Okay, so I have thoughts about new Frankenstein adaptation. It will be a long post.
I’ve read here and there a bunch of good opinions/takes/posts about it before the movie came out on Netflix for everyone to watch, things like - Mary Shelly would love it etc, etc. I’ve also read the book for the first time ever and finished it like two weeks prior to my watching this movie. I didn’t grace Frankenstein tag since ending the book so I don’t know what y’all think and wrote about the movie yet, so idk maybe someone already pinpointed what I’m about to write down.
Without further ado. I didn’t like that movie at all. There were good ideas in it but as a whole I didn’t like the movie and its massage. And I feel bad for it because I really wanted to enjoy it and just ended up being disappointed. So why I didn’t like the movie? Oh girl, where to start…
So once again they made him an older mad scientist (and pls bear with me I love Oscar Isaac, and I am not an ageist in any means), while OG Victor is at the beginning of the story a, well, a teenager when he makes the Creature, and probably didn’t live long enough to turn 28. But I wasn’t immediately put off with a choice of Oscar Isaac playing him (I really love this man). What put me off was Victor’s portrayal.
What kind of person is movie Victor? he’s an rude asshole that doesn’t concern himself with anyone but his own ideas, he has no remorse - when Henry died or when his brother died or even when Elizabeth died; he makes Creature and he is furious that he’s not what he envisioned - he’s not as intelligent as he wished, so he’s abusive, hateful, and full of disdain; he’s entitled to Elizabeth since day one and till her wedding day when she is about to marry his brother even though she told him about her choice.
He is not Victor from the book. Like at all. OG Victor was full of ambition and was completely consumed by his idea, sure. But he was a teenager who wanted to do something grand. And yes, an older Victor could have this trait too, but - Victor made a Creature and he was terrified of what he has made. He was so terrified that this body shut down. Then people stared dying - his brother and Justine. He knew it was the Creature but the also knew that he himself was to blame for those deaths and all the deaths that came after it.
He hated what he created and was terrified by the Creature. He wanted to stop him, yes. But he made an attempt to empathise with the Creature. He agreed to made a companion for him. And then he changed his mind, and sure he was scared that both his Creatures might reproduce and made this new specimen that will endanger humanity (Victor, you silly goose) - mind you he decided to sacrifice his own happiness and peace for it not to happen, but also! He had a thought - what if the female creature will not want the first Creature, and I quote ‘He had sworn to quit the neighbourhood of man, and hide himself in the deserts; but she had not; and she, who in all probability was to become a thinking and reasoning animal, might refuse to comply with a compact made before her creation’ etc. So yes, woman agency - here you go Victor, movie Victor would never.
So all in all movie Victor is abusive, entitled prick, with no redeeming qualities and book Victor is flawed human being, who made a new human and didn’t what to take responsibility for him. And yet he was taking responsibility and blame for Creature’s actions.
I’ve seen people on this website comparing Victor to teenage mother or mother with postpartum depression and to be honest, it’s more accurate description of Victor than an abusive father. And yes, I am aware that Mary Shelly dedicated her work to her father who abandon her, and daddy issues and all, this movie tries to emphasise that theme with Victor’s father and then Victor himself - the abusive father circle but like, this book isn’t exactly it. It’s on one note. Victor’s father in the book wasn’t abusive, he was a good dad and a husband. Victor abandoned his son because he was terrified of what he has made and this is his biggest mistake and a sin if you will - the abandonment and refusal of taking his son back, loving him and giving him kindness.
And yes, Victor was full of himself and annoying because of it, I am not the biggest fan truly, but he is very interesting and complex character and the movie made him dirty. I truly wish to see more accurate portrayal of him someday because it would be so much more interesting then this mad scientist plays god and is awful human being ergo he’s a real monster. Because in the original story he’s just a human who did wrong and never truly grasped what he did, and what he should have done.
The Creature aka Frankenstein
So I have thoughts about Victor’s son too. Because just like his father they made him one dimensional. Where Victor is Evil who could not make good, Frankenstein is a Good who could do no evil.
Sure, he killed those nameless sailors in the end of the story but it’s only after everything happened and let’s be real here, it doesn’t hold any weight. Just a horrific moment to scare the audience, and later reveal - actually he’s not a monster, Victor is a real monster.
Frankenstein was of pure hart and full of awe and love for the world and life but he discovered he will never be loved or accepted and it broke him. He killed William, Justine, Henry and Elizabeth. Those murders are tragic, they hold weight, and well, are wrong, but also somehow understandable. The Creature wasn’t bad in nature but he turned to Evil out of desperation and hopeless. And that part of him was erased in the movie. The iconic ‘if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear’. Oh god, what a loss.
OG Creature didn’t know first hand kindness, people feared him and disdained him. He longed for love and kindness. But he could never find his place or people. He’s own father turned on him. So he turned into destruction. It’s tragic but understandable. The movie Creature was shown love and kindness (honestly, good for Him) and after it was taken from him he turned to revenge on his creator. Sure, not as bad as movie Victor. Let me just-
Son forgiving his father after severe mistreatment and abuse? Just because on the dying bed he said he’s sorry? Why? First of all he really didn’t have to do that. Victor didn’t earn it. Secondly it only pushes the agenda that you need to forgive your oppressor to move on and that it’s the right thing to do. If you’re truly good you will forgive and that will bring you true peace. And sure, some people believe that and need that, but it’s not the only way or the right way to go about it. It can be toxic and harmful and it’s truly not a necessity.
Frankenstein in the movie is portrayed as a man who can’t actually do wrong, he’s just a good person and he was terribly hurt. While OG Frankenstein is way more complex character who does wrong and doesn’t regret it but then again he regrets it. Who even after being pushed away still hopes and seeks goodness in people - he saves a girl from drowning after a fiasco with Felix and his family. He wants a companion but he doesn’t consider that she will have her own will and might not want to be with him. He was so hurt and abandoned and scared that he turned to destruction - like many people do when they are deprived of basic things in life. He is a true man and it’s beautiful. And it really bothers me that it was taken away from him in this movie.
In conclusion, there is no big villain in this story, no monster - just two people who made each others lives and others lives miserable. Like someone on this site said you can have a preference to one of them but you need to see that one is not better than the other. They are both human with their respective rights and wrongs. I truly hope and wish that I will live to see an adaptation that actually shows the complexity of their characters and this story.
Of course there are more things that were changed but those two are the most important and impactful for the story and its meaning so I wanted to focus on these.
Not like it was a bad movie of course, but this two changes really took me off badly. Maybe if I wasn’t so freshly after reading the book I would like this movie more. I really hoped I would like it and I just didn’t.
PS the movie ended with Byron quote wtf
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