In Wisconsin during the 1960s, an atrocity struck as a ‘harmless’ farmer was convicted of murdering women as well as other disturbing things. Ed Gein is one of America’s most known serial killers due to his gruesome actions to his victims and how he kept trophies of their remains. Ed was a twisted and a psychotic person, as he would also keep his deceased mother with him. The reason for this is due to Gein’s mother’s beliefs of thinking.
The case of Gein was a strange case as people wondered, what went through this psycho’s mind when doing his actions? Luckily for us we have more insight on what was going through the original ‘Physchosis’ mind (Monsters: Ed Gein Story). In this new Netflix series we explore the tragedies from the perspective of Ed Gein, and view all the disturbing matters he had done. We also see the messed up living conditions and things he went through at home and how deranged he became due to his mom’s beliefs. As well as see the obsession Gein had for his mother and how he craved her existence so much he would turn his victims into a human body suit mirroring his mom’s appearance.
“I think the Ed Gein show does a horrible job at telling who Ed Gein was because I feel like the directors add and take away things from the truth to make a better show I also feel as if they glorify ed gein and they try to make us feel sympathetic towards him by like showing his harsh living conditions and this just paints a picture that he wasn’t a bad person in other words they try to humanize him even though ed gein is a killer.”
says Adrian Reyes, a sophomore at HPHS.
This aspect of making us feel sympathetic to Gein or to serial killers is a very controversial take to this show and other shows as people believed it was disrespectful to the victims’ families as they are trying to justify his actions.
In addition, Hollywood directors saw Gein’s actions as a new beginning towards the horror genre. As the Horror genre was very mainstream at the time, the main topic was around Creatures in a Black Lagoon, Monsters getting resurrected, or even a crossbreed between man and wolf. However, due to the Gein case, Hollywood directors saw this to introduce the new topic of non suspected slashers. For example, Alfred Hitchcock one of the most influential directors of cinema making the hit movie ‘Psycho’. The film released in 1960 is a film that shows an interpretation of a ‘normal man’ turning out to be a sadistic psychopath who kills people that stay in this hotel dressed like his mother, same as Ed. This movie was the first movie introducing the topic of just an everyday man having a secret disturbing life. This movie is still praised and even featured in the Universal Studios Tram Tour.
Another example of Gein inspiring directors are the creations of Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Dr. Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of The Lambs. The directors Tobe Hoper and Johnathan Demme took inspiration from the Ed Gein murders, as they both took the strategy of skinning their victims (Something that Gein was noticed for) . Many people find this disturbing, even some correlating the films to snuff films. However, many horror fans have been more entertained to the subtopic of slashers.
Staff Writer Giovany Juarez