Making a Monster: Aileen Wuornos and the True Events that Inspired the 2003 Film
The 2003 film Monster is based on the brutal crimes of female serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Though the film was a massive success, some have criticized its handling of the facts of the case
Background
Released in late 2003, the film Monster is the directorial debut of Patty Jenkins and stars Charlize Theron as real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Monster premiered at the AFI Fest on November 16, 2003, and was released in the United States on December 24. The film was a critical and commercial success. Produced on a budget of around $1.5 million, it went on to gross over $64 million.
Along with praise from many film critics, Monster won numerous awards. Theron won the Academy Award for Best Actress, as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama, and several others. Patty Jenkins won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.
Jenkins first became interested in Aileen’s story after watching a documentary about her. Rather than making a ‘conventional’ serial killer film, Jenkins took a different route and sought to portray Aileen as a deeply damaged person whose violent crimes emerged from years of sexual trauma and physical violence.
A Troubled Childhood
Aileen Wuornos was born on February 29, 1956, and was raised by her grandparents in Rochester, Michigan, after she and her older brother, Keith, were abandoned by their mother. In 1967, Aileen’s father, Leo Pittman, whom she had never met, was convicted of the kidnapping and rape of a seven-year-old girl and sentenced to life in prison. Pittman, who had also been diagnosed with schizophrenia, hung himself in prison.
A tough start for anyone, Aileen's pathway into adolescence and adulthood would only get worse; she would later claim to have suffered much physical and sexual abuse, although some aspects of those claims still remain disputed. By age 11, Wuornos was acting out sexually with boys at her school in exchange for cigarettes and other items.
According to Aileen, her grandfather, who was an alcoholic, was physically and sexually abusive towards her. When she was 14, Wuornos became pregnant. She said she had been raped by a friend of her grandfather. She was sent by her grandmother to a home for unwed mothers. After giving birth in 1971, she gave the child up for adoption. Soon after that, Aileen’s grandmother died, and she and her brother became wards of the state.
Life of Crime
Not long after this, Aileen dropped out of school and began working as a prostitute. Without a stable place to live, she often slept outdoors in the woods. In 1974, she was arrested in Colorado for DUI, disorderly conduct, and firing a gun from a vehicle. Wurnos failed to appear in court to face the charges, and by 1976, she had hitchhiked to Florida.
Soon after she arrived, 20-year-old Aileen met a wealthy man nearly 50 years her senior. In 1976, Wuornos married 69-year-old Lewis Fell, who was president of a yacht club. However, Wuornos continued to drink heavily and get into fights at local bars. She was also violent towards her husband and would beat him with his cane, forcing Fell to file a restraining order against his wife. Less than three months after their wedding, the marriage was annulled.
After that, Wuornos returned to Michigan, where in July 1976, she was arrested and charged with assault during a barfight. Later that month, her brother Keith died of cancer, and Aileen inherited $10,000 in life insurance. She used some of the money to buy a car, which she quickly wrecked. Less than two months later, she had spent the remainder of the money. That same year, her grandfather, Lauri, took his own life.
Throughout her life, Wuornos also attempted suicide multiple times. In 1978, she attempted to end her life by shooting herself in the stomach. By 1981, she was back in Florida and was arrested in Edgewater for the armed robbery of a convenience store. She served one year of a three-year sentence and was released in 1983.
Aileen’s criminal activity continued after her release. In May 1984, she was arrested in Key West for check fraud. In 1985, she was a suspect in the theft of a revolver. In January 1986, she was arrested in Miami and charged with obstruction of justice and resisting arrest after giving officers false information when she was found with a gun and a stolen car.
Later that year, she was questioned by police after a male companion reported that Wuornos had pulled a gun on him and demanded money. Police then discovered a .22 caliber pistol hidden under her car seat.
Murders
In 1986, Aileen met 24-year-old motel maid Tyria Moore, and the two became romantically involved. The relationship lasted for several years, and to support herself and Moore, Aileen continued working as a highway prostitute around the area of Daytona Beach and along Florida’s highways.
Between November 1989 and November 1990, Aileen shot and killed seven of her male clients. After murdering the men, Aileen would steal their belongings, money, and even their vehicles.
Her first victim was 51-year-old repair shop owner Richard Mallory, who was murdered on November 30, 1989. His body, which had been dumped in a wooded area, was discovered shot to death on December 13.
Over the next year, Wuornos murdered at least six more men.
