"Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll call it what the lady prosecutor called me ... Monster."
Monster is a 1999 Young Adult novel by Walter Dean Myers.
16-year-old budding filmmaker Steve Harmon is on trial for felony murder. He's looking at possibly spending the rest of his life in prison, due to being accused of taking part in an armed robbery which got a man killed. While trying to survive in jail, he's also writing a journal in the form of a screenplay to help himself cope. Not only to deal with the horrors in prison, but to figure out his own identity — and to see if he truly is a monster.
The novel was adapted to a 2018 film, titled All Rise starring Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Steve, as well as starring Jennifer Hudson, A$AP Rocky, John David Washington and Jeffrey Wright. It premiered at Sundance, but spent three years on The Shelf of Movie Languishment before Netflix picked it up, renaming it back to Monster and setting it for a March 2021 release.
Not to be confused with the telefilm Monster! (1999), or the other film or the manga.
Tropes featured in Monster include:
- Amoral Attorney: It’s indicated that Prosecutor Petrocelli doesn’t care truly about justice and wants to maintain her tough prosecutor reputation. All of her witnesses are criminals, she uses dirty strategies and she’s trying to convict a 16 year old kid with minimal involvement (possibly) in the crime to a lifetime in prison. Defense attorney O’Brien is portrayed more as an Apathetic Attorney.
- Bittersweet Ending: Steve is found not guilty of the crime, but novel reveals that he may possibly be more culpable than he initially let on, meaning Mr. Nesbitt doesn't get complete justice. Either way, the ordeal that he's been through has left it's mark on him forever; his father keeps his distance from him and Steve is left wondering if he really is a terrible person.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: There’s the obvious criminals, including James King that killed Mr. Nesbitt, but the book doesn’t paint the justice system in a good light as well. The detective remarks that he doesn’t care if a juvenile is sent to death row. Prosecutor Petrocelli speaks about justice but treats the case like a game, constantly trying to lead witnesses (who are all criminals) and dehumanizing Steve despite his alleged involvement in the crime was minor. Defense attorney O’Brien is helpful to Steve but it’s clear this is only a job to her and possibly thinks he’s guilty of the crime. The guards and courtroom workers are unempathetic and somewhat callous. Prison is a complete nightmare. And then there’s finally Steve, if the reader believes he is complicit in the crime.
- Boisterous Weakling: Osvaldo Cruz, one of robbery participants, gives off a “tough gangsta” vibe and belittled Steve for going to an arts school. On the stand, while testifying against Steve and King, he appears timid and scared. To be fair, he’s only 14 and is testifying to avoid prison.
- Harmful to Minors: Despite being 16, it appears that Steve was placed in an adult detention center awaiting his trial, filled with horrors such as prisoners beating each other up and stabbing each other and sexual assault. It is a unfortunate Truth in Television that a lot of the time, juveniles will end up alongside adult prisoners when placed in prisons.
- Heel Realization: A possible interpretation of the book is Steve's coming to terms with realizing that he's complicit in the robbery that left Mr. Nesbitt dead.
- Hellhole Prison: Steve describes his time in prison as completely miserable.
- Karma Houdini: If you believe Steve was complicit in the robbery. He is found not guilty and gets away scot-free with no jail time but he is still traumatized by his time in prison.
- Nice Guy: Everyone in the community respected Alguinaldo Nesbitt, the owner of the drugstore who was killed.
- Painting the Medium: The book is written from Steve's perspective as a journal, mostly in the form of a screenplay. It is interspersed with regular prose, however.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Alguinaldo Nesbitt getting shot during a robbery gone wrong is what leads to Steve being put on trial for murder.
- Prison Rape: Steve overhears a rape one night in prison.
- Riddle for the Ages: Myers leaves it up to the reader to determine just how guilty Steve is in his crime, if you believe he’s guilty at all. According to Myers he was sure of Steve's guilt but felt a guilty verdict would say more about systemic racism than the justice system as a whole.
- Sinister Shiv: There's an incident at the detention center where an inmate stabs another in the eye with an improvised shank.
- Take That!: The book is a gigantic indictment against the dehumanizing criminal justice system in America. The law side cares less about justice and more about winning cases and bolstering their reputations, the cases aren’t about the facts but whoever can manipulate the case in their favor, and prisons are absolute nightmare factories that don’t rehabilitate but turn out more criminals and the punishments are harsh, even to children. Even if the reader believes Steve is guilty, his involvement was minuscule yet he is faced with the real possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: This depends on the reader’s assumption of Steve’s guilt, but it is clear that Steve started hanging out with the “wrong” crowd before the botched robbery.
