Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer

Aileen Wuornos has to be the most abused, used and betrayed person that I've ever seen. Her lawyer was one of the most inept, brainless people in the world. I can't believe he went to law school. The person that adopted her just so she could get money from her (and then justified it with religion) was a huge piece of shit and I'm glad Broomfield told her that to her face. The movie suffers from terrible voice over narration and some really poorly shot footage. But it is sorta fascinating.

I was not very keen on watching this, but if you really want to understand the concept of "Media Circus" you need to see how this story unveils. There is a lawyer that makes Saul in Breaking Bad look like a pillar of ethics, there is a conniving religious nut, which would be better cast as a witch in a Andersen story, and the underlying misogyny in the whole process is quite chilling. So basically she does not get punished for what she did (murder) but who she is (a lesbian prostitute).

The lawyer and the person who adopts Aileen.. Fuck it, everyone in this documentary apart from Aileen are just poor excuses for a human being.. Sad story, a well made documentary apart from Broomfield's bad vo's.

Decent enough documentary.

Wow. Sad story. And what sort of crazy is old Arlene?

My second Broomfield documentary, and I'm beginning to see his flavor. His films are meta-constructions: They are organized as chronicles of how Broomfeld actually made the film. This transparent technique provides a somewhat procedural structure: We only find out things as he does. His attempts to meet with Wuornos here provide an additional benefit: We can see how Wuornos' "persona" is managed, an obscene brand that can be commercially packaged and exploited to a voyeuristic public.

Other than Aileen and to a lesser extent the client of hers who is interviewed, everyone comes across as opportunistic, mostly at her expense, including in ways that should have landed them in trouble rather than wealth. The documentary is superb.

Broomfield, in his infinite wisdom, quickly realizes that those surrounding Aileen are much more fucked and interesting than the sad, abused woman in the eye of the storm.

It's just incredibly sad when people take advantage of the less powerful. It seems Aileen never escaped that reality: people took advantage of her before incarceration, and they continued to do so after. The film itself works this theme in a coherent fashion, but its lack of interaction with the main players (who seem to be trying to deflect the filmmakers constantly) and an over-reliance on VO creates a pretty frustrating experience.

It seems that a substantial piece of writing could be produced (maybe it already has) on the varying nature, implications, and depiction of Broomfield's practice of compensating sources for their involvement. Everyone is invited to participate without, but the particulars of their demands can offer significant insights into the subject at hand, and participants' comments. This film is almost defined by the practice, the effects of which will figure heavily in Broomfield's 2003 "sequel".

This is either the most candid documentary ever, or it's literally its own making-of featurette.