Vigilante or murderer?

Rating: Null/10 (29 February 2004)

Spoiler
As Monster has not yet been shown in Hong Kong, I was particularly happy to catch it in Singapore before the Oscar results were out. Much have been said about Charlize Theron's top-notch performance, and her Oscar is indisputably deserved, after a deserving but somewhat controversial Nichole Kidman last year and an absolutely undeserving Halle Berry two years ago. My vote from the heart, however, goes to Keisha Castle-Hughes.
Turning from Charlis Theron to Aileen Wuornos, the questions become whether the audience will accept the sympathetic portrayal, regardless of how brilliant is has been artistically. Here, I plead complete ignorance to the actual case, and rely on what the film depicts. Despite what Aileen said to Selby (Christina Ricci), that people gets murdered every day out there in the real world, murder is certainly beyond the realm of experience of an average person. While the film does not belabour the horrible childhood that Wuornos went through, the message is clear enough: that she is more of a victim than a criminal. But then, there is also a vigilante aspect, which reminds me of Charles Bronson's Death Wish (1974) which made the strongest statement in that regard. In both cases, some of the people murdered by the vigilante probably deserved to be killed. Death Wish is too long ago for me to remember the details. Wuornos' killings, however, are clearly not all vigilante. On the other hand, the film has taken care to show that Wuornos is not a psychopathic murderer turned loose, in the scene where she has the most rough-looking john. It seems that she is starting to lose control of herself, when the guy turns out to be milder than a pussycat, declaring that it's his first time. Looking disgusted, but also without a trace of sympathy, she satisfied him in the simplest and quickest way. When it's over, he whimpers an almost inaudible 'thank you' and her equally subdued 'you're welcome' might have been the only funny moment in the entire film. Yet it's also making a point, that Wuornos does not appear to be a completely mindless serial murderer.
As I said, murder is something that is beyond the personal experience of most people and I am certainly thankful that I did not happen to be one of the people in the jury box in Wuornos' trial. To smaller, daily things, however, an average person can relate at closer range. Consider two similar scenes in a restaurant outburst in two movies: Wuornos when asked to put out a cigarette in a no-smoking restaurant and the character played by Jack Nicholson in 5 Easy Pieces (1970) at an obnoxious waitress. While we are prepared to cheer for the latter, it is not quite as easy to forgive the former.
While Therons dominates the entire movie, Ricci holds her own in the portrayal of Selby, first in her wild-eye innocence, then subtly evolving as the relationship turns and twists. Although not quite Oscar calibre, Ricci's performance effectively complements Therons'. Ricci is also an actress with a unique air about her, blending beautifully into a movie like Sleepy Hollow (1999).