By TRAVIS LOLLER

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In 1989, Americans Shotgun murder of Jose and Kitty Menendez By his own children at their mansion in Beverly Hills. Lyle and Erik Menendez were sentenced to life in prison and lost all subsequent appeals. But today, more than three decades later, they have an unexpected chance to get out.

Not because of how the legal system works. Because of entertainment.

Following two recent documentaries and scripted dramas about the pair, the Los Angeles case has brought renewed attention to the 35-year-old case. The district attorney recommended They get angry.

Popularity and proliferation of true crime entertainment such as Netflix’s docudrama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” affecting real life changes for their subjects and in society more broadly. At their best, true crime podcasts, streaming series, and social media content can help expose injustices and wrongdoings.

However, since many of these products prioritize entertainment and profit, they can also lead to serious negative consequences.

It could help the Menendez brothers

FILE – Erik Menendez listens as defense attorney Leslie Abramson holds a photo of him as a young boy during a deposition on Sept. 29, 1993, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

FILE – Kitty Menendez’s sister, Joan Andersen VanderMolen (center), is greeted by Defense Attorney Mark Geragos before a news conference held by Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, as Kitty Menendez’s niece, Diane Hernandez (left), looks on. Hall of Justice, October 24, 2024, Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)

FILE – Preliminary hearing for Lyle (left) and Erik Menendez in Beverly Hills, Calif., postponed as their attorneys fight to keep potentially incriminating evidence out of the case, April 12, 1991. (APP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)

FILE – Lyle Menendez, second from left, and his brother Erik, second from right, with attorneys Gerald Chaleff, left, and Robert Shapiro, as the brothers delay presenting their arguments through their attorneys in Beverly Hills Municipal Court, March 13, 1990. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

FILE – Maria Menendez, the grandmother of two Beverly Hills brothers accused of killing their millionaire parents, faces news cameras outside the Van Nuys courthouse in Los Angeles, said Jill Lansing, one of the defense attorneys on the case, June 14, 1993. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill., File)

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FILE – Erik Menendez listens as defense attorney Leslie Abramson holds a photo of him as a young boy during a deposition on Sept. 29, 1993, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

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Using true crime stories to sell a product has a long history in America, from tabloid “penny press” newspapers in the mid-1800s to television movies like 1984’s “The Burning Bed.” These days there are podcasts, binge-watchable Netflix series, and even true crime TikToks. Fascination with this genre may be considered morbid by some, but this can be partially explained by the human desire to make sense of the world through stories.

In the case of the Menendez brothers, LyleErik, then 21, and Erik, 18, said they feared their parents were about to kill themselves to prevent their father’s long-term sexual abuse of Erik from being revealed. But at their trials, many of the sexual abuse allegations were not allowed to be presented to the jury, and prosecutors argued that they committed murder just to get their parents’ money.

This is the story that many who have watched the saga from afar for years have accepted and talked about.

Adam Banner, a criminal defense lawyer who writes a column on popular culture and the law, says the new series touches on the brothers’ childhood to help the public better understand the context of the crime and therefore see the world as a less frightening place. ABA Journal of the American Bar Association.

“Not only does it make us feel better,” says Banner, “it also makes us think objectively, ‘Well, now I can take this case and put it in another situation where I don’t have another explanation, and all I can say is, ‘This kid is bad.’ there must be someone.’”

The rise of the antihero is in effect

FILE – Adnan Syed’s mother, Shamim Syed (left), celebrates with others outside the Cummings Courthouse in Baltimore after a judge ordered the release of her son Adnan Syed, overturning his conviction for a 1999 murder, September 19, 2022 hit on the podcast “Serial.” (AP Photo/Brian Witte, File)

FILE – Adnan Syed (center), the man whose legal saga gave birth to the popular podcast “Serial,” exits the Cummings Courthouse after a Baltimore judge overturned his conviction in the 1999 murder of high school student Hae Min Lee on Sept. 19, 2022. Baltimore. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun, via AP, File)

FILE – State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby discusses releasing Adnan Syed after his conviction is overturned; Syed’s mother, Shamim Syed (right), looks on as another son stands behind Mosby on Sept. 19, 2022, in Baltimore. (Baltimore Sun via Amy Davis/AP, File)

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FILE – Adnan Syed’s mother, Shamim Syed (left), celebrates with others outside the Cummings Courthouse in Baltimore after a judge ordered the release of her son Adnan Syed, overturning his conviction for a 1999 murder, September 19, 2022 hit on the podcast “Serial.” (AP Photo/Brian Witte, File)

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