MONSTER QUESTIONS WHETHER A LESBIAN SERIAL KILLER SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXECUTED
Serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who was executed in Florida in October 2002, has recently been honored by two films. Monster debuted in late 2003. Aileen: The Life and Death of a Serial Killer, came out in early 2004, an update of sorts of the earlier documentary Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1992), which was released when she was tried and convicted. All three films presumably were made to evoke some sympathy to her plight or at least opposition to the way in which the death penalty was a response more to media and public pressure, orchestrated in part by Governor Jeb Bush, than to the circumstances of her crimes. Aileen, convincingly portrayed in Monster by Charlize Theron, became a prostitute at age nine, and at age thirteen she was on her own when she was kicked out of home because she was pregnant. While other teenage girls were learning skills to enter the job market or attracting spouses, Aileen turned tricks for peanuts and thus acquired no employable skills and had no close friends. Then one day in 1989, at age thirty-three, Aileen meets Selby Wall (played by Christina Ricci), a beautiful, sensitive lesbian who is fascinated with Aileen’s rough, strong persona. Although Aileen at first denies that she is a lesbian, Selby’s steadfast devotion prompts her to transform her life. Selby’s homophobic family has rejected her lesbianism, so she is seeking a strong female partner as her husband. To play that role, Aileen wants to change her life to be Selby’s breadwinner. When she applies for legitimate employment, she is turned down for entry-level positions because she lacks a high school education, has no previous job experience, and has a criminal record. Before the two meet, Aileen is picked up by a man whose insistence on kinky sex is extremely brutal, so she shoots him in self-defense. Since Aileen seeks redemption from her sordid past, she shares her experiences with Selby, who is sympathetic and trusting. However, in her quest to provide for Selby, Aileen finds no option but to sell herself. Rather than accepting small payments, she now decides to rob her johns, but the only way to clean them out and leave no clues is to kill them, and six more die. According to some amateur psychology from Patty Jenkins, the director of Monster, Aileen’s murders were a function of post-traumatic stress following the realization that any future john might assault her first, but alas no psychologist is called upon in the film to state a corroborating opinion. Billed as the Damsel of Death by the media, police go all out to track down Aileen and her companion. However, Aileen does not tell Selby about her multiple murders, so they split up soon after she learns the truth from a television news program. After Aileen is caught, Selby testifies against her to save herself, and Aileen is again friendless. Despite cinematic efforts to gain sympathy for Aileen, the facts are so stark that Monster nevertheless offers up Aileen Wuornos as the tragic poster woman for the death penalty. MH