00:00Hi, I'm Levi with Pride and Gaiety. Cooper, first questions for you. Eric's trauma from
00:05his father's abuse is really central to understanding why the brothers acted as they
00:09did. From what you've learned, do you think that the level of abuse could ever truly justify
00:17their actions? And how does this change the way we view trauma and the aftermath of it?
00:23Yeah, I think that, no, it does not justify them murdering their parents. I don't think that
00:28anything justifies killing someone. I do think, though, that things have changed in the past 35
00:34years and that we're more open to understanding victims of abuse and hearing them and believing
00:40them. And so I think we're having this story so that people understand that instead of choosing
00:47violence, they can and should go to somebody for help and talk about their experiences and what's
00:54happening to them so that we can avoid violence and we can get people the help that they need.
00:58And yeah. Eric, listen to me. Do not act like a goddamn pussy. It's all right. It's all right.
01:08I love you. I love you. I love you too. It's up to us now, right? And they would be proud of us.
01:19They would be proud of us. What did you say yesterday? What did you say to me?
01:21Tell me. That I think that they would be proud of us. Eric, I know that they would be proud of us.
01:37And Nicholas, the question I have for you is, as the older brother, kind of taking on this
01:43protective role over Eric, how do you believe that their bond shaped their decisions leading
01:49up to the murders? And does this story challenge the idea of victimhood versus culpability?
01:59It's a really interesting question. I think Lyle certainly felt protective of his younger brother.
02:08And they were also the only people in the entire world who knew what the other person had been
02:15through. Both of them were sexually abused by their father. It's really dark stuff. And then I
02:26think that Lyle felt a very strong urge to protect his younger brother. And I think that it's difficult
02:38to understand their relationship without understanding the profound amount of love
02:44and care that likely existed between the two of them. And yeah.
02:54I'm going to open this question up to both of you and start with you, Cooper.
02:57Obviously, the show's had now a lot of media attention because the actual Menendez brothers
03:02have spoken out about it. How do you feel that the homoeroticism that is portrayed,
03:08and obviously, Ryan Murphy, this is kind of his thing, right? How do you feel those elements
03:17helped the story and helped audiences really experience what the two brothers went through?
03:24I don't know if it has much to do with what they went through. And I'm not sure if you're
03:30referencing Eric's stuff or the incestuous stuff. But I can speak on the incestuous stuff and just
03:38say that at the time, there were a lot of different theories about the brothers from a lot of
03:44different people and a lot of different perspectives. And this theory happened to be Dominic
03:48Dunn's perspective. And he was a character in the show. And I think it's getting a lot of backlash
03:56because people are taking it out of context when if they really watch the scene, there's a moment
04:02where after this conversation happens, where he shares this theory, he's sitting with all of his
04:06friends. And then it cuts to a shot from behind him. All the friends are gone. It's dark. The
04:10candles are lit, which I think, for me, reads as his theory is whack. So I think it's really
04:16trying to tell the audience actually that that theory is bonkers. And in terms of Eric's stuff,
04:23for example, the shower scene or his relationship with the boy that he mentions in episode five,
04:29I think those are examples of traumatic reenactment, which is something that
04:33happens to trauma victims. They try and go and reenact the things that they've been through to
04:38try and heal and cope with it. And so I think those things are actually there to further support
04:43the theory that the sexual abuse that happened was true and it did happen. And so I think that
04:48sort of further should actually help tell the story and help support the brothers and sympathizing
04:53with them. You have anything to add? No, I think that that was well put.
04:59Thank you very, very much. I'm running out of time, but I really appreciate you both.
05:02And I thought the show was great. Thank you so much. Thank you.
