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Acclaimed the best film of the year by Roger Ebert & winning over 18 awards (16 of which went to Charlize Theron), this gripping thriller has carved it's place in film history. Charlize Theron literally transformed herself into the real-life female prostitute-turned-serial killer, Aileen Wuornos, who was executed for her crimes in 2002.
When I watched this film for the first time, I was in total awe of everything going on. From Aileen's relationship with girlfriend, Selby Wall (a fictitous name created to protect her real girlfriend), to the storytelling by first time writer/producer/director, Patty Jenkins, to the mere human suffering of this woman's life, I was stricken. Not that it makes her heinous killing spree any more justifiable, but just...more understandable, I suppose. Charlize had to gain over 30 pounds to believably portray "Lee", a Florida highway prostitute who claimed she only killed her 7 "johns" in self defense. Prosthetic teeth & gelatin around her eyelids is all it took to make the South African beauty seem to be the very reincarnation of Wuornos. I don't know about anyone else, but I'd sure as hell be startled to roll over & see that in the morning!! :D
Everyone I know had strong feelings about the film, both positive & negative alike. I loved it so much, I came here to see what a more broad audience had to say.
Yes, I searched & found nothing like this. A couple of casual mentions is all I found.

I thought that was a very good movie.

i saw that movie yesterday, and i thought it was ok-- i didnt think it was all it was cracked up to be. However, i thought Charlize theron did an excellent job portraying Aileen, and you could really see how much of a transformation it was by her appearance.

i thought the movie was really good.. but in my opinion, charlize's performance was 10x better then the actual movie.. even though it was really good to begin with..

there is a charlize thread around here somewhere that i started a few months ago..

i thought the movie was really good.. but in my opinion, charlize's performance was 10x better then the actual movie.. even though it was really good to begin with..

there is a charlize thread around here somewhere that i started a few months ago..

I agree, Charlize's performance defined the film. Just last night i saw the 2002 interviews with Aileen Wournos & i was just amazed. I studied the likeness between Charlize & Aileen. The illusion of the physical appearance (while still creppy & striking) started to fade as I was mesmerized by the little gestures, anger & confusion that she did just like the real deal, you know. I mean, c'mon, man, that stuff was raw. In some of the interviews Aileen got really upset & starts threatening everyone. like while she waiting for the execution, she yelled right into the camera at Gov. Jeb Bush that there would be blood shed if she wasn't executed immediately because she will kill again.

Anyway, Ilookuptoamy, I read your thread. nice job finding that report, i knew it was scary, but wow. She is so strong!! Charlize is definitly my favorite actress, all on a personal level. i wonder if she drew upon that experience to fuel her portrayal of Lee? it would make sense, afterall. that fit of fury she had after she killed the first "john", Richard Mallory, was so passionate. :shrug: You know, i saw some guys review of Monster where he's all like "...Charlize took the role already feeling the weight of the Oscar in her hand...". No, I think she did it because it was a strong role to prove her acting abilities & a challenge that she wanted to tackle (she also produced the film with Jenkins). she said herself that losing the weight was also a way for her to say goodbye to Aileen & let her go so she could move on. I can't help but think some of that stuff is most certainly going to stick with her for the rest of her life.

I'm not typically into serial killers & all that, but I just got absorbed into this case. At first, I thought it was Charlize's portrayal that drew me to the story, but as I watched the turmoil of the interviews, i just couldn't get myself to walk away from the TV. *sigh*

I watched it, but I didn't know that was here.

I cried... but I also cried at bambi.

I agree, Charlize's performance defined the film. Just last night i saw the 2002 interviews with Aileen Wournos & i was just amazed. I studied the likeness between Charlize & Aileen. The illusion of the physical appearance (while still creppy & striking) started to fade as I was mesmerized by the little gestures, anger & confusion that she did just like the real deal, you know. I mean, c'mon, man, that stuff was raw. In some of the interviews Aileen got really upset & starts threatening everyone. like while she waiting for the execution, she yelled right into the camera at Gov. Jeb Bush that there would be blood shed if she wasn't executed immediately because she will kill again.

Anyway, Ilookuptoamy, I read your thread. nice job finding that report, i knew it was scary, but wow. She is so strong!! Charlize is definitly my favorite actress, all on a personal level. i wonder if she drew upon that experience to fuel her portrayal of Lee? it would make sense, afterall. that fit of fury she had after she killed the first "john", Richard Mallory, was so passionate. :shrug: You know, i saw some guys review of Monster where he's all like "...Charlize took the role already feeling the weight of the Oscar in her hand...". No, I think she did it because it was a strong role to prove her acting abilities & a challenge that she wanted to tackle (she also produced the film with Jenkins). she said herself that losing the weight was also a way for her to say goodbye to Aileen & let her go so she could move on. I can't help but think some of that stuff is most certainly going to stick with her for the rest of her life.

I'm not typically into serial killers & all that, but I just got absorbed into this case. At first, I thought it was Charlize's portrayal that drew me to the story, but as I watched the turmoil of the interviews, i just couldn't get myself to walk away from the TV. *sigh*
you feel the exact same way i do :) . you should rent the real documentary about Aileen Wuernos.. its called Life & Death of a Serial Killer (i think), you can get it at blockbuster (if you havent seen it already). its facinating to see how she lived her life, and you can actually see alot of the trial, unlike in "Monster"..

you feel the exact same way i do :) . you should rent the real documentary about Aileen Wuernos.. its called Life & Death of a Serial Killer (i think), you can get it at blockbuster (if you havent seen it already). its facinating to see how she lived her life, and you can actually see alot of the trial, unlike in "Monster"..

totally! i'm about to go and get the other documentary too, the one about everyone supporting her only to sell the movie rights & whatnot. both are by Nick Broomfield. i'm trying to look for the CourtTV tapes & a CNN special on her too.
After watching Monster, I got in a Charlize phase where i go & rent all her movies. i do that sometimes, see an actor who touches me & i watch their whole filmography. you ever do that? well, I'd have to say Charlize is now my favorite actress of all time, knocking down my last favorite of Doris Day (still in 2nd) :)

Alrighty well incase anyone wants to know more about this lady I've got everything possible. I thought of posting this but didn't because I wasn't sure people would care but since there's a topic I can tell a lot of this story. Here it goes-

My mom bought Monster about a month ago and after a few days I finally agreed to watch it. I never knew what it was about so my 'no I don't want to see it' wasn't worhty or anything.. I just had other stuff I wanted to do. The reason why this movie means so much to my mom(and now me because I learned who this lady was) is because it took place in Florida. My mom's bestfriend worked at the jail where Aileen was and escorted her everywhere. She knew this lady. My mom has been to the jail many times and I have also been there. My mom's friend would constantly tell her about Aileen so my mom knew a lot about what was going on. Anyway, after seeing this movie I was absolutely fasinated with Aileen. I started watching all of her interviews, rented documentories, watched her boigraphy, looked up her jail records, searched for the jail again, and I even got her arrest warrent. All in all I know what this lady did but she should not have been put to death. For all or the deaths she claimed that they were out of self defense. She claimed that 2 men had rapd her and 4 tried. Do I know if this is true? No. Could she be telling the truth? Yes it is possible as a lot of things are. First of all, out of ALL the murders to charge her for, they charge her for the death of Richard Mallory. She claimed that he had tried to rape her and she shot in self defense. Denied. You know what they found later in 1992? Richard had served time in jail(10 YEARS) for attemped rape. Was this brought up on Aileen's behalf? NO. She had no family and had been raped many times in the past. The women had no life and when she tried to fix it, she couldn't. Aileen had actually been married and had tried several times to clean up her life and not be a hooker. She managd for a while and then things would go wrong and she'd be depressed and go back. For example her husband filing for devorice and her brother dying. After that death she had no family. I do not believe that Aileen was gay, more so she just wanted a companion. Aileen was adoped while in jail by a CRAZY LADY who just wanted money from the movie deals. She got a lawyer who would sing death songs to her and he and Aileen's "mother" made Aileen admit to all her crimes whether she did them or not saying that if she did there would be nothing for the directors to make a movie on, so because of that Aileen agreed. The plan backfired though and she was sentenced to death over and over and a movie was airing soon about her. If there was evidence that any police related character were giving money towards making the different movies and operas, etc on Aileen, she would get a brand new trial. Aileen knew what was going on and many people tried to help and failed. They found and fired officers that had been paid the day she died. Tell please that there is not something wrong with that?? Late in 2002 though, Aileen confessed saying that she just wanted to die and get on with it. They did and she was dead soon after. Now, I do not know for sure whether she is fully guilty or whether some of these or possibly all were in self defense. Only God knows that. Either way she should not have died in my opinion. She should have had another trail and/or been in a help center. This woman was not right mentally. She had nothing and she would just suddenly go crazy. She needed help. I think that that first time when she was raped it totally terrified her and that's when the killing started. She messed up and caused a lot of pain for many people. Stupid Jeb Bush said he'd see if she was crazy but he's crazy himself!! He sent people in with her for 30 minutes to determine if she was crazy. How the hell are they going to find out anything about this woman's sanity in 30 friking minutes. He's unbelieveable. Anyway, I do not believe this woman deserved the death penalty, period.

I hope this gave you all another look at this women. I honestly know quite a lot about her so if you care to ask questions I will answer them gladly.

PS: My mom knows another one of the jail ladies shown in Nick's documentary

OMG I loved this movie..in fact I bought it without even seeing it..I have always loved anything that has to to with Serial Killers forensics law..ect..I love Court TV..I love Charlize as well she did such an amazing job in this movie..

for those of you who might be intrigued into Aileen's life and the murders read
Lethal Intent by Sue Russell

I'm reading it now and I love it..

Monster was an amazing film. Charlize Theron got what she deserved when she won the Oscar for her role. She portrayed the characted better than anyone could, and she looked almost exact to the real person. I loved the relationship between Aileen and Selby, so in love, almost too much. I loved every single minute of it, although I did not like how it ended! It was mighty sad in my opinion!

Honestly, Aileen was a very disturbed individual. She had a tragic life that left her a victim of circumstance...or "principle" as she would call it. I do believe, however, that once she killed Richard Mallory in self-defense, that it drove her all the way over the edge & she continued the cycle as a sort of post-traumatic stress disorder. Ther were theories that she was killing her father in these cases, which is very conceivable, but I think it was something like she felt she had to do it for some reason that was only connected with the violent psychosis of the first murder. It was like she kept living it over & over in her head, so every time she got in the car with another "John", she felt that's what she had to do to protect herself, whether they (the johns) had those intentions or not.
By now you're probably asking "why didn't she just stop hooking if she was so scared?" Good question. She'd been a prostitute nearly her entire life, In fact, it was her life. Any time she tried to quit, she'd always go back.

It's what she did.

It's what she was.


Biographies:

CourtTV.com (http://www.courttv.com/onair/shows/mugshots/indepth/wuornos.html)
AskMen.com (http://www.askmen.com/toys/special_feature_60/69_special_feature.html)


P.S. I though this was kind of eerie...
"[Charlize Theron]Won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as Aileen Wuornos on what would have been Aileen's 48th birthday. (29 February 2004)" ~ taken from Charlize Theron's mini biography on imdb.com (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000234/bio).