Monster (2004, DVD)

They say if you beat a puppy, it grows into a violent cur. By the time Monster begins, Aileen Wuornos is already a beast: when a friendly girl named Selby approaches her in a bar, Aileen recoils and rages like a dog that had once been beaten senseless. Later, when Selby strokes her face and calls her pretty, you can see the sense of total bewilderment in Aileen s eyes. With just a few gestures, Charlize Theron makes you realize that this is the first feeling of love Aileen Wuornos may have ever experienced.

Aileen and Selby are pushed together by circumstance, both desperate to escape their situation. Selby s parents are unable to cope with her homosexuality and are trying to de-program her. (It is hinted that the broken arm Selby has when she first meets Aileen is the result of her parents inability to cope.) And Aileen was sick of her life as a wandering homeless prostitute, and was contemplating killing herself. But with just a little tenderness from Selby, Aileen began to dream of a brighter future.

The account of Aileen s miserable childhood is not depicted in gratuitous flashback scenes, but related by Aileen in bits and pieces, almost as an afterthought: she was raped repeatedly since the age of eight and beaten for trying to tell her father about it; forsaken by her family by the time she was 13, and had given up a baby at that age as well. She also became a prostitute before the age of 13. While turning tricks to raise some cash for a fun week with Selby, she is tied up, beaten, and raped. On the verge of being killed by this sadistic psycho, Aileen kills him in self-defense. This incident, coupled with her newfound love for Selby awakens something in Aileen.

Aileen decides to give up being a hooker, and begins to look for a respectable job. Of course, with no education or experience, she is repeatedly rejected and humiliated. Her discouragement is complete when yet another bad man appears in her life, a cop who is bribing her for sex, and she comes to the conclusion that she is a hooker, that is what [she is]. Desperate to hold on to Selby, who turns out to be a helpless brat, Aileen returns to her hitchhiking/hooking ways. But instead of sex, she begins killing her johns, to rob them of their money and cars. At this point, Aileen s fate is sealed: things aren t going to turn out good for her.

There has been unanimous praise for Charlize Theron s performance, and I had to admit that I was just a little bit skeptical. Not all critically lauded movies are always that good. And there s always this notion that it s heroic when a beautiful actress uglies it up, and I wasn t interested in a stunt performance. But Theron is brilliant her physical transformation goes far beyond the masterful makeup job her carriage, her speech, her every flinch and blink is that of the wounded animal that Wuornos must have been, and reportedly was. This could have been stunt performance, but it s not. You can t over-praise this performance. Theron is amazing.

As Selby, Christina Ricci is also quite good, playing an unsympathetic, but surprisingly complex character. Selby isn t cut out for the Bonnie-n-Clyde lifestyle, and is initially shocked to learn of Aileen s killing spree. But she is partly complicit to Aileen s crimes, and at some point she demands Aileen get a car, knowing full well how Aileen has gotten other cars. And she giggles with pleasure when Aileen causes a scene in a restaurant. She likes that Aileen is violent, and she probably also enjoyed the power she had over Aileen. Ultimately, although she says she loves Aileen, Selby is most interested in helping herself. Selby ends up just using Aileen, like many men before her. But despite Selby s betrayal, I couldn t help but feel little bit happy for Aileen, who experienced a couple of moments of pure joy in Selby s company, joy that has eluded her all her life.

So, is this a true story? It s based on a true story, but was Aileen Wuornos truly a victim of misunderstanding and circumstance who was driven to commit these heinous crimes? Or was she an irredeemable psychopath who deserves no pity, only condemnation? I can t know the truth. But if this story isn t true to Aileen Wuornos, it still remains truthful to something we can all identify in ourselves: the need to be loved. Aileen was like a dog, made ferocious by relentless abuse. But for a short while she was tamed by love, and it made her human. And Theron makes you feel that love, and the incredible need for it that motivated Aileen to sacrifice herself for Selby over and over again, straight on her way to her doom.