Been to see film MONSTER....

[leslie flenner]

no not the movie but the scene being horrid, reminds me of the movie made by michael j fox and shawn penn in vietnam - i do not remember the name of the movie. But the first time I saw it was in my hometown when we still had the full screen theaters in the regular downtown. So when the rape scene happened, I put my fingers in my ears and walked upstairs to the balcony and all around the lobby area till it was over. I'll bet that theater is torn down now (it's where I saw Dog Day Afternoon, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, and a million other great shows and i'm off track i know.

[sirrahbed]

I finally watched the movie - at home, this weekend. I guess I had myself prepared because I was emotionally distanced enough to find it fascinating. I am next watching the 2004 version of the documentary "Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer". I understand that the purpose of the director was to delve deeply into the background of the woman behind the crimes. Yes, she was a criminal and of course she had to be punished. But, we can learn a great deal by understanding her pain. It does not make excuses or imply that defense should be easy on criminals. This is a very unique individual with an unusual life that is worth learning about.

The movie IS gritty and difficult so I am glad I read a good deal about it before I went to see it and also that I viewed it at HOME. The transformation of Charlize Theron itself was worth seeing. I think the dark lifeless contact lenses and the mouthpiece were the most amazing. One thing I learned was that Charlize gained weight not because Aileen was fat - she wasn't, but because Aileen hated her body. This was a way Charlize could relate to hating her own body - by gaining the weight.