Is Serial Mom Based on a True Story? Director John Waters sets the record straight

John Waters satirical black comedy horror Serial Mom leading many viewers to believe that the movie is based on a true story, although the claim is not entirely true. One of John Waters’ classic movies, Serial MomKathleen Turner stars as Beverly Sutphin, an unassuming upper-middle-class housewife who has a dark secret: she’s a serial killer. The targets of her murders are anyone she feels has offended her or broken the unspoken rules about quiet, suburban life. As the police get closer to catching her, Beverly doubles down on the murder.

Although Serial Mom A flop at the box office, it grew into a cult classic. The dedicated performances of Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricky Lake, and a young Matthew Lillard and some smart kills make Serial Mom A film that is a joy to watch from start to finish. The film isn’t just an excuse for Waters to showcase his love for gore and absurdity. Serial Mom is a biting satire about the dark side of suburban living. It’s so close to home that some fans wonder if it’s actually based on a true story.

John Waters said that Serial Mom is a satire

Serial Mom is not based on a true story

The beginning of Serial Mom opens with the quote,

“This film is based on a true story. No one involved in the true crimes received any financial compensation.”

It closes with a card that reads,

Beverly Sutphin refused to cooperate with the making of the film.

So it’s understandable why some viewers might believe this is a true story, John Waters immediately says so twice. However, there are no rules about lying to audiences in a feature film. A director can say and do whatever they want. The Coen brothers famously opened Fargo with the title card,

“The events depicted in the film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest is told exactly as it happened.”

Despite the apparent seriousness of this note, it is completely false. In fact, both of these Fargo TV show and the movie are fictional creations. So it is true for Serial Momwhat Waters readily admitted that was not based on a true story. The cards are simply a fun hobby. Waters discusses the “true story” cards and their effects on audiences (via The NewBev),

“People really believed it was real — a lot of people. They said, ‘Well, what happened to her? Where is she?’ It was meant to be believable in a way, and today they might even believe it more because there’s so much of that kind of stuff on TV.

However, Waters has always referred to Serial Mom As a satire (by EW),

“Each one of my movies is a satire of a genre. Hairspray was a dance movie. Crybaby was a musical. Serial Mom is true-crime. Each one satirized a certain genre.”

Waters saw the interests of audiences in true-crime movies, television shows and news programs and decided to make a send-up of them. instead of the usual extraneous evil killers of some Cruising, ManhunterAnd My bloody valentine, Serial Mom The most innocent caricature of all as the killer, a smiling, suburban mother.

The fact that people are so willing to believe it is based on a true story says a lot about the feelings of suburban life. It was, and is, the feeling that the nicest neighbor can hide a dark secret, a suspicion of true-crime news and shows. Despite Serial Mom Not based on one story, perhaps for some viewers, the idea of ​​a murderous mother would not be so radical.

There are real-life cases of murderous mothers

Female serial killers may have inspired John Waters

Although there are no real-life cases just like the one in Serial Mom, There are many stories of murderous women and female serial killers who have killed their family and friends. Audrey Marie Healy is a notorious suspected serial killer who was incarcerated after she was found guilty of the murder of her husband, Frank, by poisoning, and the attempted murder. From her daughter, Carol (by) CrimeLibrary). A similar story is that of Aileen Wuornos, a serial killer who was convicted of killing six people while working as a sex worker in Florida (via APNews).

One of the most famous cases of an American woman going on a killing spree comes from the late 19th century. Lizzie Borden was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with an ax in 1892 (by American Heritage). Although she was free, she was ostracized by her community and today’s historians consider it likely that Borden committed the crime. Borden’s life has become something of an American folk tale, and It is possible that Waters’ was inspired by the gruesome storyIn particular, the media circus that surrounded Borden’s trial, a similar circus depicted at the end of Serial Mom.

Serial Mom could have predicted the OJ Simpson trial

The end of Serial Mom mirrors the media frenzy of the OJ Simpson trial

If Waters wasn’t inspired by Lizzie Borden, then It could be argued that Serial Mom Predicted the OJ Simpson trialWhich happened only a year later Serial Mom Premiere. The OJ trial was not only monumental because of the murder of Nicole Brown and who was charged with the crime, but because of the media frenzy that surrounded it. Reporting of the event and the cultural conversation around it could be considered sensationalist and voyeuristic, with every moment of the process being televised.

The end of Serial Mom Has similar scenes of media mayhem. Misty (Lake), Beverly’s daughter, even makes T-shirts outside the courthouse where her mother’s trial is being held, something that actually happened during Simpson’s trial (via Hollywood Suite). Like Simpson, Beverly gets away, much to the public’s outrage. It’s an oddly prescient finale to Serial Mom And Reveals Waters’ ability to have his finger on the pulse of AmericaUnderstanding things about them that they may not even know.

Beverly listens to recordings of Ted Bundy, a real-life serial killer

Ted Bundy and Beverly Sutphin are alike

There is one real-world reference to serial killers in Serial Mom. Beverly, the sadistic woman that she is, often listens to tapes of Ted Bundy in her spare time. Waters voices Bundy in the tapes, which are fictional recordings of the man speaking in the week leading up to his execution. While the contents of the tapes were made up, Ted Bundy was an accused serial killer who confessed to killing over 30 people (via Biography).

Like Beverly, Bundy presented himself as an upstanding member of the community, deeply involved and generally kind to those he met. However, both the character and the real person harbored dark views of the world. While Serial Mom Not specifically adapting any true stories, Waters’ understanding of human nature makes the film feel like something that could happen. That insight into humanity proved accurate only a year later when the end of his film was true.