Why Netflix’s Monster Changed Some Facts Of Ed Gein’s Real-Life Story

When Ed Gein died at the age of 77 in 1984, the Wisconsin-based serial killer watched as his wrongdoings spawned two of the greatest horror films of all time: Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psych” and Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Series Copycat.” These films were not straight, realistic portrayals of Jane’s crimes, but they saw horrifying potential in exploiting the brutality produced by a combination of social isolation, bullying and parental abuse. As they became box office hits and franchises, movie fans dug into the Ed Gein lore, curious as to how a human could be taken to such brutality.

Ryan Murphy’s “Monster: The Ed Gein Story,” the third season in the Netflix series about notorious American killers (following on the heels of Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez Brothers), purports to have some grain about the Geins’ changing actions, but according to showrunner Max Winkler (Legend Legend’s son). Cases, they felt the date was wrong. They also felt the historical portrayal of Jane (played by Charlie Hunnam) lacked empathy. So they made some adjustments that felt to Winkler and his writers, the truth from the factual (but perhaps flawed) record.

In an interview with The Wrap, Winkler revealed that the murder of 14-year-old Evelyn Hartley, which was suspected to be Gein’s, but not confirmed because her remains were never found, was directly attributed to Gein. Although a suspect failed a lie detector test in the 1950s, the technology was not very reliable at the time. “According to our research, it was irrefutable,” Winkler said. So in “Monster: The Ed Gein Story”, Gein is identified as Hartley’s killer.

A more controversial decision for the Winkler team centered on their portrayal of Adeline Watkins (Susannah Sohn), who was clearly sufficiently romantically involved with Jane to prompt the killer to make him a rejected marriage proposal. Watkins walked back some of her comments, but it was so close to Jane that Winkler clearly felt comfortable expanding her role in the series as a way to humanize the brutal protagonist. “I fell in love with Susanna Sohn’s acting from ‘Red Rocket’ and was so excited when we cast her,” the showrunner said. “We had a hard time writing scenes for people [Ed Gein]Because he was alone a lot of the time. So the character of Adeline became a sounding board for that.”

If Winkler has a storytelling advantage here, it’s that horror fans have a significantly distorted understanding of Jane because “Psycho” and “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” elsewhere inspired them. But that’s the problem that plagues Winkler’s series: the fact that Gein was a horribly abused child. Once you get into his crimes, you realize that he is the product of monsters. You are watching someone who had no choice in their upbringing and no opportunity to overcome it.