Netflix has skin in the true crime game, but five years after one documentary went viral, fans are turning against it for being morally reprehensible.
Every month, Netflix adds a slate of new true crime documentaries to its streaming service. As such, it’s become a true place for lovers of the morbid and morose to gather and unpack some of the most disturbing cases known to man.
One such documentary that made a splash in 2019 was Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer. Following the story of an international online manhunt initiated by internet sleuths, it explores the crimes and arrest of Luka Magnotta.
It’s a gruesome case, made even more shocking by the inclusion of footage of animal cruelty and murder. It became one of the platform’s most-watched documentaries of 2019, but now, fans are reevaluating their stance on the controversial subject.
On a Reddit thread discussing the most morally reprehensible documentaries, several users named Don’t F**k with Cats as a contender.
One wrote: “It’s made out to be some type of heroic tale where the narrators and main protagonists capture a (admittedly evil) kitten killer… but not before wrongly accusing and driving another guy to suicide previously.”
They’re referring to Edward Jordan, a man who the online sleuths initially accused of being the mysterious internet killer, who later died by suicide and had apparently been suffering from depression.
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“I saw that a while ago and was utterly disgusted by it,” said another comment. “I forgot they push someone to commit suicide and brush it off like ‘oops’ and continue doing the same thing to find the cat killer. Never watched anything like this since then, feeling all those Netflix docs must be disgusting like that one.”
Another pointed out: “I may be misremembering but they didn’t even help solve the case right? I remember watching and getting to where the cops figured out who it was and thinking ‘ok but the internet people didn’t have anything to do with it’.”
“The thing that really, really pissed me off about that series (aside from it being unnecessarily drawn out like so many docu-series these days) is the fact that at the end, it’s revealed the main villain did what he did to achieve notoriety,” said another user.
“At which point, the documentary points the blame back at the audience, basically saying ‘Well, he wanted notoriety, and you’re watching it now, giving him notoriety, so in a way, that makes you complicit!'”
For more on the worst Netflix has to offer, take a look at Baby Reindeer’s ending explained. You can also learn more about the Connor Stalions Netflix documentary, or find out the true story behind Netflix’s The Asunta Case.
