Monster

I know this will sound bizarre, but I've always found serial killers to be incredibly interesting. From the issues in their lives that lead to their decision to take lives, how they select their victims, how they go about covering their trails, and how long they stay active before getting caught, their entire twisted tales are massively intriguing, both in modern days where the media seems to turn them into celebrities, and historically, where many cruel men became legend by making a living out of killing.

Key word in that sentence? Men. Female serial killers are a whole different breed, a far more exclusive club. They think and kill differently than men, with the notable exception of Aileen Wuornos. The result of an extremely broken home, the prostitute turned petty criminal turned murderer turned serial killer acted in patterns very similar to the historical male killers, rather than female, creating a somewhat unique profile.

The film about her killings, 'Monster' (a title which doesn't lend one to believe the film would be impartial), disregards her criminal past, presenting Wuornos (Charlize Theron) as a depressed prostitute living day to day, John to John. After a chance meeting with Selby (Christina Ricci, though the historical counterpart was Tyria Moore), an awkward, young lesbian, Wuornos seems to turn her life around, until a job leaves her bludgeoned and nearly killed, only surviving by killing her assaulter. Now paranoid and delusional, Wuornos will leave a trail of bodies behind, some from those soliciting her for sex, others just trying to help her.

'Monster' doesn't truly delve into what created the "Damsel of Death," ignoring her childhood save for a brief glimpse, and completely avoiding her past convictions for assault, armed robbery, and grand theft auto. It begins in the short time before the slayings began, and chooses to also not create a timeline for her slayings, which in real life lasted nearly a year. Rather than bog itself down with facts, 'Monster' wants to go the route of portraying a woman alienated, abused, and neglected, a victim herself who turns the tables and goes off the deep end.

'Monster' is just barely better than those direct-to-video serial killer chronicles, and the only reason it is a step above is due to the amazing performance by Theron, who is unrecognizable, hidden beneath layers of prosthetics and makeup. The Academy Award winning performance (Best Actress, 2003) is absolutely amazing, as the appearance is not the only thing different from her past (and future) works. Ricci doesn't share this fate, as her performance doesn't ever allow one to forget she's "that girl from the 'Addams Family' movies."

I would have much preferred a tale full of Wuornos' tragic life, as there is more to be told than just from the first killing to the trial. Her arrest records and history as a child would set up the character quite well, to understand the actions that happen later in life, while the trial itself would have been interesting, due to the fact that there were five separate trials, all of which found Wuornos guilty. The situations involving her fitness for trial (psychiatric tests), and the fact that her first victim did, indeed, have a rape conviction in the past would also have created much more drama than what we get here. 'Monster' is just a brief, shallow glance at a woman's life, rather than a real in depth look at what created a true monster.