I'm not if sure the term "generational trauma" existed in 1995, but that is, ultimately, what this three-part limited docuseries from Netflix is all about.
Body-builder and marine Sally' McNeills parents were alcoholics when they raised her. She was abused, physically and otherwise, in childhood. Her first husband abused her, and her second husband abused her. Her children grew up to be both abusers and the abused. Both went into the military where, like their mother, they acquired PTSD. Shawntina (sp?) got into an abusive relationship while serving, and John fell into drugs and alcohol after his final tour. (He claims he was "very bad" to a woman who loved him, hinting at his own abusiveness.)
From director Nanette Burstein (Hillary), Killer Sally at least seems to indicate *some* closure for John and Shawntina. It seems we do progress, somewhat, as a species: We learn from the growing field of psychology. Shawntina was able to escape her abusive relationship, John was able to (seemingly) recover from drugs and alcohol by attending to rehab. And Sally appears to have some insight about her life and behavior.
As far as the murder at the center of this story, I have no doubt Sally was in possession of her faculties when she murdered Ray -- she went back into the bedroom for another round and reloaded the shotgun, then shot him again (in the face). That's not self-defense, per se.
But I also don't doubt that Sally was a battered woman. And that, on some level, her action *was* a form of self-defense. Even "premeditated" must have degrees. There are very deliberate, very acute actions from a person with perfect clarity of mind, and then there are shades of duress. Even free will is arguable.
But we have to have laws, we have to have a functioning society. Whether or not it was a perfectly moral solution for Sally to spend 25 years in prison, "justice was served" nevertheless. We can't have people pumping slugs into their spouses and just walking away, even if they do seem a bit battered and full of PTSD and say "Valentimes Day."
In terms of the craft of this documentary, kudos to Netflix for not protracting it into five or more episodes. Three was just right. However, Killer Sally seemed to be missing something. It wasn't the prescient meditation on battered woman syndrome it could have been. It didn't delve very deeply into the question of steroid use, or PTSD, and how these could have affected the behaviors of both Ray and Sally.
While body-building is a fascinating and bizarre world, and its off-shoot, wrestling (particularly body-builder women wrestling submissive men for money) is also bizarre, the series didn't get particularly deep here either.
It wasn't a riveting courtroom drama, nor a gritty forensic account of a controversial murder. It was a little bit of all of theses things, but not enough of any one of them to make it very memorable.
6/10.
Body-builder and marine Sally' McNeills parents were alcoholics when they raised her. She was abused, physically and otherwise, in childhood. Her first husband abused her, and her second husband abused her. Her children grew up to be both abusers and the abused. Both went into the military where, like their mother, they acquired PTSD. Shawntina (sp?) got into an abusive relationship while serving, and John fell into drugs and alcohol after his final tour. (He claims he was "very bad" to a woman who loved him, hinting at his own abusiveness.)
From director Nanette Burstein (Hillary), Killer Sally at least seems to indicate *some* closure for John and Shawntina. It seems we do progress, somewhat, as a species: We learn from the growing field of psychology. Shawntina was able to escape her abusive relationship, John was able to (seemingly) recover from drugs and alcohol by attending to rehab. And Sally appears to have some insight about her life and behavior.
As far as the murder at the center of this story, I have no doubt Sally was in possession of her faculties when she murdered Ray -- she went back into the bedroom for another round and reloaded the shotgun, then shot him again (in the face). That's not self-defense, per se.
But I also don't doubt that Sally was a battered woman. And that, on some level, her action *was* a form of self-defense. Even "premeditated" must have degrees. There are very deliberate, very acute actions from a person with perfect clarity of mind, and then there are shades of duress. Even free will is arguable.
But we have to have laws, we have to have a functioning society. Whether or not it was a perfectly moral solution for Sally to spend 25 years in prison, "justice was served" nevertheless. We can't have people pumping slugs into their spouses and just walking away, even if they do seem a bit battered and full of PTSD and say "Valentimes Day."
In terms of the craft of this documentary, kudos to Netflix for not protracting it into five or more episodes. Three was just right. However, Killer Sally seemed to be missing something. It wasn't the prescient meditation on battered woman syndrome it could have been. It didn't delve very deeply into the question of steroid use, or PTSD, and how these could have affected the behaviors of both Ray and Sally.
While body-building is a fascinating and bizarre world, and its off-shoot, wrestling (particularly body-builder women wrestling submissive men for money) is also bizarre, the series didn't get particularly deep here either.
It wasn't a riveting courtroom drama, nor a gritty forensic account of a controversial murder. It was a little bit of all of theses things, but not enough of any one of them to make it very memorable.
6/10.