- Charlie Hunnam and co-creator Ian Brennan defend the new Netflix series against claims of sensationalism.
- The show focuses on Ed Gein’s severe mental illness and its role in his horrific crimes.
- The series directly questions the audience’s fascination with true crime, asking who the “real monster” is.
- Creators insist the portrayal is a “sincere exploration” and not exploitative, despite the macabre subject.
Cast and Creators Confront Criticism
Following criticism leveled at previous installments of Ryan Murphy’s anthology series, the team behind Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story is addressing concerns of sensationalism head-on. Star Charlie Hunnam and co-creator Ian Brennan are defending their approach to the infamous 1950s serial killer, known for murdering women and desecrating graves in rural Wisconsin.
A “Sincere Exploration” of a Damaged Mind
Charlie Hunnam, who portrays Ed Gein, hopes audiences will see the series as more than just a horror story. “What I would hope and feel really confident in is that it was a very sincere exploration of the human condition and why this boy did what he did,” Hunnam told The Hollywood Reporter. He emphasized that the production never felt gratuitous or aimed for shock value, instead focusing on telling the story as honestly as possible.
Co-creator Ian Brennan added that the season is fundamentally “a story of mental illness.” He argued that it was crucial to show the horror of Gein’s inner life and undiagnosed schizophrenia, which he believes had an enormous, and often unexamined, cultural footprint that inspired iconic horror films like Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Turning the Camera on the Audience
In a bold move, the series breaks the fourth wall, with Gein looking directly at the camera and saying: “You’re the one who can’t look away.” This moment forces viewers to confront their own fascination with macabre stories.
“Is Ed Gein the monster of this show, or is Hitchcock the monster of the show? Or are we the monster of the show because we’re watching it?” Hunnam questioned, highlighting the show’s deeper ambition to spark a conversation about the very nature of true crime entertainment.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is now streaming on Netflix.
Image Referance: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/monster-ending-charlie-hunnam-ed-gein-criticism-interview-1236393422/
