Look, I love a quality Halloween costume as much as the next person, but this one takes it a little bit too far. Whether you like to be scary, cute, or comical that is all fine and dandy. However people are starting to get a little wonky this year. Many people are dressing as the Menendez Brothers this Halloween and honestly, I think they are crossing a line.
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Dressing As The Menendez Brothers For Halloween
@bennydrama7 Free the menendez brothers !!
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This Halloween costume is gaining popularity after the drama series on Netflix was released. The series
is called "Monsters" and the story of the Menedez brothers is the second season of the show. It focuses on Lyle and Erik Menendez, two brothers convicted of murdering their parents. The show itself has brought about a lot of controversy.
There is no question that the Menedez Brothers suffered truly horrific things throughout their childhood. They were victims of abuse and suffered immensely. However, they are also guilty and charged with the murder of their parents. While some argue the murder is justified, others claim there were other ways to handle the situation.
Regardless of your stance on their actions, the fact of the matter is that they are two things, victims of abuse and murderers. Both of which, are not something you should encourage your child to dress as for Halloween.
Why It Is Crossing A Line
Let me explain it this way. If the Menendez brothers didn't murder their parents, if they were just victims of abuse would you dress as them for Halloween? Probably not right? For example, no one dressed up as Gabriel Fernandez, the poor 8-year-old boy who was tortured to death. That is because it is disrespectful to make the horrors of a victim's life your costume for an evening.
Similarly, the majority of people do not dress up as murderers, not real life ones anyway. Most people are not running around dressed as John Wayne Gacy or Jeffrey Dahmer. That is because again, you don't want to give praise to the horrible actions of these individuals or cause any disrespect to their victims.
So why then, is it deemed appropriate to dress as individuals who are both victims and murderers? While their luxe 80's fashion can be seen as trendy it is still no excuse for ignoring the obvious disregard of the sensitivity of this topic. I am not the only one who feels this way.
The Sun shares that these Halloween costumes have been receiving hate across the internet. Pointing out the disrespect and disregard for the fact that the Menendez brothers, "killed their parents in self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their dad."
One woman argued that she just wanted to dress her son up as Erik Menendez because her son's hair. She stated, "I got the idea simply because my son's hair reminds me of Erik's hair and I've been obsessed with the Menendez brothers for a while." This last sentence truly haunts me. I think we have gotten to a point where people often forget that some things on TV actually happened.
Is Media To Blame?
Our TV shows, movies, and various forms of media have begun to glorify violence and horror. In turn, making us less and less aghast by it. We have become immune to the brutality of it all. So much so that we are now "obsessed" with the suffering others endured. This then leads us to think it is cute to mock that suffering by dressing our children as them for Halloween.
While I am sure many did not mean any disrespect or harm with their costumes, that just adds salt to the wound. We see the maltreatment as just some crazy show on TV, not as a reality. And in a way we are admiring or celebrating it by making it a costume to wear for a night. It is a strange contrast because in reality, I am sure most people would not want to be those brothers for even one day.
