Essay Example on Monster (2003): The Tragic Life of Serial Killer Aileen Wuornos

In the movie Monster (2003), the life of a serial killer Aileen Wuornos is depicted based on a true story as a child who suffered several fits of abuse, teen pregnancy and later chose a life of prostitution and robbery with violence. After receiving beatings and rape from one of her clients, she accidentally killed him during her self-defense. Unfortunately, she later went on a killing spree and killed six other men whom she thought would be a threat to her life. She gave justification for these killings in her conscience and continued living her life as she supports her girlfriend, Tyria Moore (Broomfield, 1994). In 2002, she was executed by lethal injection after that, in 2003, the movie 'Monster 2003' hit the screens beginning with a young girl with big dreams of becoming the future Marilyn Munroe and sadly ends as a weathered woman with delusions. The film has a lot of rough rides taking the viewers through psychological despair. It remains a mystery whether her case was caused by trauma or events that happened in her life as a child.

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Additionally, the bitterness and pain of being raped by her grandfather, who impregnated her at a tender age of only thirteen years and later being kicked out of her home by her family. It is shameful of a mother like hers to think that her daughter liked living as a homeless person; this indicated great denial she had to live within this family. The abuses she experienced all started at home and later escalated to the streets, where she completely lost her grip as a woman due to a lack of support from anyone, including her family members, which acts as proof of inhumanity (Broomfield, 1994). She is later given capital punishment for her actions, indicating the cruelty in man since she had no guidance from the beginning, and killing her did not provide a deterrent either for her situation. Therefore, this paper is going to focus on the theory of criminology that is concerned with characters that may result in the development of behaviors that are depicted in this type of film. The criminal behaviors depicted in this movie are events that happen in our day-to-day lives, but people's perception about them is what either escalate them or curb them. Society should turn around and start looking at where it went wrong on raising their kids and missed the point of creating a space for them to express themselves.

Social disorganization theory is the best application in this case scenario because it depicts the failure of the communities involved in giving solutions to the problems they experience together. Even though Miss Wuornos's family was stable financially as she quotes during her interview but, something happened, she was dissociated from her family and had to join the streets for survival (Bellair, 2017). Meaning, techniques had to change, and adaptation of a new lifestyle has to begin. This theory claims that communities that are intact and in good terms with each other have high chances of positively influencing the characters of their children and prevents them from joining criminal activities unlike children raised in a split social cycle which is evident in this case, her intact family chased her from their house. She had to live in the woods during winters behind her home, this creates for us a clear understanding of her actions even if it does not bring justification.

Family disruption is the leading cause of Wuorno's urge to start working as a prostitute in Florida, where she would prey on track drivers at a fee. Juvenile violence was a result of the disorganization of her social circle where drug use was rampant and the neighborhood inconsiderate of its members and their safety (Bellair, 2017). Considering the neighborhood she was raised, prostitution as a first option of survival was not a technical decision to make because she was young and had no education nor qualifications to acquire a better job.

During an interview with the journalists according to the documentary written by Garykmcd, she says, 'And I'm sorry about everything I've done. I miss Ty... I lost Tyria over this, and the people that lost their loved ones and everything, I think first about the people that lose their loved ones and then Tyria second. I have to put them first on this whole thing. I'm sorry for, you know, them losing their loved ones, man. I know the feeling' (Broomfield, 1994). Which indicates a very raw and powerful feeling of humane to the people she lost and the lives of the people she took by the bullet, she thinks of their families too meaning that if something could be done to save her situation before it got to that point, it could not have reached that far. She is regretting her actions even though her sanity is questionable.

During her trials, charges that were made against her included: first-degree murder, armed robbery with violence, and possession of a firearm. She had to face first-degree death because she killed Richard Mallory, one of her clients even though she claimed it was self-defense, she also pleaded guilty of killing three other men giving her charging qualifications of first-degree murder (The Case of Aileen Wuornos - The Facts n. d). She would also rob people using firearms in stores where she would still survival items like the case of Richard Mallory, the shop owner whom she stole from, and later murdered (The Case of Aileen Wuornos - The Facts n. d). Finally, her possession of an unregistered firearm was illegal according to the laws of the country, and she had to be charged and give answers for that action.

The jury then found Wuornos guilty of all the charges. Angrily, she shouted to the jury, saying, "Sons of bitches! I was raped! I hope you get raped. Scumbags of America!" she was then sentenced to death through lethal injection (The Case of Aileen Wuornos - The Facts n. d). Sadly, her life could have been spared following the documents introduced by her defense team concerning her background. For instance, she was a victim of divorced parents even before her birth, her father was a charged pedophile who committed suicide while in prison, she was generally an unhappy baby since birth, and her life with her grandparents was troublesome involving verbal abuse. She also lost her brother at twenty-one years, and her grandfather also committed suicide, these pieces of evidence showed that she had a borderline personality disorder (The Case of Aileen Wuornos - The Facts n. d). This condition made her susceptible to emotional disturbances and extreme mental disorders. In it easy to conclude that social disorganization can play a very crucial role in the life of youngsters who still need guidance and protection from the world to prevent them from taking part in criminal activities and exhibiting criminal behaviors.

References

Bellair, P. (2017). Criminology and Criminal Justice. Criminological Theory. https://oxfordre.com/criminology/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-253

Broomfield, N. (1994, February 4). Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1992). [Video]. Movie. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103634/?ref_=tt_sims_tt

The Case of Aileen Wuornos - The Facts (n.d). Capital Punishment in Context. https://capitalpunishmentincontext.org/