Monster vs Boys Don't Cry

Okay, so let’s clear this up from the beginning: Aileen Wuornos was a mean dude. She was a murderer and not someone to glorify or celebrate, and you won’t see that happening here. So, when you read this, don’t get all righteous on me. Because the thing is, the fact that Monster is about Aileen Wuornos at all is pretty gross. How it is about her, though, is pretty incredible.

As you probably know, Aileen Wuornos was categorized by the media as the first female serial killer. If you were to watch Monster without prior knowledge from the internet, or magazines or talk shows, you would be left with no clue who was playing Aileen. As you know by now, she’s played by Charlize Theron. I’ve liked Theron in the past. I thought she was good in The Cider House Rules (and way too much woman for Tobey Maguire, by the way), but often, she’s just the girl. Theron, of course, is beautiful, almost to distraction, and there’s a possible version of her career where she just continues to play the girl for a while, until another girl comes along, and then Charlize could graduate to TV lawyer, or maybe exercise videos. That day, I’m here to tell you, is not coming. Charlize Theron is astonishing in Monster. She completely disappears into her character, leaving not a trace of any version of Charlize Theron we’ve seen in a movie before.

Of course, there has been a physical transformation. Theron gained weight, greased her hair, wears prosthetic teeth, and has a layer of sun-stained make-up across her previously flawless face. The true transformation, though, is in her body language. As Aileen, Theron walks like someone ready to start a fight, legs strutting out front, shoulders back. She shrugs and flinches her head side to side when she talks, opening her eyes wide and turning her mouth down at the corners. Her voice is harsh and defensive. When she has to be still or quiet, Aileen becomes a series of ticks and stammers and nervous laughs. She’s like Hulk Hogan by way of Mary Catherine Gallagher. Luckily, Theron knows how to temper it all just so. This performance is like the child of the performances given by Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull and Jodie Foster in The Accused. Even that is unfair, though, because Theron’s creation of Wuornos seems so original.

At the beginning of Monster, Aileen, called Lee for most of the movie, is in Florida, down to a gun and her last five dollars. She decides to use the five, and finds herself in a local gay bar, yelling at the bartender and guzzling down cheap beers. She’s approached by Selby (Christina Ricci), a young woman from Ohio, staying with relatives in some attempt by her parents to cure her of being a lesbian. I guess they think all she needs is a little sun. At first, Aileen wants nothing to do with Selby, but when she sees that Selby has a genuine interest in her, as well as limitless beer money, Aileen warms up considerably. They become friends, and share a moment early on that is surprisingly sweet, couples-skating to Journey. It’s followed by a make-out scene, in the alley, of shocking passion. You know that From Here to Eternity thing on the beach? Imagine that, standing up, girl on girl, and you’ll get an idea of how fond Selby and Aileen were of each other.

In the meantime, Aileen is a highway prostitute, thumbing down johns on the shoulder of the road. She’s quite uncomfortable with her occupation, although she’s done it since she was thirteen (no one ever says, but during the events in Monster, Aileen seems mid-thirtyish). She has one gimmick, holding up a picture of two children and claiming to need money to get back to them, but otherwise seems clueless about her own business, other than this act will get her that much money. One night, when she is due to meet Selby for a date, Aileen finds herself with a client who refuses to pull over, instead insisting on driving into the forest. He’s rude to her, and soon has punched her unconscious. She wakes up, tied to the passenger door, her face covered in blood. She has been raped, and there’s more to come. It’s clear Aileen is going to be murdered. She pulls free, grabs the gun from her bag, and unloads it into her john’s chest. Finally out of the car, she drops to her knees and makes a sound I’ve not heard before. Somewhere between a war cry and a primal scream. Kind of like that sound Howard Dean made after the Iowa Caucus. It’s a brutal scene.

Aileen gets herself cleaned up (she wears the first victim’s cap for a while after his murder, almost like a trophy) and finds Selby, begging for one more week. Selby agrees, and the women start out on their new lives together. They stay in crappy motels, planning their future. Aileen is full of ambition and ideas, but not being blessed with much intelligence or life skills, has trouble finding work outside of prostitution. (There’s an odd sequence of her applying for jobs, and failing because of her social skills and lack of experience, ala Erin Brockovich. I couldn’t help but notice how similar their lives probably were at some early point, and how drastically different they became later.) Selby is too young for Aileen, and puts girlfriendly demands on her that Alieen isn’t used to. She goes back to prostitution for the money, only this time the johns always drive into the woods, and it’s Aileen’s idea.

By the end of Monster, Aileen has killed a half dozen more men, justifying each as acts of defense for women or children. Most of the men were harmless, one not even a customer, but rather someone just wanting to help Aileen (that scene in particular is hard to watch, and thankfully edited in such a way that it shields most of the horror.). Selby catches on, sort of, but is in denial. She’s in love, I guess, but also rebelling against her family, and searching for her own identity. When she’s out alone, she makes friends, and entertains them with stories she heard from Aileen. Selby is trying out this new lifestyle she’s been waiting for in Ohio. She’s not just skating to a Journey song, she’s living one.  Christina Ricci basically plays Selby as a modern version of the Sissy Spacek character from Badlands, and like Spacek, she’s amazingly adept at suggesting youth and naiveté in subtle ways. Ricci has been good in other movies (I especially like her in The Opposite of Sex and Buffalo 66), but I wasn’t prepared for what she accomplishes in Monster. Selby is annoying and needy, and though she didn’t participate in any of Aileen’s crimes, it’s interesting to consider what her contribution might have been.

Monster was directed by Patty Jenkins, and as you read in the first paragraph, she’s taken on a difficult subject. For the most part, she succeeds. Often, movies like this will focus on the manhunt, with fictional or composite cops taking the lead roles. We don’t get any procedural information in Monster; Jenkins allows us and the characters to believe that the crimes are going unsolved. There’s a little too much voice-over narration for me, but there’s also a surprising lack of courtroom drama, so I’ll accept the trade off.

Like Monster, Boys Don’t Cry is a true, sad, violent movie about two girls in love. Also like Monster, it features excellent performances, one by an actor rendered completely unrecognizable.  

Boys Don’t Cry tells the story of Brandon Teena, a girl living as a boy in Nebraska. Brandon is no saint, wanted on forgery charges and raising hell in bars every night. On one such occasion, he meets Lana, singing karaoke with her girlfriends, in what can only be described as the most realistic, haunting and beautiful karaoke scene ever. (And yes, I know, most karaoke in real life is not beautiful, only haunting, and not in a good way. But trust me on this one.) Lana and Brandon hit it off immediately, and Brandon is welcomed into her circle of friends, which includes Candace (Becky!), John and Tom.

Brandon is incredibly nice and mannered, and impresses Lana and her mother with his wide, easy smile. Soon, he and Lana are dating, much to the dismay of John, who was previously involved with Lana and feels protective—make that possessive—of her.

Because Brandon is so nice, and not aware enough of the dangerous of his new life (reminder: he’s a girl), he finds himself in situations that risk his life, as well as those around him. Boys Don’t Cry is a tragic movie, built around the almost idyllic love between Brandon and Lana. They make love and dream of going to Memphis. At night, the traffic speeds up and the lights blur (something that also happens in Monster), and we understand that Lana probably knows Brandon’s secret, but that he holds so much hope for her to branch out into a new life, that she’ll take him in any form. When he’s arrested late in the movie, his explanation for being in the women’s wing of the prison, and Lana’s reaction to it, is a marvel of two people saying exactly what the other wants to hear, and neither listening.

Of course, Brandon Teena’s life was marred by horrific violence, some of which he survived, and some he did not. Directed by first-timer Kimberly Pierce (who, let’s face it, should collect some royalties from Monster), Boys Don’t Cry is as sensitive and subtle as it can be, considering the storyline, but also surprisingly exuberant and joyful in those early moments when Brandon and Lana are first getting to know each other. Brandon Teena, of course, is played by Hillary Swank, and she’s almost eerily good. She never, for a second, takes a breath as a female in this movie. Likewise, Chloe Sevigny portrays Lana not as someone who becomes part of a misunderstanding or ruse, but as a regular girl, who given her other choices, has found what just might be the only real man in town.

Jeez, this is a heavy double feature. Might want to schedule some cartoons or something in between. How about, Monster, followed by some Captain Crunch and Family Guy, followed by Boys Don’t Cry, then maybe some butterscotch pudding and Brak before bed.

Monster: A-
Boys Don’t Cry: A-