Yes, Charlize Theron is indeed scary.

In my never ending drive to see every film worth merit (and many that truly aren't), I recently rented Monster, the biopic of prostitute/serial killer Aileen Wuornos. A little bit of an obvious reading of gender messages, but never the less an important one. The film is largely sympathetic to Aileen's plight in life, but never to Aileen herself. One finds the reasoning behind her first murder to be completely valid, but the audience loses faith in her when she continues to kill and chooses to handle things badly. 

What I find most ironic about this film is not the film itself, but the buzz created by actress Theron's transformation into this woman. She gained thirty pounds, teased her hair and the make-up people gave her some lovely sun-damaged skin. A South African Goddess became what Marla would refer to as "Infectious Human Waste." For me this was the true source of horror in this film. You would see Aileen in the mirror primping and trying to look her best and all one could wonder was if this was the same women. 

This aspect was referred to in a episode of the forgotten critical darling, Arrested Development. Charlize was playing a jubilant love interest for Jason Bateman's lead. As Rita's (Theron's) uncle is speaking about the amount of surgery she has undergone, he mentions that the situation would be different if they had only met a year earlier. At this point an image of Aileen in Monster appears on the screen. 

As her character is "mentally challenged," does this stereotype such individuals as so? Maybe, but it's really humorous. And a stereotype does not necessitate truth. It is my belief that mildly offensive humor is needed sometimes to keep us from getting to full of ourselves. I'm now of to prolong any studying and read Rant by Chuck Palahniuck.

I Can't Have No Affair Because It's Wrong And I Don't Want Earl To Kill Me Pie...

I'm going to take some time out of my normal ramblings to mourn the loss of Adrienne Shelly and her possible contributions to the film world. Two years ago a film appeared on the indie circuit that garnered a lot of buzz, mostly because of the premature death of its director/writer/actress. This film was Waitress and it's director was Ms. Shelly. Shortly before her murder in her New York apartment, the film was accepted into the Sundance Film Festival where the recent news garnered it buzz and gave people the opportunity to view it differently. As it stands alone, the film is comic and serious, real and unreal all at the same time. Knowing the story behind Adrienne's tragic death only makes it all the more poignant.

The premise of this story is a small town waitress who is pregnant with her husband's child. She wants neither the baby nor the husband. Her marriage is loveless and even though she is a "Pie genius," and her friends are either single or have an invalid husband, they would not rather be her. What I personally find most real about the film is not the affair that she has, nor her talent with pies, but rather the behavior of her husband. In all his comic immaturity, he reminds me greatly of some men I know. Unlike Earl, they are not abusive, but still retain that immaturity that makes you wonder how they can function without a mother figure to tie their shoes. It is clear in this film that is what Jenna (the waitress character) is to him. Earl is insecure at best and controlling at worst. He also deludes himself, taking Jenna's admission that she is leaving him as a joke. It is not necessarily that he is a bad guy. Jenna seems to have just been lying down and taking his abuse for so long that it has become commonplace. Despite his tantrums, he seems very devoted to her, just not nearly as mentally developed. I do not blame Earl, but rather Jenna for not standing up for herself in her own marriage and letting certain behaviors be considered acceptable. Though with the birth of her daughter Lulu, she seems to be very devoted to her, one wonders what she will let her get away with. Is Lulu to become a spoiled brat like Earl?