commentary 30 years on, Mary Harron's groundbreaking film about Valerie Solanas blisteringly reflects a society gone awry Published April 29, 2026 12:00PM (EDT) Lili Taylor as Valerie Solanas in "I Shot Andy Warhol" (IFC/Janus Films) When asked by reporters why she hated prolific pop artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol enough to shoot him with a pistol, Valerie Solanas — one of the many young, destitute and desperate people fading in and out of Warhol’s glamorous circle — simply replied , “Because he’s him.” Later headlines would say that Solanas believed Warhol “controlled her life” and that he had “legal claim” over her self-published writing, which she frequently badgered him to read. By all accounts, Solanas was furious with Warhol for refusing to produce her written works for the stage or screen. That assumed motive would follow her until she died in 1988, and beyond, making Valerie Solanas permanently synonymous with the patriarchal idea of the disgruntled woman.…