Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Cultural Legacy of Frankenstein
One of the most important aspects of the novel also seems to be the one that culture chooses to neglect: the creature's tale. Throught numerous incarnations in film, the creature rarely gets the chance to tell his side of the story. He is always the creature, a monster, nothing short of a zombie in many incarnations. The question here is why would the various screenwriters choose to take this tact? It cannot be because it would not make a good story, and thus spell financial ruin: cinema is littered with coming-of-age stories and the representation of the misunderstood. Further, especially in modern cinema, there is a love of the anti-hero or a hero that behaves less heroically. Culturally, we love stories about falls from grace as well, with Star Wars as a prime example. Perhaps the answer lies in the demonization of "The Other" that we discussed in class on Monday.
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Whenever I imagine the creature, it's always the image of a green monster with screws in its neck that comes to mind. The fact that movies are obviously a visual medium means that you never get to turn off the horrifying image in front of you. In the novel, you get in his head and you feel sorry for him because he seems so human, but in a movie it's hard to get past his horrifying appearance. We don’t like sympathizing with our monsters. Outcasts we’ll make exceptions for, but monsters have to remain distant to amplify their scariness.
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