Menendez Brothers

[Jalapeñomel]

Have we talked about all the attention this case has these days? Even my HS students are talking about it.

[starburst604]

I’m so amused by all the kids loving Milli Vanilli as a result of the series!

[Jalapeñomel]

I just saw on SM that they’re hoping to be resentenced and then out on parole.

[gummybear]

Older DD is OBSESSED!! She’s been so I to the shows and the case and yes, the music. She blasts Don’t Dream It’s Over while she showers and is really into Milli Vanilli. It’s actually been a bonding thing for us. She loves hearing about the late 80s and 90s, what I remember, how it was etc. She couldn’t believe the MV lip sync scandal!

ETA and yes I’m glad they are getting resentenced. The whole thing is so sad. I dont remember anything about them being abused, just lots of jokes about them. We were so terrible about SA back then.

[sporklemotion]

I just watched the documentary on them and started the fictional show.
I remember hearing about abuse at the time, but it definitely wasn’t taken seriously and they were not treated sympathetically.
I am not sure how I feel about all of it still.

[cville]

Oct 25, 2024 18:00:15 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

I’m so amused by all the kids loving Milli Vanilli as a result of the series!

Milli Vanilli was my husband's first concert. I have made fun of him for years about this. But then I heard their songs watching a Menendez documentary and was like "I can see it."

[starburst604]

Oct 25, 2024 19:51:55 GMT -5 cville said:

Oct 25, 2024 18:00:15 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

I’m so amused by all the kids loving Milli Vanilli as a result of the series!

Milli Vanilli was my husband's first concert. I have made fun of him for years about this. But then I heard their songs watching a Menendez documentary and was like "I can see it."

Girl I’m Gonna Miss You has been in my ITunes library since I had an IPod and I’m not ashamed! I LOVED MV. I’m honestly glad for the remaining guy, they were really taken advantage of and lived in shame for a long time.

ETA: on my Napa trip we were playing MV videos on the screen of the party bus and the dance moves and “stories” in the videos had us rolling.

[gummybear]

Girl I’m Gonna Miss You is a banger. Poor Milli Vanilli. They really got a raw deal. They were just ahead of their time. No one would blink now.

[fernweh]

Oct 25, 2024 19:58:35 GMT -5 gummybear said:

Girl I’m Gonna Miss You is a banger. Poor Milli Vanilli. They really got a raw deal. They were just ahead of their time. No one would blink now.

I remember that there was a scandal but was pretty young and don’t remember details. Were they lip syncing to their own singing while they were performing or were they not the people who sang the songs at all? I thought it was someone completely different who actually sang the songs but I was only 6-ish when this happened so I’m probably misremembering.

[gummybear]

Oct 25, 2024 20:11:16 GMT -5 fernweh said:

Oct 25, 2024 19:58:35 GMT -5 gummybear said:

Girl I’m Gonna Miss You is a banger. Poor Milli Vanilli. They really got a raw deal. They were just ahead of their time. No one would blink now.

I remember that there was a scandal but was pretty young and don’t remember details. Were they lip syncing to their own singing while they were performing or were they not the people who sang the songs at all? I thought it was someone completely different who actually sang the songs but I was only 6-ish when this happened so I’m probably misremembering.

Yes someone else was singing. They were manufactured and IMO taken advantage of by their manager/creator. I can remember them being interviewed and they could barely speak English (they were German, maybe?) and so nervous. They COULD sing and wanted to but they weren’t allowed.

[fluffycookie]

Oct 25, 2024 18:00:15 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

I’m so amused by all the kids loving Milli Vanilli as a result of the series!

My 16 year old DS mentioned this to me tonight and I was floored. We have certainly never discussed the Menedez brothers let alone Milli Vanilli in front of him 🤣

[jennistarr1]

Omg...

A younger coworker said to me "everyone in your generation thinks that they should stay in jail, does your generation not know about the abuse"

[livinitup]

jennistarr1 I agree, OMG. What did you say?

[mrsukyankee]

I can say from personal experience that at least one of them did more bad things than murder a parent so I'm fine with at least the one I went to uni with staying there for a long time. And no, I'm not going to go into detail.

[basilosaurus]

Oct 25, 2024 17:55:46 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Have we talked about all the attention this case has these days? Even my HS students are talking about it.

I think the attention is due to the netflix show and magnified since a judge is soon to rule if they'll get another trial.

When L&O true crime did a season on them there wasn't much buzz even though it's a similar depiction with big name actors.

[gummybear]

Oct 26, 2024 2:39:06 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

I can say from personal experience that at least one of them did more bad things than murder a parent so I'm fine with at least the one I went to uni with staying there for a long time. And no, I'm not going to go into detail.

This is juicy! I respect your view and your assertion you won’t expand on it. One question - does their alleged abuse make you more sympathetic?

[orval]

I watched this trial when it was happening back in the day. I am on the east coast and I would come home from work and watch it. I do remember feeling like it should have been a lesser charge for conviction or not guilty. This was almost 35 years ago, but I felt like I was shocked when the verdict came out. I can't remember all of the details as to why I felt this way.

[Jalapeñomel]

Oct 26, 2024 3:56:22 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Oct 25, 2024 17:55:46 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Have we talked about all the attention this case has these days? Even my HS students are talking about it.

I think the attention is due to the netflix show and magnified since a judge is soon to rule if they'll get another trial.

When L&O true crime did a season on them there wasn't much buzz even though it's a similar depiction with big name actors.

This is something different. I don't know why they're so invested in this one show over others.

[nicolewi]

I didn’t remember much, so I Googled and per Wikipedia they had a lot of issues. Lots of bad stuff going on. So I think it is hard to know the whole truth.

[joy]

Oct 26, 2024 2:39:06 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

I can say from personal experience that at least one of them did more bad things than murder a parent so I'm fine with at least the one I went to uni with staying there for a long time. And no, I'm not going to go into detail.

Abuse like they describe can warp personalities that lead to terrible behaviors that don’t rise to killing your parents. I am not surprised by your story. This is a concern that rolls around my head when the topic of their release comes up.

I am not privy to their mental health status past or current nor do I have a clue what therapy they have received. Perhaps this concern is unfounded or the system addressed it somehow. Honestly, who knows.

[devonpow]

I’m glad they are being resentenced mostly because I’m pretty against the concept of life in prison without parole in general. I don’t think that (or the death penalty) should be a sentence at all. PI also have the pipe dream of our prison system actually focusing on rehabilitation instead of being purely punitive.

[fernweh]

Oct 26, 2024 9:56:28 GMT -5 devonpow said:

I’m glad they are being resentenced mostly because I’m pretty against the concept of life in prison without parole in general. I don’t think that (or the death penalty) should be a sentence at all. PI also have the pipe dream of our prison system actually focusing on rehabilitation instead of being purely punitive.

I don’t know how I feel about this. Overall I do think the goal should be rehabilitation and not punishment, and I do think a lot of sentences are out of line. However, I’m not convinced life without parole should be eliminated. Okay, we can make the case that the Menendez brothers only killed their parents because of the abuse and with some rehabilitation they wouldn’t be a danger to society as a whole. But then you have serial killers - say Jeffrey Dahmer for example who kill people who have done absolutely no harm to them. What kind of treatment could you possibly give someone like that to give confidence that they are no longer a harm to society?

[devonpow]

Oct 26, 2024 10:09:25 GMT -5 fernweh said:

Oct 26, 2024 9:56:28 GMT -5 devonpow said:

I’m glad they are being resentenced mostly because I’m pretty against the concept of life in prison without parole in general. I don’t think that (or the death penalty) should be a sentence at all. PI also have the pipe dream of our prison system actually focusing on rehabilitation instead of being purely punitive.

I don’t know how I feel about this. Overall I do think the goal should be rehabilitation and not punishment, and I do think a lot of sentences are out of line. However, I’m not convinced life without parole should be eliminated. Okay, we can make the case that the Menendez brothers only killed their parents because of the abuse and with some rehabilitation they wouldn’t be a danger to society as a whole. But then you have serial killers - say Jeffrey Dahmer for example who kill people who have done absolutely no harm to them. What kind of treatment could you possibly give someone like that to give confidence that they are no longer a harm to society?

but that’s what a parole board is for - to look at someone and say “yeah…this person is still a danger to society. They need to stay in prison”. Having no possibility of parole eliminates the possibility of rehabilitation or re examination of things (like how now we acknowledge men can be raped, which was outright dismissed in the 90s). I just think it’s always better to err on the side of not imprisoning (or executing!) innocent or rehabilitated people. Our system is so punitive and extreme that right now it bends way to the other side.

[maudefindlay]

I'm on board with eliminating the death penalty, but I do think there are crimes that warrant life with no parole. Victims and families should not have to be revictimized everytime a criminal comes up for parole in certain cases. I won't get into details, but something that happened local to me 25 years ago was so heinous 2 EMTs quit because they were so traumatized. The convicted guy comes up in the news every few years and it's infuriating for me to read about all his rights, I cannot imagine for the family. (No question he did the crime. A sister witnessed and he was still there when police arrived).

[maudefindlay]

As for the Menendez brothers I think resentencing is the right move. They are being punished for killing their parents and not other crimes/misdeeds. I do wonder if their wives are happy or freaking out. Likewise wonder if the brothers want divorces.

[mrsukyankee]

Oct 26, 2024 6:45:30 GMT -5 gummybear said:

Oct 26, 2024 2:39:06 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

I can say from personal experience that at least one of them did more bad things than murder a parent so I'm fine with at least the one I went to uni with staying there for a long time. And no, I'm not going to go into detail.

This is juicy! I respect your view and your assertion you won’t expand on it. One question - does their alleged abuse make you more sympathetic?

Do I wish they hadn't been abused? Yes. Can I understand why they may have acted the way they did to their parents? yes, I can see how abuse might drive someone want to get back at their abuser. Does it excuse other actions? F no. Are my personal feelings different from what might and possibly should happen in the ruling? Most likely.

[starburst604]

Oct 26, 2024 10:48:55 GMT -5 maudefindlay said:

I'm on board with eliminating the death penalty, but I do think there are crimes that warrant life with no parole. Victims and families should not have to be revictimized everytime a criminal comes up for parole in certain cases. I won't get into details, but something that happened local to me 25 years ago was so heinous 2 EMTs quit because they were so traumatized. The convicted guy comes up in the news every few years and it's infuriating for me to read about all his rights, I cannot imagine for the family. (No question he did the crime. A sister witnessed and he was still there when police arrived).

There was a case that shook me similarly around here in 1998 that I think about all the time. Of the 2 men convicted, one was killed in jail and the other has parole hearings every 5 years. He did admit to his guilt recently so there is no question of that. These guys would have gone on to be like Dahmer but got caught the first time, and the idea of the remaining one getting out makes me physically ill. He’s a predator who would be nothing but a danger to society. I’ve also heard of crimes where a death didn’t occur but were so savage that only a monster could be capable of that. I think these are the minority, but there are people who cannot be rehabilitated and will never be safe to release.

The Menendez Brothers IMO are unlikely to commit murder again and given the work they’ve put in behind bars, I think it’s feasible they could walk free soon.

[dirtyred]

Oct 25, 2024 19:51:55 GMT -5 cville said:

Oct 25, 2024 18:00:15 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

I’m so amused by all the kids loving Milli Vanilli as a result of the series!

Milli Vanilli was my husband's first concert. I have made fun of him for years about this. But then I heard their songs watching a Menendez documentary and was like "I can see it."

I have not been ashamed to voice my love of Milli V even while the scandal was breaking. It's great music.

[marie]

What even happens to people like them if they get out? They have no social security I would assume and only have a few more years of working eligibility. I am sure they would love to be released, but what would be the outcome? I guess they are so “famous” that they could maybe make money somehow

[mrsukyankee]

Oct 27, 2024 13:35:10 GMT -5 marie said:

What even happens to people like them if they get out? They have no social security I would assume and only have a few more years of working eligibility. I am sure they would love to be released, but what would be the outcome? I guess they are so “famous” that they could maybe make money somehow

I would assume there is money somewhere that they will have access to. They came from a wealthy family.