Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1992)

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"Yes, I would just like to say I'm sailing with the rock, and I'll be back, like Independence Day, with Jesus. June 6, like the movie. Big mother ship and all, I'll be back, I'll be back."- Aileen Wuornos' last words.

Nick Broomfield's documentary on Aileen Wuornos is a compelling piece that might turn your stomach.

Shot in 1992, Aileen Wuornos was on death row in Florida for the murders of seven men, claiming she killed them all in self-defense. She was adopted by born-again Christian Arlene Pralle, represented by flamboyant, flaky lawyer Steven Glazer, and pleaded no contest to the crimes, guaranteeing a stay on death row many times over. When this film was shot, Wuornos was portrayed in the media as pure evil, and a TV movie starring Jean Smart as Aileen and Park Overall as her lover Tyria Moore, debuting around that time, confirmed everyone's fear.

Just trying to get in to see Wuornos proves to be a challenge for Broomfield. He had to pay both Pralle and Glazer, and observed an ever despondent Wuornos growing angry in court and screaming obscenities at the judge and potential juries. While this video fodder proves Wuornos was a crazed serial killer, Broomfield finds out more and more facts that may indicate Wuornos was railroaded into the electric chair that would eventually execute her in 2002.

First of all, Aileen Wuornos killed over half a dozen men. On the other hand, her first victim was convicted of attempted rape of another woman and spent time in prison for it. Maybe there was some truth to at least part of Wuornos' story? She admits to Broomfield that both Arlene and Steven are her friends because they saw an easy way to make a buck, all hidden behind charity. Watching Arlene defend Wuornos' death penalties because her adopted daughter would get to "go home to Jesus" is both condescending and chilling. Glazer is a former musician who treats the Wuornos case as a huge lark, telling offensive jokes and stringing Broomfield along so the film maker can cough up some cash, and even then, that does not guarantee the access Broomfield expected. It is ironic that Broomfield must go to Wuornos herself to find out cops on the case also had film production deals going, as did Wuornos' lover, Ty. Early in the investigation, police were looking for two women in association with the murders, yet Ty was never charged as an accomplice or for possessing stolen merchandise. As of this writing, one of Wuornos' victim's remains have never been found.

I sat horrified watching this. The desire to make that big cash, to score that one deal so they could live easy, all took precedence over Aileen Wuornos. I am certainly not defending Wuornos' crimes, but seeing so many people around her try and cash in on her notoriety was truly revolting. She tells Broomfield that Glazer and Arlene convinced her to plead no contest, not knowing they had ulterior motives. Plus, this robbed other film makers of compelling trial scene footage, leaving Arlene and Glazer with exclusive access. It was sad to see Wuornos pin all her hopes on Broomfield, talking of taking her case to the Supreme Court, when in fact she was electrocuted in 2002. What this film does is confirm everything Aileen Wuornos thought of the world. Everybody was against her- her one true love turned her in- no wonder the woman was so angry. Throw in mother abandonment at three years of age, and her father killing himself in prison (sentenced for sodomizing a child) when she was seven, alcoholism, molestation, a child given up for adoption, suicide attempts, sexual assault, homelessness, prostitution, a system that completely let her down, and it seems this woman never had a chance and her mental illness bloomed and thrived. Maybe serial killers aren't born, but made? There's a ton of material about Wuornos out there, including a follow-up Broomfield documentary, Charlize Theron's Academy Award winning turn in "Monster," books, true crime show episodes, poems, music, and more. The bar she was arrested at is a morbid tourist attraction, you can see where she used to sleep when she was too drunk to leave. She's as infamous as other male murderers in the true crime and serial killer subculture- Bundy, Gacy, Ramirez, BTK- and yet her victims are as anonymous as her counterparts'.

Aileen Wuornos is dead and gone, but someone out there is still making money off her name. As a society, we don't learn from the story of Aileen Wuornos, we point and blame from our keyboards and phones (much like I'm doing now), and then wait for the next horrible event to happen so we can start all over again. WE betrayed Aileen Wuornos, and in a way, she had her psychotic revenge. I say this about many criminals- this damaged person needs to be studied, not celebrated, so we can learn from her. Terrible crimes still happen today, obviously, but lets learn from Aileen Wuornos and her victims Richard Mallory, David Spears, Charles Carskaddon, Peter Siems, Troy Burress, Dick Humphreys, and Walter Antonio, and try better?

Stats:
(1992) 87 min. (* * * * *) out of five stars
-Written and Directed by Nick Broomfield
-Featuring Aileen Wuornos, Brian Jarvis, Arlene Pralle, Tyria Moore, Steve Glazer, Nick Broomfield
(R)