Aileen: La reina de las asesinas en serie

I have watched a few dozen documentaries on Aileen, going back to American Justice with Bill Curtis in the mid 1990's. This documentary is more of a sympathetic look at Aileen, from the sense that she was a battered woman, victim of sexual assault, and somewhere along the lines she fought back and lost her way and began to kill men. Part of her is a vigilante, but another part of her lost her way and veered into serial killing men who picked her up.

Some of what this documentary shows is very powerful, and it's hard not to feel bad for Aileen. I actually agree that deep inside Aileen had a good heart which had been broken, and she lashed out. I also think the State of Florida didn't give her a fair trial, but I'm not sure Florida knew what to do with her. Yes, she was a serial killer, but I'm not sure the death penalty was the answer here. And it was wrong for Florida to move her trial to a more conservative part of the State, and wrong to remove the judge who rightfully wanted answers to questions in the case. She deserved a fair trial.

However, I think there as a darker side to Aileen as well, and this documentary doesn't show too much of that. It never veers into her later victims, and I think that is wrong because my understanding is they did not sexually assault her but they reminded her of people who had. And I don't think this documentary explored her relationship with the woman she claimed to have loved very well, so I wasn't really sure what to make of the connection between Aileen and her parter and how that linked to the murders. Did Aileen kill to provide for her partner too? Etc.

Either way, I do think this documentary shows Aileen was a a tragic figure more than an evil person, and somewhere inside you wish you could help her. Also, I think if Aileen had a colder heart she probably never would have killed - but rather, because she had a big heart to begin with when life hurt her...she exploded.

Pull up her Wikipedia page while watching this documentary, and you'll see how wickedly one sided it is. Whilst it's a strong champion against violence against women - it becomes painfully clear halfway through that this documentary was never meant to unveil the fair truth.

There is a reason they only focus one the first murder, and never talk about her youth (which included dozens of cases of assault, on her husband and innocent bystanders) car theft and so much more.

Not to mention the other murders which seem to be quite cold blooded, with a former child abuse investigator shot dead and another whose body was never found.

The documentary fails to explore both sides of the story, which would've made for a much better story to be honest. Her character and backstory is so fascinating that it's almost insulting the documentary fails to tell it properly.

From a technical level, the story is told through old footage and interviews which do give a nice candid glimpse into the 90s.

4/10.

Aileen Wuornos was taken advantage of and abused by just about every single person in her life. That includes the justice system in this case. She did murder people though. Her story is just about one of the saddest things I've ever heard about. For her, her victims, and the families. This documentary is very well done. It really does underline the documentaries Nick Broomfield did as well. I think it's clear she killed the first time in self defense. We could have found out for sure if the prosecution and state weren't so happy to get tv shows, movies, and books made. John Tanner should be brought up on charges for hiding and ignoring evidence. The media and the justice system wanted that "female serial killer" angle so badly that they ignored all else. Does any of that mean Aileen didn't murder people... no. She did, and the families and victims deserved justice. None of these things are exclusionary. You can have empathy for the victims and the murderer, and in this case it's difficult not to.

To be sure, this isn't the most Earth-shatrering documentary. Much of the footage is derived from previously-aired interviews and news specials on the eponymous convicted killer created several years ago (think 90's and early 2000's). Moreover, much of the "home movie" footage contained therein is similarly lackluster in that very little of it seems to be of Aileen and/or her family, (but of unrelated people and places splashed across the screen during voice-over sequences instead).

No, there's not much new here for the eyes. The film's novelty pertains more to its themes surrounding the additive, compounding effects of trauma and abuse, as well as the narratives and injustices only visible after 3+ decades of retrospective analysis. Such important, highly relevant themes may be hard for victims of crime to stomach. Still, their lessons must be shared. Until we create more inclusive, compassionate, and egalitarian social conditions, such gut-churning, difficult-to-understand personalities will surely be created again, and we'll be forced to ask ourselves once more: Does capital punishment really help anyone?

I dislike docs that have zero creative input. No current interviews from detectives, attorneys, family members, or whoever was involved with the murder cases. No crime scene analysis. No reenactments. Not even adding a timeline of events!? It's literally just old footage mashed together into a film. That's it. So lazy. I kept thinking when is it going to get good, it doesn't. I wanted to know more about the details of crimes she committed and opinions from experts.