This article contains discussions about childhood physical, mental and sexual abuse.
Spoilers for Monsters Season 2 Ahead!
Netflix Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story Examines multiple factors that contributed to Jose and Kitty’s deaths, but the big catalyst is Lyle Menendez’s actual hair loss, which has hidden implications for his childhood. The true story of Lila and Erik Menendez murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty, is tragic, no matter the angle. For viewers who believe the brothers, they experienced severe physical, mental and sexual abuse at the hands of both parents – though Monsters Season 2 barely broaches the allegations against Kitty. Those who do not believe the brothers see the situation as an incomprehensible murder.
From the beginning to the end of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez StoryThe Netflix show explores why the Menendez brothers might have committed murder, taking a non-committal stance that is as exploitative as it is indecisive. Like the first season, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story was torn apart by the audience and the people involved. Eric Menendez struck out Monsters season 2 for being “Naive and inaccurate“, which is a fair criticism. However, The Netflix series retains some details from the true story, such as Lyle Menendez’s hair loss – An important detail in the actual events and the show.
Lyle Menendez started losing his hair at 16 in real life
Lyle wore a thup in real life
While he was never completely bald, Lyle Menendez started losing his hair as a teenager before he started at Princeton University. His hair was thinning to the point that his father decided he needed a hair piece. To get fit for him, Lyle needs to shave the crown of his head, which is probably why he’s partially bald when Kitty Menendez yanks off the toupee in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Among people who believe the story of the Menendez brothers, most think that Lyle lost his hair due to the stress of long-term abuse. While the alleged sexual abuse ended when he was younger, Lyle continued to experience verbal and physical abuse that may have triggered hair loss. Science supports this theory about Lily’s hair loss. According to Alopecia UKMultiple studies have validated the link between stress and alopecia areata (a type of hair loss). The organization says:
“For some people, there is a very clear connection between stress and AA. People with AA can sometimes point to a severe shock or a very stressful event that occurred in the weeks before AA developed. Others report that they experienced chronic stress throughout A long time before their AA developed.
Based on this statement, it is certainly possible that the hair loss did not become apparent in Lyle until 16, despite the abuse starting a decade earlier. In addition, a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (via PubMed) found that People with alopecia areata experience more childhood or life trauma than those without alopecia areata. Although confounding factors may be involved in these results, these findings further support the possibility that trauma caused Lyle’s hair loss in both Monsters Season 2 and Real Life.
Did the topey scene from Monsters really happen to Lyle Menendez?
Lyle and Erik Menendez confirmed that Kitty snatched his toupee from his head
In the first episode of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik MenendezA stressful scene occurs where Lyle is verbally degraded at the dinner table when his mother yanks his toupee off his head. This creates deep shame in the older Menendez brother, especially since Eric did not know that his brother wore a wig.
Eric and Lyle feared for their lives and saw no other way out, and planned to kill their parents and followed through on it just five days later.
While this moment in the show seems too cruel to be real, It is based on an actual incident that both Lyle and Erik Menendez described at separate times. Lyle Menendez testified about that moment on the stand during his first trial. According to the Los Angeles TimesThe jury for Lille Mendez (the two brothers had separate juries in the first trial) actually asked to hear this section of the trial again on the 10th day of deliberations, indicating that it may have been an important piece of evidence.
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Erik described the incident in the 2017 documentary The Menendez Murders: Eric Tells Allstating the following:
“Mom was screaming and they were in an argument … and Mom, in a rage, said, you know, ‘You don’t need your effing hairstyle.'” And [she] got up, and she tore his hair from his head. And I remember being just amazed at what happened.
Whether it was her goal or not, Kitty’s actions in both Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez StoryThis version of the story and the descriptions provided by the brothers caused a sense of humiliation and shame in Lyle that had dire consequences.
How Lyle’s shaming led to the Menendez brothers killing their parents
Erik felt comfortable confiding in Lyle after the incident
Although not the primary factor, the toupee incident contributed to Lila and Eric killing their parents. When he talked about the aftermath of the incident in the documentary, Eric made it clear how integral the moment was to them killing their parents. Eric said of the moment, “I just told him, you know, he shouldn’t worry about it – that he is my brother, that I love him.“After comforting Lyle and telling him that he was not judged, Eric felt safe telling his brother about the severe sexual abuse he faced at the hands of his father From about six years old to the present day at that time.
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In turn, Lyle opened up to Erik about his own molestation by the same alleged perpetrator. In the documentary, Erik said, “This conversation changed our lives.Fearing for their lives and seeing no other way out, Eric and Lyle planned to kill their parents and followed it just five days later, as accurately shown in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Sources: Alopecia UK, PubMedAnd Los Angeles Times