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Stossel : Awarding a False Truth? Monster Presents Blurry Picture of Killer
ABCNews ^ | 2/13/04 | John Stossel

Posted on 02/13/2004 1:41:28 PM PST by ZGuy

The Academy Awards are coming up with Charlize Theron favored to win the Best Actress award for her role in Monster, which claims it is "based on a true story." But it is not as true as you might think.

Theron has already picked up the Golden Globe for Monster, and I'd give Theron an award too — she transformed herself for the movie.

Theron gained 30 pounds by doing things like eating Krispy Kreme donuts, and with the help of makeup artists, she changed her glamorous self into a dead ringer for serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who was convicted and then executed 12 years ago in Florida.

In the movie, Wuornos is presented as a killer with a soft side in a loving lesbian relationship with her girlfriend, as played by Christina Ricci.

But the real criminal had a deadly side, too. And here's the problem: If filmmakers say their movie is "based on a true story," shouldn't the heart of the story be true?

Down on Her Luck, or Brutal Killer?

Wuornos was a prostitute and hitchhiked across central Florida to find customers. In the movie, she tries to go straight but society lets her down, making it difficult for her to find a job, so she returns to the streets.

As Monster tells it, one john brutally beats and rapes Wuornos in some very disturbing scenes. When the attacker threatens to kill her, she shoots him in self-defense. When moviegoers see the graphic rape scene, many feel Wuornos is the victim. This has family members of the real victims unhappy.

Theron helped produce the film, and talks about the research she did while promoting the film. I would think the research would include talking to the prosecutor, John Tanner, who spent years investigating Wuornos and the seven men she killed. But he was not consulted.

"You know, these men had wives. They have daughters, brothers, sons, friends," Tanner told ABCNEWS. "And anyone that sees that film is left with the impression that — at least some of the men that were murdered deserved to die and that she was acting in self-defense. It's a total lie."

Wuornos even admitted that her crimes, committed in Florida in the 1980s, were not "self-defense." During her trial, Wuornos took the stand and said she "robbed" the men and killed them "as cold as ice."

"And I'd do it again, too, I know I'd kill another person, 'cause I've hated humans for a long time," said Wuornos. She then continued to claim the men were innocent while in prison, after she said she found God.

"I want to come clean. There is no self-defense," said Wuornos. "And so I need to come clean, I need to tell the world that there is no self-defense in my cases."

Victims’ Families Ignored

When picking up her Golden Globe for her performance, Theron thanked lots of people, but she never once mentioned the families of the murdered men.

"I don't think they cared about the victims' families," said Linda Yates. Her mother was engaged to Gino Antonio, when Wuornos killed him. "[Wuornos] was just a vicious person," said Yates.

In fact, the filmmakers didn't talk to any of the victims families. Mike Humphreys' dad was also murdered. He has a problem with the way the movie was produced: "I don't think that they ought to do this to the victims out there," said Humphreys.

"This movie is portraying her as a victim," said Letha Prater. "She isn't. She was not a victim. My brother was a victim."

Most of the family members won't go to the movie.

The movie does acknowledge Wuornos killed one man who was trying to help her, but all the others are shown as johns. The families say that's cruel to them.

I confronted Brad Wyman, one of Monster's producers.

I told him that while in the movie, Wuornos' character is tied up, beaten and raped, but in reality, she said that never happened. "I believe she said that in order to actually try to expedite her own execution," said Wyman. "She really wanted to end her own personal tragedy."

Wyman said the filmmaker did her best to protect the victims in the portrayal, changing details including their license plates and the color of their cars. But they never spoke to the victims' families because, as Wyman puts it, they did not want to "unearth more tragedy in their lives."

Wyman explained why the film took liberties with some facts. "It's not a documentary. I mean in no way is it," said Wyman. "It is a dramatic portrayal searching for kind of a greater truth rather than a … a factual truth."

A greater truth than factual truth?

Give me a break.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: film; hollyweird; movie; stossel; wuornos
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1 posted on 02/13/2004 1:41:28 PM PST by ZGuy
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To: ZGuy
Go see a good movie like The Station Master.
2 posted on 02/13/2004 1:46:14 PM PST by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: billorites
Duh, I mean The Station Agent.
3 posted on 02/13/2004 1:48:00 PM PST by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: ZGuy
Theron gained 30 pounds by doing things like eating Krispy Kreme donuts

This is known in Hollywood as the "Liz Taylor Diet".

4 posted on 02/13/2004 1:48:27 PM PST by Leroy S. Mort
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To: ZGuy
This resembles a pattern I have seen for a long time. Movies that have homosexual themes in them are praised by critics without the reviewer mentioning it.
5 posted on 02/13/2004 1:48:52 PM PST by ikka
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To: ZGuy
A greater truth than factual truth?

Well, it works for John Kerry, who said - with regard to whether Clinton should be impeached for having committed perjury - "I believe there are issues of greater significance than the facts of this case." Link.

6 posted on 02/13/2004 1:49:44 PM PST by mountaineer (Metaphors be with you!)
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To: ZGuy
As soon as I saw the word 'lesbian', I knew that Hollywood would gloss over the truth and portray HER as the victim.
7 posted on 02/13/2004 1:51:05 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn’t be, in its eyes, a slave.)
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To: ZGuy
...executed 12 years ago in Florida

She was executed in 2002.

8 posted on 02/13/2004 1:55:19 PM PST by Grut
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To: ZGuy
A greater truth than factual truth...

Which brings us to the world we live in today....

9 posted on 02/13/2004 2:00:40 PM PST by anniegetyourgun
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To: ZGuy
"Based-on-a-true-story" biopics almost always seem to stretch the truth and leave out inconvenient or un-PC facts. Makes for a more crowd-pleasing movie, and (probably more importantly) helps the lead actor get that Oscar nomination. (See also: The Hurricane starring Denzel Washington, A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, etc)
10 posted on 02/13/2004 2:30:01 PM PST by Dr. Frank fan
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To: ZGuy
I agree with Stossel on the merits of the film.

I do have to give props to the makeup artists.

They turned this:

Into this:

To portray this:

11 posted on 02/13/2004 2:34:10 PM PST by Dr._Joseph_Warren
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To: ZGuy
Theron gained 30 pounds by doing things like eating Krispy Kreme donuts, and with the help of makeup artists, she changed her glamorous self into a dead ringer for serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who was convicted and then executed 12 years ago in Florida.

In Hollywood, gaining weight and looking unattractive for a role is considered the height of acting. She'll get the Oscar just for that alone.

12 posted on 02/13/2004 2:59:35 PM PST by NYCVirago
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To: Blood of Tyrants
As soon as I saw the word 'lesbian', I knew that Hollywood would gloss over the truth and portray HER as the victim. . . . .

. . . and nominate her for an Academy Award for portraying a lesbian.

Last year anyone who made a movie about a homosexual or played one was nominated or won an award; this year the Oscars go to Bush bashers.

13 posted on 02/13/2004 4:15:35 PM PST by 3catsanadog (When anything goes, everything does.)
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To: anniegetyourgun
A greater truth than factual truth...

That speaks volumes. This guy subconsciously dropped the dime on what liberalism is about.

Orwell couldn't have described it better.

14 posted on 02/13/2004 4:22:11 PM PST by gg188
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To: ZGuy
Check out some reviews of this film: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Monster-1128647/

Crap like this:

"Theron, Jenkins [and Ricci] get to the heart of the matter, which is that this criminal is a badly damaged human. We deeply feel that healing requires more than lip service."
-- Gregory Weinkauf, NEW TIMES
15 posted on 02/13/2004 4:23:44 PM PST by CyberCowboy777 (Only a foolish man would seek understanding only to reject paths still unexplored.)
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To: CyberCowboy777
All killers are badly damaged humans.

Thats why it makes sense to execute them.
16 posted on 02/13/2004 4:51:22 PM PST by philetus (Keep doing what you always do and you'll keep getting what you always get)
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To: 3catsanadog
this year the Oscars go to Bush bashers.

And how is that different from last year?

17 posted on 02/13/2004 5:40:30 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn’t be, in its eyes, a slave.)
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To: ZGuy
Theron starred in another gem also..."Cider House Rules".

She's the new anti-God queen.

18 posted on 02/13/2004 6:12:46 PM PST by what's up
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To: gg188
So true....so true....
19 posted on 02/13/2004 6:41:49 PM PST by anniegetyourgun
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To: ZGuy
John Stossel is the best.
These filmamkers never seem to learn. As sson as the public gets wind that a film "based on a true story" is nothing but a Hollywoodized, politically correct drek-umentary, they get turned off. It happened with Hurricane, and it happened with Reagan, and it has happened many other times as well. Moviegoers, especially, don't like being played for suckers and they don't like it when movies which are sold as "true stories" are riddled with half-truths, bent-truths and outright fabrications - - they would rather have pure fiction, thank you.

"It is a dramatic portrayal searching for kind of a greater truth rather than a … a factual truth." - - Brad Wyman

I think I'm going to be sick.
20 posted on 02/13/2004 6:56:51 PM PST by Lancey Howard
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