Evan Peters Wins Golden Globe for the Portrayal of Jeffrey Dahmer

The Golden Globe Awards were held on January 10 and the most controversial award would have to have been Evan Peters’ win for the portrayal of Jeffrey Dahmer. Jeffrey Dahmer was an American serial killer and sex offender who murdered 17 men and boys throughout the eighties.

In September of 2022, Netflix released “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” and ever since then it received immediate backlash. The short series was filmed and released without the consent or warning of the victims’ families. Earlier in September, a family member of one of Dahmer’s victims publicly spoke up against the show. Rita Isbell, sister of Errol Lindsey, stated, “When I saw some of the show, it bothered me, especially when I saw myself— when I saw my name come across the screen and this lady saying verbatim exactly what I said… it brought back all the emotions I was feeling back then.” Isbell along with many of the other victims’ families have felt furious with Netflix’s release of the short series, especially since the show became very popular and even became one of Netflix’s most-watched series. The show has gotten a lot of attention over the last few months and particularly now, since Evan Peters won the Golden Globe for “Best Actor in a Limited Series.” However, Peters winning speech has drawn more attention.

Peters’ Speech:

“Thank you HFPA, thank you to Netflix, and to Mr. Ryan Murphy for letting me be part of your brilliant vision again… I want to thank my family, friends, and loved ones who helped pick me up when I fell and carried me to the finish line. And last, but most importantly, I want to thank everyone who watched the show, it was a difficult one to make, a difficult one to watch, but I sincerely hope some good came out of it.”

Peters’ win was already controversial, but his speech sparked tension and rage from the internet and the victims’ families. In Peters’ speech, he overuses the word “brilliant” and concludes his speech by saying he hopes something good comes out of the show. However, his speech lacked mention of the victims or the victims’ families, which caused another family member of a victim to publicly speak out. Shirley Hughes, the mother of Tony Hughes, spoke out and said that Peters should’ve used his acceptance speech to honor the families who are still suffering.

The attention and popularity of the Dahmer short series has glorified the serial killer. These are the type of people who do not need more attention and shouldn’t profit over the tragedies and suffering of others. Netflix has a habit of releasing films on recent serial killers, for example “Extremely Wicked, Shocking Evil and Vile” and “The Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer,” which were about Ted Bundy and Richard Ramirez. However, these films do more harm than good by attracting and glorifying serial killers and at the same time disrespecting the families of the victims.