I see a lot of mixed reactions about the Menendez brothers maybe getting out. In my TikTok feed, there’s people who grew up seeing their trial and totally think they should stay in prison, like old school “do the crime, do the time” vibes. But then there are people, especially younger ones or folks who watched that Netflix series, who believe they were basically pushed to the edge by all the abuse at home. Some feel sorry for them, thinking their dad was just that cruel and it’s not fair they never got a real chance to defend themselves in court because the media was so wild about the story.

I talked about this with some friends and we all agreed it’s kind of a weird situation. They did something truly awful, but if everything about the abuse is true, it’s complicated. Even their family forgave them, which really surprised me. I think in the end, a lot of people just want to see if they’ve really changed after 35 years and if they can be safe out there.