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Rating: 4 out of 5
There have been many serial killers in the world and throughout history. One can say Jack the Ripper was the most famous serial killer. Then you have others whose characters appeared in American Horror Story: Hotel, such as John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, the Zodiac Killer, and Richard Ramirez, to name a few. A show you can watch is Mind Hunter on HBO. It’s really good and tries to figure out what a serial killer is thinking.
What about female serial killers? It is considered that female serial killers are rare compared to their male counterparts. Yet, that doesn’t mean they are not as violent. Take Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed, for example. Báthory and four of her servants were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of girls and women between 1590 and 1610. You want to talk about going all out with killing people; homegirl was considered a vampire with her stuff. Read up on it. In the United States, one of those famous female serial killers was Aileen Carol Wuornos. While having the profession of a street prostitute in Florida, she killed and robbed seven of her male clients. Wuornos’ defense claimed that her clients were trying to rape her or did and that everything she did was in self-defense. In the end, Wuornos was sentenced to death by lethal injection on October 9, 2002. Monster is a biographical film written and directed by Patty Jenkins about the life, crime spree, and death of Aileen Wuornos.
First, I want to start this off by saying DAMN! Charlize Theron as Aileen “Lee” Wuornos was beyond phenomenal. There are few times when someone takes a role on and makes it their own. One where they truly embody the character that they are showing to the world. Usually, the most outstanding performances come out when someone does a biographic on the person. You really see the person take over their look and mannerisms. Theron went to a new level with this role. DJ play ASAP Ferge- New Level. That is where Theron went because damn was she intense and strange as Wuornos. When I first looked, I was for sure that wasn’t the beautiful and lovely Charlize Theron. Theron showed how damaged, deranged, but sympathetic attempt to be good but ultimately fail in the end. I don’t know what Theron did to research for this role, but it was chilling. Chilling in a way that she displayed Wuornos’ mannerisms to pure perfection. Did you see how she looked at some people with those derange eyes? It was like she was looking for something and couldn’t put her finger on it. Yet, she was an intimidating figure when she was with her homegirl. She looked like a biker or construction worker who drank, spoke her mind, and had no shame trying to get a piece of ass in front of everyone. Indeed an intense figure, and I stand and give you a standing ovation Ms. Theron for this role.
As far as the plot goes, this was mostly a view into the world of the serial killer, Aileen, as she narrates how her life became the way it was. The film tries to make you have a little sympathy for Wuornos as she talks about her childhood and growing up. How she fell in love with a man only to be thrown away. That she turned to prostitution to make it but had enough and was on the verge of committing suicide. When she meets Shelby, she is hostile but seems to show a soft side as she finds a companion.
The turning point of this whole film and Aileen’s life was when she got raped by one of the dudes who hired her for sex. Aileen kills the man in self-defense and decides to quit prostitution. Yet, when she can’t land a job and during one interview just loses it, she goes back to hooking. This is a pivotal moment because homegirl was brutally raped, and it was justified what she did as she was trying to save herself, but the path she chose after that is not correct. It made you feel a little bad because you don’t know what the police would’ve done or even cared, and she really needed help and someone to talk to.
This is where the film diverges and really shows how messed up Aileen became. When the funds run out, and there is no way to provide for Selby and herself, homegirl goes back to hooking. Rather than banging the dudes, she robs and kills them. She convinces herself that each one was trying to rape her. She takes their car and belongings. When you steal a bright red car, you should turn it in for more cash rather than driving around in it. This all leads to her arrest and final trial.
Let’s take a second to talk about Christina Ricci as Selby Wall. Ricci was great in this role as Selby Wall. She was cute as a button, but my god, was she naive when it came to knowing what Aileen was doing. Ricci played her so well as someone who seemed innocent and someone looking for a companion and a protector. She got everything she thought she needed in Aileen, even if the relationship was very toxic and almost one-sided. Selby is nearly a ride-or-die girl until she sees the horror that Aileen did. Homegirl put up those deuces and was out.
Monster might not be the best film, but damnit, Charlize Theron transformed herself into a memorable role of a lifetime. Theron was outstanding. Even though the film shows a very damaged woman after what she went through, there is still no excuse for what she did, and the outcome fits the crime. Was she truly a monster or a person of her own circumstances? Naw, she was a straight-up monster.
