The sins committed by mothers are often held within the hearts of their daughters. Did the Netflix Series solve or add to the story of the most famous axe murderer?
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story
Creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan have picked a famous American crime to showcase as the subject of the fourth season of their hit anthology series. The series is well done and, as expected, Ryan and Ian…both male…try to explain female rage. LOL. Nice try, guys! Don’t get me wrong, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is excellent and the fudged retelling, risqué to say the least, and this Granny is highly recommending that you watch the series.
The cast of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is perfect for their characters. You can’t mess up a series with cast members like Ella Beatty, Vicky Krieps, Charlie Hunnam, Rebecca Hall, Billie Lourd, Jessica Barden, Joey Pollari, and Sarah ‘Freaking’ Paulson!!!! The genius of comparing the stories of Aileen Wuornos and Lizzie Borden was surprisingly easy to understand.
Ella Beatty’s character Lizzie was definitely a case study in mental abuse by both her father (Charlie Hunnam) and her stepmother (Rebecca Hall). And even though Murphy and Brennan wanted to focus on women in the time period of repression…Lizzy was not completely innocent. In fact, Lizzie was quite passive aggressive. Lizzie’s actions and non-actions caused ripples in the structure of the home itself.
Abby (Rebecca Hall) had her own trauma to deal with. Her family is dead, and she is almost destitute; Abby marries Andrew (Charlie Hunnam) and inherits two daughters…Emma (Billie Lourd) and a little girl who never accepted this stranger as mother. The bitter words directed at Lizzie come from Abby’s knowledge that she is also a prisoner of the times. Where Lizzie takes pleasure in her doves…Abby sees the comparison as a gilded cage.
Vicky Krieps played both Maggie Sullivan, the maid, and the bloodthirsty Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Krieps’ Maggie calms Lizzie’s anger. The women of wealth may have felt caged, but it was the women in servitude that truly represented the description of repression. Even Krieps portrayal of the infamous Countess Bathory allows the viewer to understand, if not partially forgive, the horrors committed by the countess.
Conclusion
I saved the best for last. Jessica Barden, as Nance O’Neil, added the cleverness and humour this bloodbath so desperately needed…but it was Sarah ‘freaking’ Paulson who stole the series…at least for me. First up…whoever did the makeup should get some type of Academy Award. I did not recognize Sarah Paulson. She portrays Aileen Wuornos, another famous serial killer, but in this series she’s obsessed with Lizzie Borden.
The strange part is that I felt more mercy for Aileen Wuornos than for Lizzie Borden. Lizzie had never been raped by family members. Lizzie knew where her next meal was coming from. Yes, Lizzie was repressed in that she didn’t have her own money or property. She didn’t have the right to vote or choose her husband…but she was better off than Aileen.
Abby, Emma, and Lizzie were protected because of their status, whereas Maggie and women like her were forced into gruelling physical labour and faced constant hunger and homelessness. Aileen may have had the right to vote, but as a child, her voice was taken by abuse at the hands of those whose job it was to protect.
What lesson does Monsters: The Lizzie Borden Story leave us with? Blood is power and freedom…and sometimes, bad oysters or an axe is an unhappy woman’s best friend. Watch the show on Netflix. It’s bloody good.
