Just finished watching the documentary on Aileen Wuornos - the mass-murderer sentenced to death in the US and on whose life the film 'monster' starring Charize Theron was based. Did you watch it? What do you think?

It seemed she had had a pretty tough family life as a child, but no more so than many other people who don't turn into mass murderers.
I thought she was just plain weird to be honest, but then again I was only half watching it.
I haven't seen Monster yet, so it will be interesting to watch it now I've seen this.

Didn't see it, but after watching Monster I was left feeling that she was a pretty horrible person who was beyond help, and maybe even one of the few people who could be discribed as evil... not sure how close to the truth the film was though.

I saw 'Monster' a while ago. It was a good film. I didn't know the history of the true story.

She obviously had a lot of very difficult times when she was young. It was such a sad story. Obviously for her victims families more than anyone else, but isn't it so sad that in today's society we cannot ensure people receive the appropriate care before they end up resorting to murder?

I have to say that Charlize Theron (sorry can't spell her name) does, with hindsight, play a very good role.

Mmm Snook, it's unusual for a woman to be a mass murderer - perhaps that's why her trial was such high profile. Had she been a man then it would not have received the press coverage that it did.

However, I don't think she was inherently 'evil' I think her response was a result, in part, of her upbringing.

Let's face it, she had a child at a very young age. She was obviously sexually abused from a much younger age (9 I think) so she did not learn respect from other people so how could she respect others? I think she reacted and responded in the only way she knew how. And to me, that is what makes it so sad.

Had she been shown some love and respect then maybe she wouldn't have acted in the way she did.

Originally posted by Hels
Mmm Snook, it's unusual for a woman to be a mass murderer - perhaps that's why her trial was such high profile. Had she been a man then it would not have received the press coverage that it did.

However, I don't think she was inherently 'evil' I think her response was a result, in part, of her upbringing.

Let's face it, she had a child at a very young age. She was obviously sexually abused from a much younger age (9 I think) so she did not learn respect from other people so how could she respect others? I think she reacted and responded in the only way she knew how. And to me, that is what makes it so sad.

Had she been shown some love and respect then maybe she wouldn't have acted in the way she did.

I wasn't for a second turning it into a man/woman thing, I was just commenting on her as a person, doesn't matter what sex.

She didn't seem to have a much harder childhood than probably a million other people, but they don't go on a killing spree. Also, if the film is to believed, she was offered help, and chances to turn her life around, but would rather continue to kill.

While I think nobody should have to go through what she did when a child, it doesn't make someone automatically have disrespect for human life.

I also didn't find it a very good film. I thought it wasn't very objective, and they were trying to make you feel sympathy for her at the end... Although I don't agree with the death penalty, I didn't have any particular sympathy. I felt more sorry for the innocent people she murdered in cold blood, especially those that had tried to help her.

I know you weren't trying to turn it into a male/female thing. It's just that I think the case received such a high profile simply because she was female and being a female mass murderer it was 'unusual' so sparked public curiosity.

I find it interesting that some people have really difficult childhood experiences and turn out fine, yet others turn out as she did.

Even so, I don't believe she was 'evil'. She had the capacity to love (she loved her partner). I think she certainly was disturbed. And her mother? I didn't get anything from the documentary that showed her mother made any real attempt to see her - I find that strange. The interview the documentary showed with her mother was a bit weird I thought.

I watched the documentary on her a few months back... She seemed like a very mixed up woman... Did I hear correctly that she had a sexual relationship with her brother?

From what I remember, her early childhood experiences, and those of her teens, led to her being something of a man hater, didn't it? I mean, after all she went through I'm not suprised she didn't like men.

Of course, I'm not saying that her experiences gave her any right to kill those men.

It makes you think though, that if she had not been subjected to that abuse, would she still have done the crime?

Its the whole nature vs nuture, really. Can a person be born as "evil" or is it just a manifestation of the emotions caused by your experiences?

Even Hitler loved his dog and was kind to small children. But he was still evil. Hi 'twin', Stalin, even when sending half the country to the Gulags, still loved one of his old teachers so much that he protected the teacher from any trouble.

The woman was evil. She behaved in a morally reprehensible way that no amount of investigation of her past can forgive. Look at the millions who survived the concentration camps, the Burma Railway, the Cambodian 'killing fields'. Or on a personal level, anyone who's been abused. It's a tiny minority who become psychopaths, and who's to say that they wouldn't have gone off the deep end anyway.

There are certain behaviours which are unforgivable and unfathomable - IMO there's no point in trying to undesrtand them, jut pop them somewhere where they won't harm anyone else and leave them there until they die.

Joe