As expected, there’s been plenty of backlash over Ryan Murphy’s new Netflix show Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, and he’s now responded, saying he knew it would come even before the series was released. The fourth season of the Monster anthology has now released on Netflix, with Ella Beatty playing Lizzie Borden, the Massachusetts woman who was accused of murdering her father and stepmother in 1892. Unlike the previous Monster subjects, though, Borden was never convicted. She was acquitted at trial, and the murders remain officially unsolved. That has already made the new season a particularly complicated one, especially because Murphy and co-creator Ian Brennan have taken plenty of creative liberties with the story. ‘It’s going to be controversial’ Credit: Netflix Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the show’s release, Ryan Murphy was asked whether the fact that Borden was acquitted and the case remains unsolved gave him any pause when deciding to make the series. He said, “I find that show, which I do with Ian Brennan, to be very interesting because you know that no matter what you do, it’s going to be controversial. That’s baked into the cake.” He then explained what he believes the Monster franchise is actually trying to explore. “I’m always interested in, not glorifying these characters, but the Monster franchise is only about one thing: Are monsters made, or are they born?” Murphy said he has a personal connection to the case, too. He said, “When I was in kindergarten, I won first place singing the Lizzie Borden nursery rhyme in a choral competition, if you can believe that.” He added, “That was the first thing I ever won. So I grew up with that nursery rhyme. I’m from the Midwest. I thought everybody knew that nursery rhyme, and they did not.” Ryan Murphy was interested in what the Lizzie Borden story says about women and society Credit: Netflix Murphy explained why he chose Lizzie Borden’s story. He said, “I like investigating that story because, in many ways, you can look at what it deals with women and society and it’s very much about today. It’s a very modern story.” He added, “The story of Lizzie Borden is: Did she do it or did she not? There are many theories.” For him, that uncertainty made the story worth exploring. He further said, “But I think it taps into Victorian America and this idea of, ‘Why can’t I do this? Why can’t my parents understand me?’ I think everyone, male or female, who is a teenager knows about that. And I’m like, ‘Why can’t we write about that?’” He explained that the season also explores Aileen Wuornos and Elizabeth Báthory. “It is an interesting season because it is the Lizzie Borden story. But there are also other female “killers” who I was always interested in exploring. I always wanted to do something about Aileen Wuornos. I’ve always wanted to do something about the Countess Elizabeth Báthory, who Dracula was modelled after,” he said. He then added, “So we are kind of doing this fantasia of women vs. the system, and it’s not what they did. It’s the question of: What made them do it? Why did they do it, if they did it? That’s what the show is about. And it has three really great “monsters” behind it: Lizzie Borden, Aileen Wuornos and Elizabeth Báthory.” For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Post navigation Next storyPrevious story
