Two significant things happen whenever a new season of Ryan Murphy‘s Monster series premieres. Its latest subject captivates viewers, pushing the show to the top of streaming charts, and the story is criticized for the liberties taken in dramatizing it. Monster Season 3 takes a lot of liberties with the main subject, Ed Gein, and other characters in the Charlie Hunnam-led series. The show has been called out for inventing stories or drawing unsupported connections. One of the stories explored is the connection between Gein and Alfred Hitchcock‘s Psycho, whose main character is inspired by Gein. The show touches on the life of Anthony Perkins, including his sexuality. The series blurs fact and fiction, making it difficult for viewers to distinguish between truth and invention.
However, Perkins’ son, director Osgood Perkins, couldn’t tell you what the writers made up because he hadn’t watched the show and “wouldn’t watch it with a 10-foot pole,” according to an interview he gave to TMZ. He criticized streaming platforms for sensationalizing true crime, trying to pass it off as “glamorous and meaningful content.” Perkins said he’s worried that contemporary culture is being “reshaped in real time by Overlords,” adding that it’s “increasingly devoid of context and that the Netflix-ization of real pain is playing for the wrong team.”
Anthony Perkins came to prominence by portraying the main character in the 1960 film. Events in Monster Season 3 explore his complicated relationship with acting and his own sexuality. The show explores his discomfort with being typecast in the monster horror genre while struggling to come to terms with his sexual orientation. Monster Season 3 claims that he would vomit after a sexual encounter with a man and used to cross-dress. He died in 1992 due to complications from AIDS. Joey Pollari plays the fictional version in the Netflix series. Osgood urged viewers to protect history and avoid reducing it to what’s convenient; instead, he encouraged “peering behind the veil into the unknowable and loving each other through expansive, new art.”
Who Is Osgood Perkins?
The Longlegs director was born in 1972 to Anthony Perkins and Berry Berenson. He began his career as a child actor, appearing in films such as Psycho II, Six Degrees of Separation, and Wolf. He wrote the 2010 film Removal and made his directorial debut in The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015). Perkins has directed movies like Gretel & Hansel (2020) and The Monkey and Keeper, both released in 2025. His next film, The Young People, continues his horror niche and will be released in 2026. It stars Lola Tung (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Nico Parker (How to Train Your Dragon).
Watch all seasons of Monster on Netflix, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
