Monster: Nobody Truly Knows Who You Are

Innocent until proven guilty, that’s what they say right? I think that’s just one side. The other side is guilty until proven innocent. I mean not that what I think even matters to the system but walk with me on something yeah? From the very moment you get arrested for a crime, the system is going to see you as a monster. From the judge, to the people, the jury, if there’s even one. Your attorney only tries to change how the court sees you.

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Now, Monster is about a 17 year old Steve Harmon whose life came crumbling down the moment he was charged with murder that could land him life imprisonment. Steve’s dream was to become a filmmaker. He was a good kid, from a good home and raised by great parents. Everything was going on well until he got mixed with the wrong company.

I was processing a lot of things while watching the movie. This wasn’t like the regular legal movies I’ve been watching. This movie made me realize that, how people see us is not our responsibility until we end up in the courtroom. In the confines of those walls, you might not even matter. Your whole life, your freedom solely depends on a bunch of strangers(the jury) who are depending on the testimonies of the people around you and other factors to make a decision.

Steve was truly a good kid and he played that role very well. At a point, I was telling myself although looks can be deceiving, nothing on him screams “I can kill someone or even be involved in killing someone”. His parents nailed their roles too. In fact, I like how his dad couldn’t realize his kept bad company because he played the reserved father role well.

My problem was with Steve’s lawyer. she didn’t bring any serious action to the courthouse. It could be that I was expecting too much because I’ve been watching a lot of spicy legal movies but I believe she still could have done better. She didn’t try providing evidence or anything. She didn’t press harder like how the prosecutor did. It also made me feel maybe the movie was focused on other things and not the courthouse part. Either way, courthouse could have been more spicier.

I also didn’t get the prison part. A 17 year old boy in prison? Come on, there should have been some sort of bullying from the other inmates because I know there’s always that one troublesome inmate who makes prison hell for people. There was nothing like that. He probably had a calmer life in prison than he had outside prison.

After watching the movie, I got to understand one thing; do you know that nobody really knows who you are? Except yourself? The moment you get convicted of a crime, your freedom depends on strangers and what the people around you can give them to work with. But then, whether you are truly innocent or a monster, you are the only who knows that.

This movie is definitely getting a solid 6.57/10 because I learned more than enough. Oh and I must admit the cinematography was really good though.

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