Charlie Hunnam slammed for defence of Ed Gein as Netflix series watched for 90 million hours
Viewers of the Ed Gein Netflix show Monster have hit out at lead actor Charlie Hunnam for ‘defending’ the serial killer.
This comes after the Netflix series was announced to have debuted second worldwide based just on its three-day premiere from Thursday to Saturday.
This saw Netflix fans watching the true crime show for 90,000,000 hours in just three days, marking a major success for the streamer.
In spite of this, though, the show has come under heavy criticism since its release, with many pointing to issues around the number of deviations the show takes from real events.
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Add to that fans who have slammed Hunnam’s accent after hearing lost tapes of Ed Gein’s real voice, and it has undoubtedly been a controversial show so far, despite the huge viewing figures.
Hunnam previously spoke in an exclusive interview with LADbible, hitting out at the idea that he was ‘too empathetic’ to Gein.
Gein was confirmed to have killed two people and rumoured to have killed several more, with Netflix’s show depicting him as having murdered as many as six people.
Despite this, Hunnam has spoken in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter about how one of his hopes for the show was that people finish and consider ‘who the real Monsters were’.
This is due to Gein’s crimes serving as an inspiration for several film serial killers, including the villains from Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Hunnam questioned if the monster was Gein, saying he was abused and left in isolation and suffering from undiagnosed mental illness’ and that this ‘manifested in some pretty horrendous ways’.
He went on to add: “Or was the monster the legion of filmmakers that took inspiration from his life and sensationalized it to make entertainment and darken the American psyche in the process?
"Is Ed Gein the monster of this show, or is Hitchcock the monster of the show? Or are we the monster of the show because we’re watching it?”
This line of questioning, however, did not go down well with fans of the show.
The post went viral in r/television on Reddit, with many fans slamming Hunnam.
The top comment read: “I’m going to go out on a limb and say [the monster is] the guy that skinned people and made a lampshade out of it.”
Another said: “This doesn’t sound as thought-provoking and deep as he thought it would be. Ed Gein was a monster.
“Monsters can be raised by monsters. Both can be true. Doesn’t make Ed any less of a monster.”
A third commented a similar sentiment, saying: “The real monster is the dude who made a belt out of human nipples. I don’t care what got you to the point you made a belt out of human nipples. Still on you for making it.”
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: Ed Gein, Charlie Hunnam, Netflix, True Crime, TV and Film, TV
Michael Slavin