To mark the release of the latest instalment in the Monster series, we look back at this infamous case
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY NETFLIX
If you’re into true crime, it’s likely that you’ve already marked your calendars for the release of the new instalment in Ryan Murphy’s Monster series, The Lizzie Borden Story.
Unlike his previous series about killers like Jeffrey Dahmer or Ed Gein, this new series focuses on women who kill. At the heart of this story is Lizzie Borden, a woman who was tried and acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe in 1892. The series also explores the story of Aileen Wuornos, who was branded as a “lesbian serial killer” after she killed seven men between 1989 and 1990.
Ryan has already described this new series as “women-driven, feminist, lesbian, dirty, unapologetic.” But was Lizzie Borden actually a lesbian?
Well, the short answer is that we don’t know. There have been multiple queer retellings and imaginings of Lizzie’s story throughout history. Nearly 100 years after her infamous trial, Ed McBain released the novel Lizzie, which imagined the possibility of her having an affair with her maid, Bridget Sullivan. In the book, the murder is prompted after her father and stepmother find out. This theory was once again reimagined in the 2018 film Lizzie, which starred Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart in this torrid, murderous affair.
While there is no real evidence to suggest that Lizzie was a lesbian, many have come up with compelling theories. Lizzie was 32 and unmarried when she was arrested for murder, something which would have been unusual at the time. After she was acquitted, Lizzie struck up a friendship with actor Nance O’Neil. There were rumours about a potential romantic relationship between the pair, but nothing was ever confirmed.
Okay, so we may never know whether Lizzie was a lesbian. But what about Aileen Wuornos? In Ryan’s new series, the story of Aileen Wuornos, played by Sarah Paulson, is used to further explore female rage. Aileen received the death penalty after she was convicted of killing at least seven men while working as a sex worker. We do know that Aileen was in a relationship with a woman called Tyria Moore, who eventually agreed to help investigators get a confession in exchange for immunity. Tyria became a key witness for the prosecution, testifying that Aileen had told her about the murders, therefore contradicting Aileen’s earlier claims that she had acted in self-defence. Aileen was executed by lethal injection in 2002.
You can watch Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story on Netflix now.
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The Netflix movie Monster Lizzy Bordon was so bad I only watched part one and have no intention on finishing it. Totally un historically acute all it was from the beginning was a lesbian love story. I thought it was going to be accurate according to what we know of Lizzy and start off with things regarding her childhood leading up to her life that made her allegedly murder her father and stepmother. They didn’t even show Emma at all the entire first episode. Just lesbian porn what a let down! The other Monster series were so good.