“Good American Family” is the newest popular TV crime show. The new Hulu original centers around the heartbreaking case of Natalia Grace, who is a Ukrainian-born American woman with dwarfism. At the age of seven, she was adopted by the Barnett family who abandoned her just a year later, falsely calling her a “woman” instead of the seven-year-old girl she was. There was an investigation later looking into the abandonment, neglect, and abuse that Natalia was put through, which is what the show revolves around.
Creator and show runner Katie Robbins weaves both Barnett’s perspective and Natalia’s in a creatively interesting way that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats and constantly poses different angles that make you question everything. For those who don’t know the public story, the show treats the case like the strange mystery it is until it dwindles down to the hard truth.
Although the show is super entertaining, does that justify putting the spotlight on someone’s trauma? For the past few years, there has been a resurgence of popular true crime and murder stories brought to life on the screen. Between the interest of infamous serial killer Ted Bundy, NFL player turned to accused murderer OJ Simpson, and more, this generation’s ongoing fascination with true crime retellings has proven to be a money grab for film and documentary directors, in particular, “American Horror Story” creator Ryan Murphy.
Murphy famously created and directed his series “Monster,” revolving around serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and the complex case of the Menendez brothers. Murphy had been put under fire for this evoking series because of its romanticized portrayal of the characters, unoriginal perspectives, and immoral money-greediness in the retelling of these crimes.
Although the director reached out to the victims’ families while putting together the show’s first season, “Dahmer,” Rita Isbell, the sister of Errol Lindsey, one of Dahmer’s victims, revealed to Insider that watching the series “felt like reliving it all over again,” and stating that, “they’re just making money off of this tragedy.”
“Monster” was also met with this same criticism with Erik Menendez releasing a statement through his wife who posted on X saying that, “Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander.” The statement criticized Netflix in addition to Murphy for distributing his material, “It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward.”
With the compilation of the criticism coming directly from the victims and their loved ones, it makes it hard to justify these true crime cases being retold through an artistic lens. These retellings should be dedicated towards the people it affected and the lives that were destroyed, otherwise, who is it for? In making these true crime films and series, the audience’s entertainment consumption shouldn’t be at the expense of the victims.
Natalia Grace recently did a cover story on People in light of her documentary series, “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” (Hulu, 2023), stating that she “doesn’t like being known as the girl who was re-aged and lived in her own apartment at seven years old.” She recounts in the interview what she has been through, but doesn’t let that define who she is as a person.
The documentary series consists of three seasons, and follows Natalia Grace through her complete journey from the past, present, and what’s to come in the future, and most importantly, comes directly from Natalia Grace. “Good American Family,” although thoughtful, interesting, and captivating, is a fantasized snapshot of the perspectives within the case.
Natalia Grace was not a part of the making of “Good American Family,” and has yet to comment on the show.
