Well, watch the movie, I guess. Nothing will seem funny for awhile after that.

I knew a woman, the sister of another woman I went out with. Let's call her (the sister) "J" and the woman I went out with "A". J was a very unstable character who could have done well in life if not for the tremendous levels of anger she carried inside. The 2 sisters had grown up in an extremely dysfunctional family. The mother and father were both alcoholics, as were most other people in the immediate area around there. They and most of the people they knew were also chronically unemployed and on welfare. Their father, still a rather young man at the time, fell down a flight of stairs (due to being drunk) and died when "A" was around age 10.   Both sisters were raped and sexually abused by various "friends" and relatives on numerous occasions. Both were later placed in a series of foster homes, along with their brother, and further instances of sexual abuse occurred in several of the foster homes. The brother ended up committing suicide at age 20. The girls went through a series of unsucessful relationships with men. "J" was apparently very good looking back then, and she was good at finding boyfriends, but she was too angry and volatile to stay with them very long.

The strangest thing about "J" was her sudden mood swings. She could be absolutely charming, lively, and entertaining, great fun to be around...and then suddenly she would take offence over something and flare up into a bitter, raging fury...at which point it was hell being around her. It didn't matter who you were or what was going on, you never knew when this rage would come pouring out of her at you over some seemingly trivial thing that she attached great significance to. It was frightening, and it resulted in people avoiding her if they could.

This made it basically almost impossible for "J" to hold down a job or sustain any relationship, unless she could find someone who had some emotional need to be abused, punished on a regular basis.

I can understand why "J" would have been angry. She went through hell as a child, and was abused by a lot of people. She learned to trust no one. The same was true of her sister, "A". They both basically trusted no one, were certain that no one could ever love them, considered themselevs unlovable, and expected to be betrayed by anyone they were close to. Such expectations become self-fulfilling, because no one can put up with being around someone like that for very long. It's too stressful.

Living with "A" was a very painful experience, and I lived with her for 3 years. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Having "J" around on her occasional visits was even worse. I eventually reached the point where I absolutely refused all contact with them, changed my phone number, and avoided them by any means possible...as was the case with all of "J"'s and "A"'s previous boyfriends.

I don't find what happened to Aileen Wuornos surprising, in the light of that. Her young life was similarly disastrous. The thing about the movie that is so remarkable was that it somehow managed to make you aware of the essential value of this person whose life had gone hopelessly negative. It made you aware of the utter tragedy of her lost potential as a good and loving human being...a potential that was certainly fully there when she was born.

Both "A" and "J" had great potential as human beings. They were smart, capable people, gifted in many ways. But their childhood experiences bent them totally out of shape. I couldn't deal with it. I don't know who could. That's what's so sad about it.

May God help them...because I very much doubt that they will find help anywhere else. The same went for Aileen Wuornos.