ALEXANDRA ALCALA / A&C ASSISTANT EDITOR

Erik and Lyle Menendez are recognized by the public for a very particular reason: murdering their parents. The Menendez brothers shot their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989. Prosecutors believed the reason was to inherit their father’s fortune, but the defendants argue that this is not the whole story. 

A few weeks ago, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon stated that there was an ethical and moral duty to review, once again, the evidence from the original case. This was taken into consideration because new evidence was discovered last year. 

In their first trial, the Menendez brothers declared that they had suffered abuse over the span of several years at the hands of their father. Because the jury was split on whether to charge them with manslaughter or first-degree murder, this first trial was deadlocked, and a retrial was set to happen. Their  second  trial excluded evidence about sexual assault, which  led  the  jury to declare  the brothers guilty of first-degree murder and handed  them a  lifetime sentence with no chance of parole. 

Last month, Netflix released the second installment of their 2022 series “Monsters,” which focused on the Menendez brothers, who are set to have a new court hearing this November, almost three decades after being sentenced. This caused controversy around the nation because the series explores the brothers’ case and questions whether their sentence was fair, especially taking into account that new evidence that has been discovered. 

The news of this case led to comparisons between the media’s coverage of the Menendez brothers  case  and  that  of  Gypsy-Rose  Blanchard. This was especially prominent due to the fact that Gypsy-Rose Blanchard was recently released from prison  after being convicted of second-degree murder  for assisting in  the killing  of her mother, Clauddine  “Dee Dee” Blanchard. In 2015, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and her then boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, were arrested after police found Dee Dee Blanchard stabbed to death in her house. 

Gypsy-Rose Blanchard was believed to have been a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which a caretaker makes someone ill or creates the illusion of them being ill in order to receive attention. Gypsy-Rose Blanchard  was originally sentenced to 10 years but was set free after being detained for only seven. 

Since Gypsy-Rose Blanchard was released from prison,  she  has  built a  considerable platform on social media. She has 710,000 followers on Instagram and over 10 million followers on TikTok. Some in the media question whether or not it’s right to give such a big platform to someone that was sentenced for second-degree murder. This has made many question if it’s fair that Gypsy-Rose Blanchard is now free when the Menendez brothers still are in prison, even though they both  suffered abuse at the hands of their parents. Some students  suggested that her rise to fame was  warranted considering her situation.  

“I am aware of both the Menendez brothers and Gypsy-Rose,” USD sophomore Mariah Wagner said. “I believe they both went through trauma inflicted from a parent and murdered them because of it. I was aware of Gypsy’s rise to fame. Personally, I don’t mind her having a platform because I do believe she did what she needed to do for her chance at survival. I also believe whether she wanted fame or not, she was bound to be known just by the impact of her situation.”

Both  of  the  cases  gained  a lot  of exposure due to the heavy presence of the media at the time they happened. Today, they continue to jump back to the headlines whenever they are updated. 

“I am more familiar with the Menendez brothers’ case than Gypsy-Rose’s case, but I’ve seen and read about both court hearings,” USD sophomore Kayla Operana said. “I think Gypsy’s rise to fame must be hard for her because she had just gotten out of prison. I do think that it’s almost odd that people have put her on a pedestal, but I also think her advocacy  for Munchausen by  proxy is important. I’m not sure how I feel about putting her on a pedestal particularly, but due to the publicity  of her case it makes  sense.”

Similar to “Monsters,” there was a series that followed Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s case and life called “The Act” that starred actresses  Joey  King as  Gypsy-Rose and Patricia Arquette as Dee Dee Blanchard. Both series caught the public’s attention as they gave insight on their respective cases, and for some people, led them to change their  opinions regarding the sentencing. However, some USD students have said that they have not had the opportunity to watch the series, but they are interested in doing so as they have heard about  both cases.

“I have not watched either yet, but ‘Monsters’ is on my watchlist for sure,” USD sophomore Ashley Perri said. “I am not an expert on either case, but I feel like the media plays a huge role in how these cases have been looked at. Gypsy-Rose became viral again because there was a series created about her a few years ago. Now, she is free. The Menendez brothers are just now getting a show created about their lives, so maybe that will have an impact on their sentences in the future.”

Besides the possible impact the exposure to the media had on  the cases  and their  outcomes, the fact  that they  occurred at very different times may have been a contributing factor. Back then, the severity, or even possibility, of men being victims of sexual abuse was not taken seriously. 

“I think one of the biggest differences between the cases are the times at which these were presented,” Wagner said. “The Menendez brothers murdered their parents in 1989 while Gypsy murdered hers in 2015. These were very different times and [there were] different struggles that the U.S. was going through, this definitely made a difference in each of their cases. I also believe that gender has a role to play in this also.Men are known to be more violent than women, so seeing two young men killing their parents might not be considered as self defense.” 

As Wagner mentioned, there were stereotypical social norms that were present during 1989 that could have affected the Menendez brothers sentence. While Gypsy-Rose spent seven years in prison,  the Menendez brothers have been incarcerated for 34 years, causing many to advocate for their release, including A-list celebrity Kim Kardashian.

“I think the biggest difference in their cases is the time period. Gypsy-Rose was closer to modern day than the Menendez brothers, so jurors must have been more open to broader perspectives. The Menendez brothers faced their punishment in the early 90’s where people weren’t as open to discussing sexual assault, more so men who have been sexually assaulted,” Operana said.

The exposure of a series makes the Menendez brothers’ relevant in society once again, especially since it has been decades since their case  was last touched upon. Time and new evidence may impact the brothers’ sentence this upcoming November.

Ryan Murphy’s new biographical crime series ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.’ Courtesy of Kushi Patel/The USD Vista and @MonsterNetflix_/Twitter