I cried during this episode of Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. More than once. First I cried when Aileen Wuornos described her childhood of brutal physical and sexual abuse to her hallucinated idol, Lizzie Borden. Then I cried when Bridget and Lizzie shared one last dance to “Smalltown Boy,” Bronski Beat’s mournful dance classic about an ostracized young gay man leaving home, while Aileen Wuornos and her girlfriend Shelby somehow join in.
I found this material deeply affecting. It made me sad to think about how some people have to feel the way these people were made to feel. It made me think how beautiful any moment of escape can be, whether through music or sex. (Murder is just the Monster-verse’s misguided attempt to find that kind of transcendence through violence.) I thought these scenes were beautiful. They moved me to tears.
I’m saying all this up front just so you know if you’re in the right place or not. If you find this kind of true-crime material distasteful, if you find Ryan Murphy (who does not appear to have been particularly involved in this season, certainly not as a writer) distasteful, if these factors are enough to preclude you from enjoying the show, I understand. I also disagree, and that’s the perspective from which I’m writing. Monster is a surreal exploration of life as an outsider as reflected in the lives of famous killers, their victims, and the legends surrounding them all; it moves me to tears, and to me, that’s worth both examining and celebrating.
I reviewed episode six of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story for Decider.
Tags: decider, horror, Monster, monster: the lizzie borden story, TV, TV reviews