Jeffrey Dahmer Polaroid Challenge Goes Viral on TikTok
Updated on November 18, 2022 at 03:29 PMHigor Souza1 tags
The series Dahmer: A American Cannibal arrived on Netflix last month and has already become a huge success. And riding the wave of popularity of the series, TikTok users created a new trend that can be considered in poor taste.
The miniseries is based on the case of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who between 1978 and 1991 killed 17 men and teenagers in the USA. His victims were between 14 and 32 years old and were usually people who faced prejudice at the time, such as LGBTQIA+ individuals, Black or Indigenous men, and people with low purchasing power.
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The Polaroid Challenge
In the new trend, called the "Polaroid Challenge", TikTokers search for images of Dahmer's victims' bodies and record their own reaction to seeing the images.
The search terms "polaroids of Jeffrey Dahmer's victims" already have over 500 million views on TikTok.
According to news site Indy100, TikTok is trying to take down the content, but users are reposting the videos with some edits, and they end up passing through the platform's moderation again.
Image: Reproduction
Given the popularity of the trend, more and more TikTokers are doing it, and with that the social network can't block or censor all of them.
Undoubtedly, many people are consuming this challenge content, but there are others who are wondering why they should make this type of video.
The trend is certainly in poor taste because it's disrespectful to the victims and their families, but it also raises another important point about the series.
Despite all its success, it also received several criticisms and negative reactions, and the main reason is that Netflix didn't approach the families of the victims about the production of Dahmer.
Image: Reproduction
The series claims to show the perspective of the serial killer's victims, however members of the family of one of Dahmer's victims stated that they were never consulted about the series.
Thus, the relatives of one of the 17 people who died at the hands of Dahmer question why there are more and more entertainment products, such as the series and the trend, that exploit their past traumas.
Eric Perry, cousin of Errol Lindsey, one of Dahmer's victims, posted on his social media a rant about the lack of respect that these productions have:
I'm not telling anyone what to watch, I know that true crime media is huge, but if you're really curious about the victims, my family (the Isbells) is upset with this show. It's retraumatizing over and over, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?
