Whenever I watch a film or series that has a rich historical context I approach it in two ways: as a consumer and as a historian. Typically, the former comes first. Like any other consumer, I want to be entertained. As for Monster: The Ed Gein Story, the idea of seeking entertainment strikes me as a little perverse, given the gruesome subject matter. So, I will defer to a slightly more ambiguous position - I hoped the series would hold my attention and pique my curiosity. In that the series was somewhat successful, especially the early episodes. I would like to note that the acting was phenomenal, particularly Charlie Hunnam as the titular character and Laurie Metcalf as Augusta Gein, Eddie’s religiously rigid martinet mother.

But the thing is, the series unfolds as a lesson in how to drag out a story when Netflix orders eight episodes but the creators only have material for two or three. Much of the series travels down confusing or ahistorical paths, which often border on the absurd - but do fill a lot of time. The series features elaborately crafted scenes depicting Ilse Koch, the Nazi war criminal who committed atrocities while her husband Karl-Otto Koch was commandant at Buchenwald. It likewise includes a storyline detailing an entirely imagined romantic relationship between Gein and Adeline Watkins, a real life person who fabricated personal connections to the killer, and is for some reason portrayed by an actress (Suzanna Son) decades younger than the actual individual. There are other bizarre sexual exploits, murders, and interactions with Eddie’s protégé serial killers that did not occur in reality. Finally I found the forays into the creation of such films as Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre promising but ultimately superficial.

A thing that never happened. Source: The Review Geek

I get that the creators of the series were attempting to broaden the Ed Gein “story” by weaving together a tapestry of history, myth, and popular culture - though they might have done a much better job of conveying the fluidity of the story and the intersection of imagination and reality in the narrative. To be fair, the final two episodes tied together some confusing threads, so overall, I am glad I stuck it out with this series. Though I will maintain my position that the show would have been much better had the creators tightened things up a bit.

Naturally, as a historian, I can’t help but lament some of the missed opportunities that would have enhanced the historical landscape. The show could have highlighted Cold War anxieties against the backdrop of romanticized postwar nostalgia, for one example. Taking on the fear of the outsider and the paranoia that simmered beneath the surface in the 1950s when mainstream society seemed healthy, robust, and promising to a casual observer could have taken a Twilight Zone tack into the shadowy psyche of mid-century America.

They also missed a chance to engage ideas about gender dysphoria, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM I-V), and how psychiatric classification of gender incongruence evolved from being conflated with psychosis to its current understanding. These of course are difficult and controversial subjects, which could have been handled comprehensively with both sensitivity and compassion had the creators opted for a little more analytical complexity.

Honestly, the real story is creepy enough without having to add in the extras. I mean, the guy made masks and body suits out of disinterred corpses. What more do you really need? If you want a more historically accurate account of this fascinating and horrifying story, I recommend Harold Schechter’s Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original Psycho. Schechter does provide the historical and psychological context. And what’s more, the story unfolds in fine True Crime style. Schechter is a first-rate storyteller - I myself was so engaged with his writing style that I powered through the book in just a couple of sittings. And if you really can’t get enough of the genre, I recommend Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, which further underscores the dark side of 1950s America. In short, Monster: The Ed Gein Story is worth watching, despite my criticism. As Eddie himself says, the killer made a “contribution” of sorts to twentieth-century Americana. And in the end, the creators offer him a path to redemption, which I suppose even the most heinous among us deserve.

With compliments,

Keith