So recently I watched the Monster (2003) film, about the serial murderess Aileen Wuornos. It's a heartbreakingly deep movie that somehow really touched me, and really intrigued me. I went on to do some reading up on the real Aileen Wuornos, and learning about her dysfunctional childhood almost broke me. Such unfortunate circumstances which many children grow up in have always bugged me. Now I am well aware that many people grow up in pretty screwed up conditions, and they don't go on to become murderers; in fact some people actually find the motivation to go and achieve something great in their lives. On the other hand, it is as if some people never had a chance to break free of that poverty and sadness. Some people just never had a shot at breaking out of that tragic cycle.
DISCLAIMER: I am hardly an Aileen Wuornos expert. The views expressed in this post are not meant to be taken as being based on 100% accurate information regarding the whole case, they are merely interpretations and philosophical discoveries I have made personally, from studying the case.
One particular scene in the movie really saddened me - After Aileen Wuornos was brutally beaten and raped by a John, she decided that she was going to quit prostituting and try to find a stable job. So she went to a lawyer's office for a job interview, in an attempt to get a job as a secretary. The following transpired:
And my sentiments would probably be best described this way:
Makes me feel like such a horrible person for complaining about how "life sucks so much", when really, I am so darn fortunate. "Uni is so stressful"; some people never even had the chance to attend a day of school. "I really want that Celine bag"; just shut up already. When will I ever be content with what I have?
Aileen Wuornos was eventually sentenced to death, and that is something very controversial, because if you watch her court appearances and read her interviews while she was behind bars, as well as testimony from her psychiatrists, it is pretty clear that she was one seriously deluded individual. Why was Aileen Wuornos put to death? Is it because her crimes were in fact so atrocious that the only punishment available would be death, or was it an exemplary death sentence?
Aileen Wuornos instructed her defense team to drop all appeals against her death sentence, and it seemed like she was welcoming death as she believed she would be back on Independence Day, with Jesus. As her psychiatrist mentioned in a documentary, this woman who had been powerless her entire life, except for when she killed her victims, believed she would be back as a powerful presence. While it illustrates how delusional she had become, and probably always was, other interpretations of her pursuit of a timely execution portray a woman who had been through so much hardship throughout her entire life and never had anything, who was now asking for mercy through a timely execution by the death penalty. She had been let down by all the people in her life who were supposed to care for her - her family, Tyria Moore and the likes of Arlene Pralle.
I also feel an immense sadness for the men who were killed, as well as their families, as there seems to be evidence to suggest that not all of them might have been Johns, much less Johns who tried to abuse Aileen Wuornos.
All quotes taken from here .
DISCLAIMER: I am hardly an Aileen Wuornos expert. The views expressed in this post are not meant to be taken as being based on 100% accurate information regarding the whole case, they are merely interpretations and philosophical discoveries I have made personally, from studying the case.
One particular scene in the movie really saddened me - After Aileen Wuornos was brutally beaten and raped by a John, she decided that she was going to quit prostituting and try to find a stable job. So she went to a lawyer's office for a job interview, in an attempt to get a job as a secretary. The following transpired:
Lawyer: I see you're from Daytona Beach, all of that looks great, it must be wonderful. But can I tell you something? When the beach party is over, you don't get to say, "You know what? Now I think I'd like to have what everybody else has worked their entire life for." It doesn't work that way.
Aileen: Fuck you, man. Yeah, FUCK YOU! YOU DON'T FUCKIN' KNOW ME!
Lawyer: OK, great. That's great. See, now I'm so sorry I didn't hire you before. Leslie, could you please escort Miss... I don't even know her name because of course she doesn't have a resume... out.
Aileen: I don't need a fuckin' escort you piece of shit! What you think I'm a fuckin' retard? Take your fuckin' job and fuckin' shove it! Fuck you, Leslie!
And my sentiments would probably be best described this way:
Aileen: Everybody just thinks I'm this bad shitty fucking person, and all I'm fucking tryin' to do is survive, you know?
Thomas: I know. I know what you do for a living. It doesn't bother me. I know you didn't dial it up on a goddamn telephone. That's where you landed. That's what you had to do. What you're feeling right now is just guilt, over something you had absolutely no control over. You know how many of us came back from the war? And almost killed ourselves because we felt exactly the same thing you do, right now.
Aileen: Yeah?
Thomas: Yeah. And they'll never get it. They'll never get it now, they never got it then, and they sure as hell won't get fucking circumstance!
Aileen: Fuck, man, circumstance, that's exactly it, that's exactly it. You know I feel like I never even had a fucking choice.
Thomas: You never did. But you gotta live. You gotta live.
Makes me feel like such a horrible person for complaining about how "life sucks so much", when really, I am so darn fortunate. "Uni is so stressful"; some people never even had the chance to attend a day of school. "I really want that Celine bag"; just shut up already. When will I ever be content with what I have?
Aileen Wuornos was eventually sentenced to death, and that is something very controversial, because if you watch her court appearances and read her interviews while she was behind bars, as well as testimony from her psychiatrists, it is pretty clear that she was one seriously deluded individual. Why was Aileen Wuornos put to death? Is it because her crimes were in fact so atrocious that the only punishment available would be death, or was it an exemplary death sentence?
Aileen Wuornos instructed her defense team to drop all appeals against her death sentence, and it seemed like she was welcoming death as she believed she would be back on Independence Day, with Jesus. As her psychiatrist mentioned in a documentary, this woman who had been powerless her entire life, except for when she killed her victims, believed she would be back as a powerful presence. While it illustrates how delusional she had become, and probably always was, other interpretations of her pursuit of a timely execution portray a woman who had been through so much hardship throughout her entire life and never had anything, who was now asking for mercy through a timely execution by the death penalty. She had been let down by all the people in her life who were supposed to care for her - her family, Tyria Moore and the likes of Arlene Pralle.
I also feel an immense sadness for the men who were killed, as well as their families, as there seems to be evidence to suggest that not all of them might have been Johns, much less Johns who tried to abuse Aileen Wuornos.
Aileen: "Love conquers all." "Every cloud has a silver lining." "Faith can move mountains." "Love will always find a way." "Everything happens for a reason." "Where there is life, there is hope."[laughs]
Aileen: Oh, well... They gotta tell you somethin'
All quotes taken from here .
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