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Monster February 1, 2004 |
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On October 9th, 2002, Aileen Carol Wuornos was executed for the murder of seven men in the state of Florida; she was only the tenth woman to be granted our government’s steepest penalty since it was reinstated in 1976. It was well documented that Wuornos, a time worn street prostitute from the age of thirteen, would pick up her John’s on a dark highway, have them drive to a remote location, and mercilessly shoot them to death for their cars and the contents of their wallets, for which she and her lesbian lover would survive on for weeks, before a new victim was warranted. Now, fifteen months after her execution, the story of Aileen Wuornos is back in the national spotlight, in two movies, the Nick Broomfield (whose film documents usually contain a marked amount of riffraff) documentary “Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer”, and the more visible drama “Monster”, with a much touted, Oscar-nominated performance by Charlize Theron in a film both realistic and disturbingly non apathetic to the killer. In narration Wuornos says, “I always wanted to be in the movies,” and in a way, now she is. “Monster” tells the story of Wuornos as framed like a love tale, beginning in the late ‘80’s when she meets Selby Wall (Christina Ricci) at a gay bar that she happened upon in the middle of a rainstorm. Wuornos in these early scenes is not yet a lesbian, but she is fed up with men and prostitution (a profession whose nightly survivors are described by Dennis Lehane in ‘Mystic River’ as “weary but convivial…emitting an aura of intense relief”) and tells God that if he has a curveball left for her, to throw it now, or she is likely to put an end to her sad life. Selby, like Aileen, is lost in the world; the product of a strict Southern Catholic family, she has been shipped away to live with relatives to hopefully outgrow the “sickness” inside of her, namely, to suppress natural feelings, and in a different form of self prostitution, give up and marry a nice man and live a “normal” family life, for the sake of the greater family good. On one fateful rainy night, Selby and Aileen meet, by pure coincidence, and the course of their lives changes forever, as Aileen bats God’s curveball and Selby finds an outlet from her family, a chance to be rebellious and free, like Frost poeticized, “And that has made all the difference.” The plot is basic, structured and straightforward and is, after all, a character study inspired by a true story. The real Wuornos did have a lover during her killing spree, Tyria Moore, and it was believed she condoned the soon-to-come highway murders, out of need, and in the film, the fictionalized Moore, Selby Wall is at first repulsed to learn of the string of murders, but, in true form, realizes that the money may lead to a good life in the Florida Keys, away from Port Orange and the society that rejects them both. “All you need is love, and to believe in yourself,” says Wuornos in narration like a cynical John Lennon, “It’s a good idea, it just doesn’t necessarily work out that way.” And how, for no sooner than Aileen finds herself a four-time murderer does hers and Selby’s sketch wind up on TV. In the end, thanks to some backstabbing, neck-saving Hail Mary plea-bargains by the hurt and confused younger Selby, the inevitable comes, and it’s only a 12-year wait to the electric chair, and infamy. The movie is honest in its picture of the Selby/Aileen relationship, how it seemed right and how it nurtured the wounds left by a brutalized and often corrupt system. Before it gets out of hand, the two share some genuine happiness, at a roller rink (where the watchful, accusatory eyes of the townspeople burn like hot embers) and at a fairgrounds, where the lovers ride a Ferris Wheel, and we’re reminded of a monologue given early where Wuornos describes a childhood memory of joy, of a Ferris Wheel she called “The Monster”, a rare instance of happiness in a life that would soon include parental abuse, teenage pregnancy, abandonment, and 25 years of prostitution. It’s manipulative in a way, but all the same, sad to think that a life could turn so horribly wrong from such childhood innocence where dreams of a carnival ride were as heady as a trip to the moon. The film is ultra critical of association by community, and yes, even though Wuornos committed unspeakable crimes against her fellow human beings, psychology (of the film anyway) would have it that her bitter anger was implanted in her from the very beginning and slowly did it build itself up over the hard years. After she meets Selby, she tries to go straight, and finds it impossible to get any kind of normal job, it seems she was destined to take the low road, where interviewers ridicule her lack of experience and corrupt cops hassle her for “favors”. There is no place for an ex-hooker to make it in mainstream America (just like a Catholic daughter of a respected community citizen has a hard time living peacefully as a homosexual). “Every cloud has a silver lining,” she tries to summarize, “they have to tell you something.” “Monster”, written and directed in cold, outside-the-feminist-theory box by Patty Jenkins is an altogether compelling and sad character study of roads not generally taken in an upstanding social order. If it has a major problem it’s that it is often too pro-Wuornos, giving us reason to sympathize with a serial killer, while presenting the hard, brutal facts and motives for her turn into an exploding monster. Her first victim (played by Lee Tergesen of “Oz” fame) rapes and beats her badly, so when he is killed, there is a self-defense factor, but as her blood lust grows (she even clips her paper headlines like a mother would her son’s first place showing in the city spelling bee) her victims become more and more respectable, a family man, a retired cop, a kindly grandfather, thus presenting a paradox; now it is cold-blooded murder, is it safe to empathize with it? No, it isn’t, and it’s a flaw to the narrative when the film strays away from harsh social criticism and focuses more on the Wuornos-as-victim aspect to the story. It’s at once a romance, a docu-drama, and a social critique, maybe too much to handle. If the film finds its faults in a confusing social stance, it never misses a beat in its performances. Theron reportedly gained thirty pounds (ala DeNiro for “Raging Bull” and Brando for “The Godfather”, the latter a personal choice rather than an acting necessity) to play Aileen, but the performance goes beyond the weight-gain; it’s a revelation in body ticks and paranoia. Notice her eyes in the scene where she confesses the first murder to Selby, how she never blinks, while everything else about her body suggests she’s on the edge of the cliff and the rocks are starting to crumble. Theron will most likely win the Oscar (like Halle Berry in “Monster’s Ball” and Hillary Swank in the similar toned “Boys Don’t Cry”, the Academy loves it when a pretty actress gives a dynamic performance behind a de-glamorized façade) but the other key performance has been somewhat overlooked. Christina Ricci is less flashy as Selby, the shy, confused lover, but impressive just the same in a role that calls for a sense of normalcy gone awry. Both characters suffer heartache, and both ultimately become seized with an immeasurable neurotic dread as the forces of fate take their toll. The characterizations are strong, and the unfortunate real-life plot is both accusatory and suspect; “Monster” is strange and ragged, and undeniably ripe to stick to your gut for a long time.
“Monster” is playing at the McKinley Mall. by Adam Suraf
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