Everything Netflix got right and wrong about Ed Gein as controversial series bombs on Rotten Tomatoes
While there's no escaping the horrors of the likes of Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Aileen Wuornos, and many of the other serial killers who've shocked American history, we just can't seem to get enough of digging deeper into their chilling crimes.
Whether it be true crime documentaries like Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes or Zac Efron playing Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, Netflix regularly scratches our itch of morbid curiosity.
As part of Ryan Murphy's previous deal with the streaming giant, he's made a name for himself with the Monster anthology series. Having focused on Jeffrey Dahmer in season 1, he then followed the crimes of Lyle and Erik Menendez, before settling on Ed Gein for season 3 – a fourth season about Lizzie Borden is on the way.
Who was Ed Gein?
There's been continued controversy about Monster's portrayal of Ed Gein, with the eight-part series somewhat sensationalizing the life of the accused serial killer. Gein was arrested for the murder of hardware store owner Bernice Worden in 1957, later confessing that he'd also killed tavern owner Mary Hogan in 1954. Although only convicted of two murders, he was accused of being involved in several other missing person cases in Wisconsin.
Advert
More than just the murders of Worden and Hogan, Gein cemented himself as one of the most notorious killers in American history due to the fact that he kept trophies from his victims and was also known for exhuming the bodies of recently deceased women.
There's no escaping the horrors of Gein's crimes, and although Charlie Hunnam has defended his portrayal of Gein, season 3 of Monster has tanked on Rotten Tomatoes with a paltry 54% audience score and 19% critic score. Notably, many have issues with some of the inaccuracies seemingly shown just for 'entertainment' value.
What does Monster get wrong about Ed Gein?
Monster casts Hunnam as the Butcher of Plainfield, showing his descent into psychosis and what leads to him becoming the unhinged killer that inspired The Silence of the Lambs and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
One of the early inaccuracies is the idea that Ed Gein killed his brother. The show's first episode shows Ed clubbing Henry with a block of wood and staging a brush fire to cover up the murder. Although Gein's older brother did die in a brush fire and Ed was accused of murdering him, authorities ruled it as asphyxiation from smoke inhalation, and the youngest Gein never confessed to any wrongdoing.
A major catalyst in Gein's snapping was the death of his mother. This plays out similarly with Laurie Metcalf playing Augusta Gein in Monster, although the idea of him successfully digging up his mother's corpse never happened. Gein's obsession with his mother led him to dig up the bodies of women who resembled her, with her death triggering his grave-robbing spree.
The unsolved disappearance of Victor Travis and Raymond Burgess is also sensationalized in Monster, and despite theories about Gein's involvement, he was never charged. Hunnam's Gein brutally dispatches the pair with a chainsaw, but while we can see how Murphy wants to play up to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre connections, Gein's weapon of choice was a .22 caliber rifle.
Was Ed Gein a necrophile?
There's also the idea that Gein was in a romantic and sexual relationship with Worden (played by Lesley Manville). Gein claims he never had a sexual experience due to his religious upbringing, making it unlikely that he knew her that well before he shot her.
Another uncomfortable aspect is the idea that Gein was a necrophile. When asked if he had sex with the corpses, the real Gein denied it because he said "they smelled too bad."
Perhaps the biggest swing is the idea that Gein was a serial killer. Monster features him killing his brother, Travis and Burgess, a nurse, and a babysitter. Remember that he only confessed to Woden and Hogan's murders.
Murphy also tries to go full Mindhunter in a bizarre turn in the final episode. Here, Hunnam's Gein is interviewed by the FBI to give them insight into Ted Bundy, and implies that he helps them capture the fellow killer.
What does Monster get right about Ed Gein?
That isn't to say Monster is a totally fictionalized tale. There's plenty that this season does get right, notably the inclusion of the iconic 'woman suit'. When authorities raided Gein's 'house of horrors' in 1957, they found keepsakes that included Mary Hogan's face mask in a paper bag, Bernice Worden's head in a burlap sack, a lamp made from the skin of a woman, nine vulvas in a box, and more.
The horrors of the woman suit came from Gein wanting to be closer to his deceased mother, saying he wanted "to literally crawl into her skin."
Ed Gein’s relationship with his mother
Augusta suffered a stroke after being shocked by a local woman living in sin, and her cruel nature toward her son is all documented. Harold Schechter's Deviant: The Shocking True Story of the Original ‘Psycho’ notes that Augusta even went as far as saying, "Only a mother could love you."
It's also true that Gein had a fascination with the Nazi Ilse Koch (played by Vicky Krieps), although she was never officially convicted of mutilating corpses at Buchenwald.
Finally, both the fictional and real Gein were diagnosed with schizophrenia in December 1957. A panel of six doctors concluded that he heard his mother's voice after she died, saw faces in piles of leaves, and couldn't tell the difference between right and wrong because he was delusional. Even though he eventually stood trial, the panel initially declared him 'legally insane' and "not competent to stand trial."