I watched this documentary on Netflix. It is about Aileen Wuornos- the first female serial killer to be given capital punishment. Have you seen the movie Monster? Remember Charlize Theron? That character is based on Aileen. This is the 2nd documentary made my Nick Broomfield (I haven't seen the first) on Aileen.
Nick is called as a witness after his first documentary where he shows Aileen's lawyer being high when consulting with her. The documentary covers the time till she is given a lethal injection and dies for her crimes.
A brief about her life- Aileen's mother abandoned her and her brother when she was few months old and her maternal grandparents took care of her. Her father was imprisoned for being a pedophile and he committed suicide in prison. Apparently, her grandfather sexually abused Aileen when she was a kid and her grandfather's friend raped her. She started exchanging sex for money and cigarettes at a very young age and became pregnant at 14. Her son was given up for adoption after which she was thrown out of the house. She spent the rest of her life prostituting and hitch hiking. She met Tyria Moore (the character played by Christina Ricci) at a lesbian bar and they started having an affair. Aileen killed 7 men in a span of 1 year. She was caught by the cops when Tyria got her to confess on the phone. Tyria had been her partner in some of the killings but was not prosecuted because she negotiated a deal with the cops.
In her plea, Aileen claims to have been raped by these 7 men and she killed them in self defense. She changes her story later and confesses to killing them in cold blood to rob them. When Nick's camera is supposedly off, she tells him it was actually in self defense but she is tired of being on death row for 10 years and just wants to die.
This is a disturbing documentary despite Nick's monotonous and boring commentary in the background. Aileen is insane, this is quite obvious from her interviews. She led a hard life and there was no hope of turning it around. Also, she does not feel responsible for the murders at all. There is no remorse. She kept blaming society, media, the justice system, the cops for the life she led.
I don't know what to think. Should an insane person be given capital punishment? But then again, if someone cannot even differentiate between right and wrong, can they even be rehabilitated?
A decent documentary and am going to watch the first one.
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