In *Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, Ella Beatty plays Lizzie Borden, the Massachusetts woman accused of killing her father and stepmother with an ax in 1892—a case that became one of America’s most enduring criminal mysteries.
Beatty has said she knew little about Borden before taking the role. That gap is increasingly common: audiences now encounter historical figures through streaming platforms, podcasts, social media, and algorithmically recommended content rather than through books or classrooms. Each medium can broaden access to the past, but it can also compress uncertainty into a compelling narrative.
Borden’s case remains unresolved in the public imagination. She was acquitted in 1893, yet newspapers, books, documentaries, and online communities have continued to debate the evidence and construct competing versions of her motives and guilt. A scripted series adds another layer, blending documented events with interpretation and dramatization.
That matters because entertainment now functions as an informal historical archive. Streaming services can bring obscure cases to global audiences almost instantly, while recommendation systems encourage viewers to move from one sensational story to the next. The result is a powerful form of cultural distribution—but not necessarily a reliable one. Dramatic pacing can give speculation the appearance of fact, and repeated retellings can make disputed claims feel authoritative.
The challenge for creators is not to eliminate interpretation; historical storytelling always involves it. It is to make the boundary between evidence and invention visible. For viewers, Borden’s story offers a useful lesson in media literacy: popularity is not proof, and a gripping narrative is not the same as a settled historical record.
As *Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story* renews interest in a case more than 130 years old, it also illustrates a modern question: when algorithms decide which parts of the past deserve attention, who is responsible for preserving the difference between history and myth?