interesting story, instead of a retread of a story that's been told multiple times before and glorifies Dahmer himself.

More controversy erupted over lead actor Evan Peters. A large number of Peters’ fans are “thirsting” after Peters as Dahmer, and even Dahmer himself. Several videos and tweets were made calling Dahmer “hot” and stating that he “could’ve lured” them into his apartment. Some even expressed sympathy for Dahmer.  One Tik Tok user commented “How am I supposed to hate Jeffrey Dahmer if Evan Peters is making him so attractive?” This romantic obsession with serial killers has existed for a long time, with serial killers like Richard Ramirez receiving fan mail in prison and Ted Bundy having fans who attended his trial to support him and even sent him marriage proposals. With this history of serial killer romanticization, it is even more upsetting that conventionally attractive actors are cast as serial killers, like Peters in DAHMER, Ross Lynch in My Friend Dahmer, and Zac Efron as Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile. These casting decisions lead to many people, mainly young girls, lusting after these versions of the killers on social media, and even the non-fictionalized versions of these people. The attraction to Evan Peters’ Dahmer is extremely disrespectful to the families of the victims and the victims themselves. It is quite frankly disgusting to lust after a serial killer, especially one who brutalized mainly minorities. As one Twitter user so eloquently writes, “if you’re thirsting over the actual Dahmer pls go touch some grass and find god.” 

Although the popularity of true crime is unlikely to change in the next couple of years, the way that these stories are told should. With the permission of and focus on the victims and their families, the show just might actually be worth watching. However, the series’ tired viewpoint, glorification of Dahmer, questionable fan reception, and exploitation of the victims’ trauma answers the age old question: “Do victims ever get justice?” Not in this show. 

"READS, RECS, AND REVIEWS" COLUMN

Keira's Reads, Recs, and Reviews

Keira McDonough, Media & Communications Manager

Howdy folks, hope you all had a literary summer. I, for one, read a truly obscene amount of romance novels, so unfortunately the majority of my reviews will be put on hold until my 2022 Rom-Com Round-Up next January. In the meantime, to satiate your desire for my unequivocally hilarious reviews, here are my thoughts on the few books I read this summer that weren't trashy romances from Kindle Unlimited. 

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder. 

The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three.

My Thoughts:

Did I read this only because I was leading the summer reading presentation? Yes, yes I did. It was a cute idea, and the aesthetics were absolutely bomb diggity. However, the prose was iffy and much too YA for my tastes, accompanied by a subpar main character and wildly interesting side characters who were not explored quite as well as they could've been. The author also threw in about a million and one subplots in the last few chapters for seemingly no reason, especially since there are four more books in the series. By the end, the main storyline was too convoluted to keep track of, and the juvenile prose and characterization was not enough to make me want to keep up with all the subplots. Overall, this book was absurdly average; I would recommend it only if you're under the age of fifteen.

Circe by Madeline Miller

*Content warning: brief mention of sexual assault

Summary from Goodreads:

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child--neither powerful like her father nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power: the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

My Thoughts:

Immediate five out of five stars. This book is a masterpiece. The prose was brilliant and fluid—overall a significant improvement from Miller's Song of Achilles, both in terms of prose and story as a whole. Unlike Song of Achilles, a book with which I have an exceedingly complicated relationship, Circe was definitively a good and solid take on The Odyssey. Besides the creepy, vaguely statutory rape-y stuff towards the end, Circe was a fantastic character to focus in on, given her plethora of mythology and lack of mainstream stories.

So, okay, yes. The weird age gap stuff. Greek myths are bizarre, incestuous, and incredibly unorganized, and Miller seems to want to focus on every aspect she can gather information on, rather than embellishing or leaving parts out. There is no true mythological accuracy, and I personally feel that she should lean into her often-criticized inaccuracy, if not only for the sake of not having her main character marry her son's half-brother. 

Charlie Spring is in Year 10 at Truham Grammar School for Boys. The past year hasn't been too great, but at least he's not being bullied anymore. Nick Nelson is in Year 11 and on the school rugby team. He's heard a little about Charlie - the kid who was outed last year and bullied for a few months - but he's never had the opportunity to talk to him.

They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn't think he has a chance. But love works in surprising ways, and sometimes good things are waiting just around the corner...

My Thoughts:

Do I need to say anything other than the fact that I adore this series with my whole entire heart? It is absolutely a must-read for anybody, especially queer teenagers. Oh, how I wish I had read this when I was a young chap. 

Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford

Summary from Goodreads:

It's 1974 in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and fifteen-year-old Justine grows up in a family of tough, complicated, and loyal women, presided over by her mother, Lula, and Granny. After Justine's father abandoned the family, Lula became a devout member of the Holiness Church - a community that Justine at times finds stifling and terrifying. But Justine does her best as a devoted daughter, until an act of violence sends her on a different path forever. Crooked Hallelujah tells the stories of Justine—a mixed-blood Cherokee woman—and her daughter, Reney, as they move from Eastern Oklahoma's Indian Country in the hopes of starting a new, more stable life in Texas amid the oil bust of the 1980s. However, life in Texas isn't easy, and Reney feels unmoored from her family in Indian Country. Against the vivid backdrop of the Red River, we see their struggle to survive in a world—of unreliable men and near-Biblical natural forces, like wildfires and tornados—intent on stripping away their connections to one another and their very ideas of home.

My Thoughts:

Great idea, terrible execution. The idea of following multiple women from the same family and tracking their generational trauma as well as their respective situational traumas is absolutely stellar. The vision here is impeccable, but the actual story is so confusingly written. There are no years, no names at the start of a new section, no way to understand whose life you're supposed to be paying attention to until halfway through the chapter. I understand the argument behind a simpler structure and simpler prose for the sake of accessibility, but prose can be simple and accessible while also being understandable and pleasant to read. There were a couple of standout lines, but unfortunately they were so incredibly cliche that keeping note of them simply wasn’t worth it. The book was too short and the characterization was flawed, but with just a little more time and indulgence into each woman, this book really could have been amazing. 

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

Summary from Goodreads:

Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny.

But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes.

Fierce, funny, and frank, Casey McQuiston's I Kissed Shara Wheeler is about breaking the rules, getting messy, and finding love in unexpected places.

My Thoughts:

Yet another example that anything Casey McQuiston touches turns to gold. While obviously McQuiston isn't The Best Writer Ever, Shara Wheeler solidifies their spot at the top. I've grown out of YA in the past few years, but although this book was clearly meant for teenagers, the prose didn't read as such, which was so refreshing. The thing that bugs me the most about YA as a genre is writers’ tendency to dumb down the prose and not bother with complex literary devices on the young reader's behalf. McQuiston artfully incorporated a definitively YA novel with masterful prose and storytelling that made the book both accessible and enjoyable to an older audience. I love McQuiston's symbolism; while obvious, it was so much fun to track with my little sticky notes, and when I paid closer attention, it popped up in places I hadn't caught on my first read-through. Shara Wheeler perfectly portrays the reality of high school: teenagers absolutely suck, and I, for one, love it.

Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.

America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

My Thoughts:

I love historical queer people. I love complex family dynamics. I love tributes to hometowns. I love a young romance against the backdrop of a greater conflict. I love characters driven by both cultural and social factors. While this book was a little more obviously YA, I didn't find myself rolling my eyes at the prose or structure. I think it was a well-paced, well-thought out novel that I thoroughly enjoyed, and would definitely recommend. 

*QUICK DISCLAIMER: I haven't read most of the following books. They might be terrible. I apologize in advance.*

If You Want Another YA Thriller:

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass, The Obsession by Jesse Q. Sutanto, White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson, They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodwin, Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson, Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

If You Want Another Mythology Retelling:

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips, Lavinia by Ursula K. LeGuin, Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson, The Children of Jocasta by Natalie Haynes, Everything Under by Daisy Johnson, An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma, Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse, The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi

If You Want Another Queer YA Romance: 

Any of Alice Oseman's books, Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas, Darius The Great by Adib Khorram, The Heartbreak Bakery by Amy Rose Capetta, Spin Me Right Round by David Valdes, Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie, We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds, How To Excavate A Heart by Jake Maia Arlow

Listening To a New Album Every Month: R&B

Samantha Smith

The Songs: 

“Static”:

Great melody and instrumentals. His voice is easily one of my favorites in the industry. I love the lyrics even though I’m aware many won’t, but one of the things I love about Steve Lacy is how real he is in his lyrics, and how he doesn’t care about what other people think about them. The harmonies are placed in all the right moments of the song, and already hearing his song “Bad Habit” makes me happy to know he isn’t copying and pasting the same sound into each song on the album.

“Helmet”:

I’m loving the overload of R&B and Disco in this song. It's very different from his mainstream music which is a great change in my perspective of him. “But loving you was a hazard, so I got myself a helmet” is such a great line and I would usually be annoyed when most of an artist's discography is about romance, but Steve Lacy makes me fall in love with each song no matter how cheesy the lyrics are.

“Mercury”:

I love the Latin vibe to this song, and the harmony in the very beginning pulls you in right away. I’m also now starting to get the name of the album since he mentions the word Gemini in every song so far. I don’t really like the chorus and honestly, the only parts of the song I like are the instrumentals and harmonies.

“Buttons”:

The beginning sounds like some Fotheringay stuff and then it turns very bluesy so naturally; it's off to a great start. The album is categorized as R&B and I wasn’t really hearing that in the first songs until this one. Very very R&B, I love it. 

“Bad Habit”:

This song has been blasting in my AirPods since the summer, so before I listened to anything, I put it on top of my listening right away. Everything about this song is so catchy: the beat, the lyrics, the way he sings it, such a great song. My favorite part of the song is easily when the instrumentals stop and it's just him singing acapella at the end, the choice of cutting the music for that part was such genius. This song became mainstream for a reason.

“2Gether”:

There’s not much to say about this song since it's less than a minute and he's just saying the same thing over and over again. The song has a nice sound but it's nothing special considering it's just an enterlude.

“Cody Freestyle”: 

Probably my least favorite song on the album - very boring and nothing special about it. Song sounds the same all the way through and nothing about the song pulls you in. 

“Amber”: 

This is a cute little jazz song that lowkey gives me Despicable Me soundtrack vibes. Like “Cody Freestyle”, there are no changes in the song like a chorus or a bridge, but, unlike “Cody Freestyle”, this song makes it work and is much more enjoyable. My favorite part of the song is the soulful guitar riff at the end.

“Sunshine”: 

I honestly don’t like Steve Lacy's choice to stray from his usual songs that have a Verse, Chorus, and Bridge, and have the last part of the album be songs that stay the same throughout without any unique changes to switch up the pace of the song. It's a pretty song with beautiful harmonies, but like I’ve previously said it's nothing special. I wish he gave this song a bridge or a chorus that stands out, but nevertheless, it's a nice listen

“Give You The World”: 

I love how relaxed this song makes me feel and how you can really feel the R&B come out in it. This song is very 60s/70s of Steve, a lot more than his other songs are. Although it doesn't stand out as much as some of the other songs on this album, its consistent groove, and psychedelic sound puts it higher than 4 of the songs in my ranking.  

Rating: 6.5/10

Midnights Album Preview

Bela Kumar

Calling all Swifties! Here’s everything you need to know about Taylor Swift’s upcoming album.

Ever since Taylor Swift began re-recording her albums in order to gain full ownership of her music, fans everywhere have been in anticipation of what she releases next. Of course, Taylor is known for dropping labyrinthine hints on what she intends to release. Despite many theories about her re-releasing albums such as Speak Now and 1989, Taylor Swift shocked the musical world by announcing a new album. Midnights is set to release on October 21st at midnight sharp, so let’s look at what the album entails. 

The Facts

Briefly after Taylor announced her album at her VMAs acceptance speech, she posted her album cover (?) of her face in front of a lighter. Her caption reads: “Midnights, the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life, will be out October 21. Meet me at midnight.” Like mentioned in her caption, the album will contain thirteen songs, which is known in her fandom to be Swift’s lucky number. The songs are divided into two sections on the cover: Side A with tracks one through six, and Side B with tracks seven through thirteen. 

Fans were recently informed on the track titles for Midnights through a series of unconventional TikTok videos titled “Midnights Mayhem”. Each episode, Taylor informs viewers of a track title by spinning a Bingo cage filled with ping-pong balls, and each ball reads a track number. In order, the tracklist goes:

1. Lavender Haze

2. Maroon

3. Anti-Hero

4. Snow on the Beach (featuring Lana del Rey)

5. You’re on Your Own, Kid

6. Midnight Rain

7. Question

8. Vigilante Sh*t

9. Bejeweled

10.  Labyrinth

11.  Karma

12.  Sweet Nothing

13.  Mastermind

What’s The Deal With Karma?

Out of all the track titles, Karma arguably left fans screaming the most. Up until Taylor’s fifth album, 1989, she had been releasing an album every two years: 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. However, Taylor was facing a lot of hate and backlash at the time due to a leaked phone call between Kanye West that Kim Kardashian released, and ended up disappearing from the public eye for a year. After keeping a low profile, she dropped Reputation in 2017, which emulates a theme of vengeance and dominance. In Taylor Swift’s “The Man” music video, a wall with graffiti reads each of her albums. The only title that was not an album on the wall was “Karma”. Alongside this, a sign read “MISSING!” between albums 1989 and Reputation. Fans speculate that Midnights is the album Swift intended to release prior to her hiatus. (The album is also being released on Kim Kardashian’s birthday. How’s that for karma?)

Other Theories

As seen in the Karma theories, these so-called Swifties do not take any information from Taylor lightly. In terms of the album aesthetics, fans noticed that the cover appears to have an old-timey vibe, possibly the ‘50s or ‘60s. Furthermore, listing track titles on an album cover is a classic trend of this era. Since Swift’s album Lover was originally going to be called Daylight, her fanbase theorizes that Midnights will be the sister album of Lover (like how albums Folklore and Evermore are sister albums!) 

Truthfully, I am practically mooning over the fact that Taylor Swift is releasing Midnights. (The moon is visible during nighttime. Hilarious, right?) From a musical and fan perspective, I cannot wait to enjoy more content from a musical prodigy. For over fifteen years, Swift has consistently released music that sets the bar higher every time. From a perspective of feminism and empowerment, it is a relief and joy that Taylor continues to produce music despite the hatred and misogyny that she faceds (and continues to face) from the industry. I am eager to see what the future holds for Midnights. 

Is The Nightmare Before Christmas a Halloween Or Christmas Movie?

Morgan Drennan

The cult classic movie The Nightmare Before Christmas was created in 1993 by Tim Burton. Despite the movie being over two decades old, it has remained a vital holiday movie. But what holiday should it exactly be watched for, Halloween or Christmas? 

The movie primarily takes place in Halloween Town. The citizens are vampires, skeletons, and all types of ghouls and monsters. The vibe throughout the movie is dark and creepy, but that could be blamed on Tim Burton’s artistic style. 

Its plot is about Jack The Pumpkin King and the citizens of Halloween Town trying to take over Christmas and giving a Halloween twist to the holiday. The movie, however, takes place during Christmastime and has the notable character of Santa Claus. Jack visits Christmasland and learns about the new holiday, which causes his hyper-fixation of taking over the holiday. 

The soundtrack of the movie has mixed results as well; it opens up with the song “This is Halloween”, which you can find on almost every Halloween playlist. But later in the movie, it starts to have music related to Christmas, such as “Kidnap Mr. Sandy-Claws” and “What's This?” 

The title could also be taken as misleading; if you had no idea about the movie and had only heard the title, most would think it is primarily a Christmas movie. During Halloween time, you can find costumes of the characters, and several decorations correlating to the movie. You will also find the movie on almost every Halloween movie marathon. Yet you will also find decorations for the movie during Christmas time, as well as the movie being featured on Christmas movie marathons. 

Tim Burton movies are often associated with Halloween and all things spooky. The director Henry Selick even said in a recent interview that he personally believes the movie is more of a Halloween movie than a Christmas one. The film was also released in October, adding to the idea that the film is stronger as a Halloween movie. 

After talking to several people about their thoughts about what holiday the movie should be associated with, the majority of people said “both”. With the ideas of how almost all characters are Halloween-related, even the director of the film shared his opinion of how he views it as a Halloween movie, and that it is more popularly shown throughout the Halloween season. The Nightmare Before Christmas can be enjoyed for both Halloween and Christmas, but with all the arguments taken into account, it is better perceived as a Halloween movie.