“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”
―
What are monsters?
I hope to have answered this question by the end of this blog post.
In order to do so, Im going to be using text from both the movies Frankenstein (1931) and Gods And Monsters (1998). This will let us compare how people saw monsters between these times. Before we begin, if you’d like to get more information about ether of these movies, take a moment to read through the information I’ve linked to the movie titles above.
Now, lets get into some analysis!
Right off the bat we’re going to take a look at the 1931 hit classic Frankenstein. Immediately the movie throws in some dark gloomy lighting while Henry Frankenstein, the soon to be creator of the monster, and his assistant Fritz dig up graves. During this scene Henry shows emotion towards the dead bodies, almost in a necrophiliac way. He’s seen stroking the coffins with a look of pleasure on his face. All of these images are used to keep us, as viewers, in a state of uneasy curiosity and feeling that what is to come will be pretty sinister. This scene is being used to make you believe that the creature is a terrible monster. However, much like everything in life, the truth of the movie’s monster isn’t that cut and dry.
While watching Frankenstein, I found I was sympathizing with the Creature rather then being against him. He seemed to me more like a child, a product of his up bringing, rather then a monster that chooses to be evil. In fact the only people he ever harms are Fritz (after Fritz torturous him), the little girl (which was an accident), and Elizabeth (after he feels betrayed by his creator). When you look deeper into how and why he is acting this way, you begin to realize he acts the way he does because of the way he was brought-up. it turns out that he was neglected and tortured within the first few days of his creation and that is what led to his killing of Fritz. Then, as he’s wandering through the countryside, he spots a little girl. She is the first person to accept him and make him happy. Unfortunately, Frankenstein He is very large and he got overly excited about the situation, and because he was never taught how to treat others, he accidentally killed the little girl. He was also very angry at Victor for creating him and putting him through so much pain, so he tried to get his revenge by hurting Elizabeth. So when you think about all he has been through, you can’t help but sympathize with his situation and his struggles. His tortured life that makes you ask yourself, who is the monster in this movie?
To answer this question, we need to think about who’s truly responsible for the creature’s actions. As children, when we act out and are not being responsible member of society, its our parents that are held responsible.
Looking back at the movie, we see that Victor Frankenstein is obsessively focused on creating new life, but not to care for it afterwards. The neglect and torture he inflicts on the creature he created is the cause of all deaths or injuries in the movie.
So to answer the question of who the real monster is in Frankenstein, the answer is obvious. It would be Frankenstein himself.
Now that we’ve established the true monster of Frankenstein, we can take a look at the movie Gods And Monsters.
Gods And Monsters tells the story of James Whale, the director of Frankenstein. Throughout the movie many comparisons are made between James and the Creature. Whale was forced to retire from the film industry for being gay, similar to the Creature, who was mistreated for being different, while both were simply being who they are. Then, nearing the end of the film, Whale, much like the creature killing the little girl, sexually assaults someone. Both acts could be attributed to their upbringing and experiences as members of society. However, in the case of the Creature, it was an accident but in Whale’s case it was meant as a way of committing suicide.
Earlier in the movie, when talking to the same grounds keeper he would assault later, he states that “a man like you would surely kill me if I laid a hand on you.”. This proves the point that society’s upbringing of him would oppress him so much he would be driven to suicide. That being said, the actual James Whale has no record of ever sexually assaulting anyone.
Finally, to bring the post full circle, I’m going to share with you, using evidence I’ve collected, who the true monsters are in these movies. Similarly to Gods And Monsters, the monster of Frankenstein isn’t really the Creature, it’s Victor Frankenstein himself. Though Whale is not entirely innocent, due to the act of sexual assault, I believe society drove him to do what he did that made him look like a monster, By that logic, it would be safe to say that his society is the true monster of that movie.
Now that we’ve established the true monsters of these movies, what does this tell us about life as a whole? In general, I believe that these movies are showing us that to see who the real monsters are, we need understand the factors that drive what we think of as “bad” people to do what they do. While every persons is born with a certain nature, the nurturing they receive is just as responsible for the actions they take in life.