It caused a lot of trouble around the serial killer series “Dahmer”: Several victims (or relatives of them) were angry that Netflix had adapted the true story as it is told in the series, which had become a huge success – and most importantly, never spoke to the victims. They found out – at the same time as the general public – through the Internet, through trailers or maybe even only by calling up the Netflix application on their own TV that there was a new “Dahmer” series.
At “The Watcher”It’s different now. The real victims of this story were not only informed by those responsible for the series, but could even (to a small degree) influence it. This caused some changes to the story as well. By the way, we have written down the true story and the background for you here:
Anyone who now believes that series creator Ryan Murphy, who is behind both “Dahmer” and “The Watcher“ is stuck and his client have learned Netflix, but is wrongly wound. Of course you could at “The Watcher’ do not react directly to the criticism of ‘Dahmer’. After all, the series was long overdue and only appeared shortly afterwards.
It’s probably not as if Murphy and his team were particularly considerate. no Because while the case surrounding Jeffrey Dahmer, who murdered between 1978 and 1991, is now well documented, the story of a mysterious stalker who terrorized a family in 2014 was hoped for some helpful information and insight. So it was actually logical that for “The Watcher’ seeking dialogue with the victims.
The insights that the real victims gave to the magazine also show that consideration was perhaps not the priority The Cut around the talks for the Netflix series starring Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale. Because it becomes clear that they saw the opportunity to gain at least a little control by selling their rights. Otherwise there would have been a risk that Netflix and Murphy would do the series without her (as the US TV broadcaster Lifetime did with a TV movie in 2016). Ergo: The series would probably have come one way or the other.
Also, we don’t think the changes are just for the sake of consideration. At the request of the real victims, their names were changed in the film, along with the number of children in the family. So the identification is gone. But these are of course small changes, which the makers around Murphy could certainly quickly agree to, since they play no role in the story. With another big change, however, they stray far from the real story.
The real victims never moved into the house, due to the terror by the Watcher direct distance from it. It’s different in the series. But that certainly doesn’t serve to change the story and spare the real victims from re-traumatization. It’s just a lot more exciting, a lot more dramatic when the family and the children are in the house of the mysterious Watcher being terrorized.
“the Watcher” is therefore significantly better in terms of dealing with victims than “dahmer“, much praise one should Ryan Murphy and Co. don’t give for it. In the end, it remains the case that true crime material always harbors the danger of having the real victims relive the old trauma. The real couple behind the events of The Watcher“ also reveals that The Cutthat you will definitely not watch the series. Just looking at the trailer was “stressful enough”.
