Film / My Friend Dahmer

A 2017 film adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name, directed by Marc Meyers and starring Ross Lynch, Anne Heche, Dallas Roberts, Alex Wolff, and Vincent Kartheiser.

Like the comic, the film is set in 1970s Ohio and follows aspiring cartoonist John "Derf" Backderf (Wolff), who befriends his troubled high school classmate, the future serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (Lynch).

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Tropes:

• Adaptational Attractiveness:
  • Well...sort of...with Lloyd Figg. In the comic he is a very ugly fat guy◊ with curly-hair, sideburns and geeky fashion sense. In the movie he is a slender, androgynous, scary kid◊ with long stringy wild hair who resembles a more unhinged Charles Manson wannabe.
  • More straight-forward with the dog Dahmer considered killing◊ but thankfully didn't◊^note Then again; Derf's drawing style makes every sentient, whenever human or critter, weird or ugly-looking.
  • Derf Backderf was in Real Life, a dorky-looking kid◊ with Nerd Glasses and not...well...Alex Wolff◊. The Graphic Novel has him similar to Real Life but glasses-free (He's the guy on the upper-left of the cover shown above. Only the earlier comic version was accurate). Derf probably went sans-glasses in the Graphic Novel due to looking almost◊ indistinguishable from Jeffrey Dahmer in the original comic.
  • Dahmer's prom date in the movie was played by a more conventionally◊ attractive woman◊ whereas in Real Life and the Graphic Novel, she was more frumpy◊ and plain◊^note They try to make up for this by having the actress portray her as an awkward Hollywood Homely with a jerky walk.
  • Despite the unflattering (but accurate) hairstyle and dorky glasses Jeff wore you still can’t hide that he’s played by the mega hot Ross Lynch.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • In the film, Neil goes through a Heel Realization and recognizes that their treatment of Jeff is exploitative, apologizing to Jeff as being inappropriate. He even tells one of the guys "He isn't a side show attraction".
  • This is less-apparent but hinted with Derf in the end, though he feebly tries to placate Jeff with "We were just having fun" and attempting to gift his weird "Jeff Drawings" to Jeff (who refuses). He also seems to waver between genuine concern and feigned guffaws during Jeff's "Command Performance" at the Mall.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Joyce in the graphic novel is a deeply troubled soul and is utterly self-absorbed, with Backderf stating that she effectively abandoned Jeff and guilt-tripped him into not revealing her whereabouts to her ex-husband. While film Joyce is still troubled, it’s a toned down version.
  • Neil is the super-nice one who shows genuine sympathy for Jeffrey and questions the "Fan Club's" treatment of him (even apologizing to Jeff at the prom). However, Backderf has expressed bemusement over this, recalling Neil in Real Life as actually being one of the biggest jerks concerning Dahmer (worse than Derf could ever be). Also, the whole "crank-calling Mr. Burlman" bit was Neil & Kent's idea.
    Unfortunately, Marc’s screenplay makes me even more of an asshole than in the book, and elevates me to the evil mastermind of the Burlman pranks. In reality, it was Neil behind virtually all of it. Neil, in the screenplay, is described as the “most empathetic” of the group and a reluctant participant in the gags. Both Mike and I shook our heads and laughed at that. It was Neil who, at Jeff’s urging, came to the Dahmer house when Burlman was due for a visit, and hid in the coat closet to hear Stan in action. As I write in the footnotes, adult Neil carries around a great deal of regret and shame over his teenage antics. The fourth primary member of the fan club, Kent, has been written out of the script altogether, a great relief to me since the real Kent, who I also still count as a close friend, is aghast at any link at all to the Dahmer story. Kent was also a primary force in the Burlman pranks. I really didn’t participate much in those, although I certainly parroted the cerebral palsy schtick. Like I said, not our finest hour. I’m sure this is going to be quite uncomfortable for me to watch on the screen.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Believe it or not, Jeff is even worse in the film adaptation as he is shown attempting to kill Backderf, something that Derf does not recollect or depict in the comic.
  • Backderf and the Dahmer Fan Club are portrayed as somewhat more exploitative of Jeff. Jeff even outright says that he does not like the cartoons Backderf has made of him ^note He initially enjoys the drawings, though...but once he figures out that Derf's bunch are just using him, he changes his tune. In the comic, Derf insists there was no malice on their part as they were social outcasts themselves and that they found Jeffrey to be a genuinely funny guy. Jeffrey's own feelings on the matter are never made clear in the story, but Derf notes that Jeffrey said in later interviews that he looked back on his high school years fondly.
  • Lloyd Figg in the comic is a Fat Bastard with serious anger and behavioral issues who's mostly laughed at. Lloyd Figg in the movie is a slim, wild-haired freak who's genuinely feared.
• Adapted Out: Derf's friend Kent is not in the movie. This is likely due to simplifying the film's narrative, and the fact that Kent in Real Life wanted to wash his hands of the whole "Dahmer" thing.
• Artistic License – History:
  • In the film, Derf's final meeting with Jeff is portrayed as very tense, with Jeff almost making an attempt to kill him. In the comic Derf notes he does not even recall the last time he met Dahmer. The encounter the scene is based on was with Mike (not Derf) and their conversation was amicable, if awkward, rather than tense and threatening.
  • Derf is in several scenes in the film where he was not present in the comic or real life, like the school trip to Washington DC (which he didn't partake in) or the prom (He spent the evening in a movie theatre since he didn't manage to get a prom date. Derf makes a self-deprecating joke in the comic that Jeffrey Dahmer managed to get a prom date but not him).
  • There's more to the "stalking the jogger" subplot in the movie. The jogger's a Family Practice doctor so Jeffrey sets up a physical exam in the Jogger's clinic...and basically tricking the man into touching Jeffrey's genitals via the Turn Your Head and Cough routine. The clinic scene is not in the comic.
  • There's a scene in the movie where Jeff's in the woods by his house with Lloyd Figg where Lloyd shows off a gun and tries playing Russian Roulette, which Jeff wisely refuses and is genuinely freaked out by. This isn't in the comic.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Jeff's brother David only appears in two panels in the comic and has no lines. Derf notes that he purposely excluded David from the story since he was a much younger kid beneath his notice back then and Derf never witnessed what part David played in Jeff's life. In the film his role is still minor but he appears in multiple scenes and even showcases a sympathetic side to Jeff with him having a bit of a Big Brother Instinct towards his little brother.
  • Lionel Dahmer doesn't appear much in person and is mostly a peripheral character in the comic, since Derf rarely interacted with him. In the film he is a major character.
  • The jogger becomes an actual supporting character with lines and everything rather than a literal "extra" Jeff obsesses over. He's a GP doctor named Dr. Matthews. Jeff in the movie even has an appointment with him.
• Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Not commented on in-movie or comics but some folks in Real Life have commented on teenage Dahmer's appearance...Compounded by seeing◊ Ross Lynch playing the guy◊^note Lynch on left. Dahmer on right. Scary.. He was a nice-looking youth in an awkwardly hunky yet nerdy sort of way.
• Mood Whiplash: Amusing scenes in the movie tend to be abruptly followed by something dark (and vice versa)...
  • This version of the trailer for the film has the biggest case of it. An upbeat guitar jam over what looks like another fun goofy teen movie about a Class Clown, only for it to show it's true colors at the forty second mark. Fish mutilation, family strife, dead animals, Lloyd Figg's Russian Roulette, scary music and malevolent darkness ensue.
  • Dahmer is "befriended" by Derf and his pals and a few scenes the newly-minted "Dahmer Fan Club" goofing off ensues...then Dahmer returns home to see his mother frantic and searching for pills and he hyperventilates at the horror of the situation...then his new "friends" come over and they do more silly teen boy dumbassery, like annoy a "Popular Girl" who had since graduated who was still living at home.
  • The fishing scene starts out as a nice, mundane, bit...then Dahmer decided to cut up the fish he caught like a horror movie villain, weirding out Derf.
  • The big Mall Scene antics seem silly in the first few seconds...but it becomes a rather sad, disturbing scene quickly...with Dahmer finally realizing he's being used.
• Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Death: In the film, the sky is gray and overcast when Jeff meets Steven Hicks^note historically the first man he murders, although we never see the deed.
• Pragmatic Adaptation:
  • Basically; the movie condenses over four years of Jeff and Derf's high school careers into their senior year.
  • Derf's Adolf Hitlarious skit for the talent show is not in the movie. The talent show is barely a subplot, just something Jeff considers in one scene.
  • Doctor Matthew's role is expanded and he gains a beard in The Movie (the comic depicts a clean-shaven man with glasses). In the comic and Real Life, he's basically an anonymous Living Prop.
  • The "Dahmer Fan Club" was actually bigger in real life (Though Derf, Neil, Mike and Kent were the central four. Kent isn't included in The Movie).
• Reality Is Unrealistic: The Movie and Graphic Novel actually downplay the Dahmer parent's fights...making them more like regular arguments. In Real Life; The fights would sometimes be so severe that they would, at one point, even pull knives on each other. The divorce lawyers and divorce court would describe their case as "The worst they've ever seen".
• Russian Roulette: Lloyd Figg tries goading Jeff into a game of Russian Roulette. Jeff would have none of it.
• Stalker with a Crush: Jeffrey Dahmer; Meet Jogging Doctor. Jeff even sets up an appointment for an exam so he could trick the doctor into touching his "area" via the Turn Your Head and Cough.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Jeff's friend, Oliver, from early in the film. The kid who was a Neil Sedaka fan who would get bullied by jocks for being Ambiguously Gay. We last see him during the humorous "Jeff sneaks into class photos where he doesn't belong" montage.

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