My issue with the emphasis on the exploration of childhood abuse/repression is that they’ve tried to put a somewhat empathetic light on the subjects of all three seasons. I think it feels most egregious this season because Ed Gein’s backstory has the least documented evidence so it comes across like a lot of projection and speculation.
I wouldn’t have minded a shorter season if they made it a well written deep dive into his schizophrenia and how/why it led him to make him a monster (without making him appear sympathetic). Maybe they need to pick serial killers with a lot of documented evidence and interviews so they can take creative license on fact rather than making stuff up for the sake of filling out 8 episodes. I read that a major character in this didn’t even exist IRL and that’s just unnecessary.
I don’t take it as an empathetic pov. I see it as painting these “monsters” as the fukked up humans that they are. This series doesn’t seek to absolve the killers, it shows the ugliness of what they did. One thing I do like about season 1 and 3 is that they always try to include the killers acknowledging and accepting responsibility for their actions.
Too often I see people calling saying actions are evil, or calling the perpetrator a monster. I get it, but people overlook little signs and shyt every day because they have some kind of mental image of Hannibal lecter or Michael Myers when they think of killers lol.
Everytime I hear, “I never thought he would have done something like that…”, I think to myself that it’s because they weren’t looking for a human.
These serial killers are often the culmination of neglect, psychological/physical/sexual abuse, repression, on top of congenital or acquired fukked up brain chemistry. They’re often more Steve urkel than Michael Myers. I think it would be stupid to not show the human side. Maybe more people would be more willing to keep an eye on these weirdo’s, note children being abused when they see it, or get their children psychological help when they see signs of something fukked up in them.
