Why Ryan Murphy Is Failing: 3 Dark Menendez Ethics You’re Getting Wrong

Stop buying the "True Crime" label. You don't need another documentary. You need an autopsy of the industry.

I watched all 9 hours of Ryan Murphy’s Monsters. I’ve tracked the trial data for a decade. Here is what I learned: Ryan Murphy isn't a storyteller anymore. He’s a trauma-miner.

The show is a hit. The ethics are a disaster.

Here are the 3 dark ethics Ryan Murphy is getting wrong:

1. The "Flowers" Fallacy Ryan Murphy recently said the Menendez brothers should "send him flowers" for the attention. This is the most dangerous ethic in Hollywood: Attention = Redemption. Murphy thinks because he put their names back in the zeitgeist, he’s a hero. He’s not. He’s a salesman. Attention without accuracy is just a second trial with a biased jury. If you give someone "airtime" but use it to suggest they were in an incestuous relationship (a theory debunked by every credible investigator), you aren't helping them. You’re re-traumatizing them for a subscription fee.

2. The Rashomon Trap Murphy claims he used a "Rashomon" approach. Show all sides. Let the viewer decide. It sounds sophisticated. It’s actually lazy. When you give equal weight to a victim’s testimony and a tabloid journalist’s "incest fantasy," you aren't being balanced. You’re being reckless. Journalism is about finding the truth. "Perspective-taking" is what you do when the truth doesn't sell as many ads. By framing the abuse and the "greed" narrative as equally valid, Murphy effectively tells the audience that trauma is just a matter of opinion.

3. The Erasure of New Evidence The most damning failure isn't what’s in the show. It’s what’s missing. In 2023, Roy Rosselló (former member of Menudo) came forward alleging Jose Menendez also drugged and raped him. This is the "smoking gun" the brothers never had in the 90s. Murphy ignored it. Why? Because the "Medudo evidence" makes the brothers' story too clear. It ruins the "Monster" ambiguity. It turns a "spicy" crime drama into a tragic failure of the justice system. Murphy chose a better script over a better truth.

THE INSIGHT Ryan Murphy has become the very thing he claims to profile. He spent years making shows about "Monsters." Now, he’s the final boss of the Trauma Industrial Complex. He doesn't want to solve cases. He wants to keep them open just enough to justify Season 3. We are reaching a tipping point where "True Crime" auteurs will be held to the same standards as the prosecutors they critique. If the "Monsters" franchise continues like this, the only monster left will be the creator.

THE QUESTION Is a "conversation" worth a lie?