My Friend Dahmer tries to humanize Jeffrey Dahmer and it feels weird

Ever wish you thought of Jeffrey Dahmer as a human more than just a serial killer? Well then, you’ll probably like My Friend Dahmer.

In a weird turn of events, I know see Jeffrey Dahmer as a person rather than a killer who murdered 17 men. Let me clarify. I saw My Friend Dahmer and that movie’s main goal is to humanize him, so then we recognize that mental health issues are not something to keep quiet about.

The cause is admirable. Children need to know that talking about these thoughts and issues are step one to solving them. But maybe don’t use Jeffrey Dahmer as your example.

The movie does a great job of showing his struggle with his murderous attributes and his wanting to be accepted. Obviously, in the end he becomes the Dahmer we know but through most the movie, he’s just a teenager who has a group of ‘sort-of’ friends. But even in the more ‘normal’ aspects of Dahmer’s life, he’s still showing signs of issues.

He spasms in class because he thinks it is funny and not one teacher says anything to his parents? He has a weird bone shed where he uses acid to get the skin off animals that his family knows about and, again, no one says a word.

There’s even a part when two kids see him picking up roadkill and they’re just like “okay this is fine”. The whole movie lacks a lot of moral backing and I think that’s the point? It makes us feel for Jeffrey Dahmer in a terrible way. But then we realize what he did to 17 men and are reminded that he is a monster.

So does My Friend Dahmer succeed in showing us that we need to talk about mental health issues with children? I’m not sure.

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I’d say it is all around that shrugging emoji that you use when you don’t know what is going on.