“You” Actor Penn Badgley Blames Netflix For Romanticizing Serial Killer Jeffrey Dahmer

Penn Badgley

“You” Actor Penn Badgley Blames Netflix For Romanticizing Serial Killer Jeffrey Dahmer

Actor Penn Badgley recently gave his thoughts on the growing interest in serial killer content.

The 36-year-old TV star says that while there may be some personal underlying issues to why viewers identify with murderers, Netflix certainly shoulders some of the blame as well.

Badgley spoke about the matter while promoting the fourth season of his own Netflix series “You”, which follows the beginning story of a young fictional serial killer. Sharing thoughts on why many consumers end up romanticizing the murderers they see on TV, Badgley stated:

 “You need to look at that, inside….To be fair with our show – you’re meant to fall in love with him. That’s on us. But Ted Bundy? That’s on you!”

Adding about the streaming giant:

“Jeffrey Dahmer? That is on – that is on Netflix. That is squarely on the shoulders of Netflix.”

In recent years, the Netflix has continued to receive backlash, as well as stellar ratings, with the dramatizations of famous serial killer stories. Back in 2019, the company released “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile”, a drama/crime film starring Zac Efron as famed murderer Ted Bundy.

More recently, Netflix came under fire for their production of “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”. The project went on to become one of the platforms most watched series, and made Netflix history after surpassing 1 billion hours viewed within its first 60 days.

Evan Peters, who portrayed Dahmer, additionally went on to win a Golden Globe award for best actor in an anthology series. It was controversial at the time and families of Dahmer’s victims slammed the project and the award all together.

Despite criticism, Netflix has remained true to their decisions, explaining their only job is to tell stories, not force people to interpret them a certain way. During his acceptance speech Peters doubled down on the notion, stating he hopes something good comes from his win and the series.

[VIA]

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Authored by: Kay Johnson