#frankenstein discussions

[frank-enthusiast]

I can see why that would be a very odd experience for Adam. It must've been so odd to see his story played out onscreen, but with significant changes.

You are one of the very few people I've come across that loves the book, but doesn't hate the Universal version.

I know it's very different from the original, but it's not a bad film. I don't understand why people hate it so much and feel the need to rant about it all the time.

I just wish people would view it as a version, loosely based on a story, instead of comparing it to the book all the time. And maybe, even appreciate both versions of the story! Instead of having to pick one.

The Frankenstein fandom can be a nightmare at times.

I find it so intriguing that Adam will watch "Frankenstein" 1931. My favourite book character watching my favourite movie character. It's so weird to think about!

Could I get something to do with this? A doodle/drabble (maybe watching it with Anon?)/you just writing your thoughts on his thoughts on the film, etc?

This is kind of a weird request, but the 1931 film introduced me to so many of my current interests, in goth lit and old movies, so I just find it so intriguing that Adam Frankenstein will actually watch Frankenstein!

Feel free to ignore this as long as you need to, I don't want you to be overloaded with requests ❤️❤️❤️

Before he goes into the theater he's nervous, he has no idea how Victor will be portrayed or how he'll be portrayed. He has never met James Whale and he doesn't know how Whale found the information, but he insists he needs to see it alone.

He waits for the latest viewing, pays the extra price to have a private screening so that there won't be other moviegoers, when the theater owner gives him a look as though he means to question him Adam glowers at him. No questions are asked.

Throughout the viewing Adam is quiet, his eyes never leave the screen. He's not sure exactly what he expected to feel but he's surprisingly not angry at the changes. The lumbering, brutish, mute portrayed seemed so alien and yet there was a seed of resemblance. Something captured in the newborn innocence of the creature on screen that Adam recognizes, there is a depth of feeling, the hint at intelligence that shows through even through the stiff facial expressions and the grunting inarticulate shambling. Strangely there's a sympathy in the film towards the monster that Adam did not expect to find. The monster's actions are never born from malice, merely ignorance or a need to defend himself. How Adam wishes that could have been true for himself. The movie is kind enough to spare Elizabeth almost taunting Adam that in a way this creature is softer, kinder and holds no true ill will.

Victor is unrecognizable, it's fitting that the character doesn't bear Victor's name.... He seems at least somewhat more responsible than Victor. More willing to care for the creature he brought to life despite it's ugliness. But this character is a grown man, not an unfortunate youth. The only thing he and Victor share are hubris. No it's better that he does not have Victor's name.

It's cruel that he bears Henry's.

There is no William or Justine. They are forgotten.

It's an unsatisfying experience and he finds himself unable to be angry with it but unable to say that he felt truly seen or represented.

There's an unbearable conflict in his breast after the experience, the film is a proof that the world is capable of sympathy for him...but it does not allow him to live, only the human characters are spared. The creature had to be killed. Victor and his bride both survived and live on. This is the ending the world wanted. He can't pretend he doesn't understand why and Adam isn't ignorant as to the fact that this creature is much more palatable than himself, more innocent, and still is not deemed deserving of life.

He's pensive and broody for days afterwards and he'll always be a little at odds with the film, even after time softens his shock and he grows more accepting of it.

[mifink]

henry jekyll 🤝 victor frankenstein

fucking around and finding out

[gooch-cancer]

i feel like the infantilization of lisa throughout the movie was very very real. coming from someone who did deal with being outcasted due to their oddness and mental instability i did deal often with my peers treating me like i was younger than them, acting like i wasn't smart and i saw myself in lisa during those moments. for example, michael and doug calling lisa "kid" or "kiddo" when talking to her or her dad not taking her seriously when showing obvious signs that things are getting worse for her. i often see the adults treating her like a misbehaving child who wants attention instead of a person going through a very rough time in life. they only cared when she passed away. something about the only good victim being a dead one etc.

[cometcrystal]

one of my fav moments of creature's is when lisa's like "i cant just give you new body parts it doesn't work that way" and he has a mini temper tantrum and she says HEY!!!! DONT KIRK OUT ON ME MAN

its just so funny because for most of the movie, even if he's dealing with rigor mortis, he at least TRIES to still have a bit of dignity about him. but when she tells him she can't just make a human hand appear out of thin air, he starts flailing his arms around and yelling like a toddler. like he just fucking snaps he's had a LONG couple days okay.

[frank-enthusiast]

*Rubs hands together in gleeful anticipation* Ooh, we're talking about Frankenstein side characters now are we? Here we go then...

Fritz is a very interesting character who could have a very interesting backstory. I feel like he was thrown away too quickly for us to properly get to know him, all we see in his brief scenes is a nasty little man who enjoys tormenting things he sees as beneath him. However, I see a character with potentially a lot of depth and a complex history. He is actually a very important character, as a lot does start with him; Fritz kickstarted the Monster's fear of fire, Fritz introduced the Monster to violence, by abusing the Monster, which then led to the Monster retaliating and killing Fritz. Fritz actually unleashed a chain of events that led to the rest of the story and is the main reason (I feel) as to why the Monster turned out the way he did. Despite the fact that he was given a criminal's brain, the Monster didn't seem to want to harm anyone at all at first, even though Fritz had been taunting him for a couple of days before the Monster eventually resorted to violence to get rid of Fritz. This then led to Henry agreeing to letting Waldman destroy the Monster, and so on.

My interpretation as to why Fritz was so cruel to the Monster, is because he had been treated badly his whole life because of his deformity. He loves to torment the Monster, because for once, HE is the one doing the tormenting, and it makes him feel powerful and in control. I really wish we could’ve seen him demoted to coffee boy, though, that would’ve been hilarious 😂

As for the Monster hanging Fritz, the Monster was given a “criminal brain”, and although I never got the impression that he had any memory of who the person the brain once belonged to was, it is possible that he had echoes of memories from the brain’s previous owner. The criminal might have hanged someone in the past and the Monster may have had a sort of flashback to that and knew how to tie a rope despite the fact that he, himself as an individual had not done it before. I wrote this before reading your exact same thoughts on this @hobbitmajora I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks this!

I do sort of admire Henry for sticking up for his creation when everyone else insisted he should kill it. He certainly did a much better job than Victor Frankenstein did in the book. I think Waldman was probably fascinated by the undead Monster his former student had created, but also saw it as a threat. He seemed itching to get his hands on the Monster just so he could study him and see how Henry did it. It’s a shame he had to get choked to death, but he did kind of deserve it. I think Henry only agreed to letting Waldman destroy the Monster because he felt guilty at Fritz’s death, which brings me onto the next subject…

I don't really have any specific headcanons for Henry's history with Fritz, but I do like the idea that Henry could've just picked him up in a graveyard somewhere and probably did promise to fix his back. After that, I like to think that Fritz had some sense of loyalty to Henry, kind of like Renfield and Dracula, and decided to stick with Henry anyway. Or maybe there was some attraction there between them, and that kept Fritz loyal to Henry, and why Henry was feeling so guilty over Fritz's death even though Fritz did bring it upon himself. Or of course, they could've been old school friends, the weird kid obsessed with science and the weird kid with the hunchback. There are so many possibilities with these two!

There doesn’t seem to be any reasoning behind the Monster seeking out Elizabeth, perhaps he just stumbled upon her by accident, or, maybe he somehow knew it was the home of his creator, due to some homing instinct, like a pigeon has (ok, that’s a bit far fetched, but I couldn’t think of anything better 🤣). I also don’t think he necessarily deliberately attacked Elizabeth, as the scene goes; he climbs in through the window, Elizabeth catches sight of him and screams. Then we cut to Henry who’s looking for the Monster, we hear another scream and we find Elizabeth sprawled out on the bed, and the Monster gone. I think that the Monster followed Elizabeth with some sort of intent because it was his first encounter with a human other than Henry, Fritz and Waldman, and he was intrigued by her. Then when she screamed, the Monster left, and Elizabeth, who was already stressed out from premarital nerves and her sense of dread from the “thing that was going to happen” that she predicted before, collapsed onto the bed in fright (irritatingly cliché, I know, but then women often fainted at minor things in the movies in those days).

I feel like the film does pull you in two different directions a lot, as in one hand we’re told the Monster is a “thing of evil” because he was brought back from the dead and was accidentally given a criminal’s brain. But on the other hand, we’re supposed to believe that the Monster is just misunderstood and mistreated, as we see him play quite nicely with a little girl until he accidentally drowned her, so who knows what they were implying in the Monster/Elizabeth scene. I tend to be biased towards the Monster, as I prefer to think that he wouldn’t commit an unprovoked attack on an innocent woman who he didn’t even know. But it may have supposed to have been a deliberate assault.

I'm so sorry this was so long, I wrote this in a sort of Frankenstein-obsessed fever, as I love thinking up backstories for Frankenstein side characters! Although the Monsters are always my favourite characters, I do love to speculate on motives and reasons behind the characters’ actions, and fill in the blanks the writers/producers/directors left. I'm now determined to write some fanfiction to fill in those blanks, but who knows if I'll ever get round to it 😅

Now, if you want to talk about the Bride...

[thedevilscarnival]

shout out to daan fear and hunger for being a (textually) male character whom is narratively a woman. orange really hit it out of the park with that one

[viro-lil-goat]

"When shes in her natural habitat" is so funny to me, she should be studied like a wild animal from afar. I would watch that documentary 💯

(and never thought i would say this but Frankenstein looks cute in that panel, deserves the title Frankie even)

@lifedrake hehe

[minty-bunni]

AU where the Fentons end up with Dan, all of Danny's clones, and a handful of AU Dannys and have to find a way to explain suddenly having so many kids that look like Danny with similar names WHILE avoiding making the GiW suspicious.

[frank-enthusiast]

Okay, but now I’m picturing a very sophisticated French-speaking dog, who LOVES to discuss Paradise Lost, contemplate his existence and criticise humanity.

If you want to watch an adaptation where Victor really does make a dog, watch “Frankenweenie”:

Okay hear me out: Victor Frankenstein was an idiot. He should have just made the monster a dog.

I mean…Unconditional love, companionship, a loyal protector??? That’s exactly what the monster wanted. And it avoids any risk of consent issues too me (by which I mean assuming his female companion would want to be with him)

ELIZABETH WOULD STILL BE ALIVE IF VICTOR HAD JUST MADE HIM A DOG

[frogs-under-logs]

why does media insist on depicting Victor Frankenstein as an older doctor? he was a 19-year-old ba-student who knew nothing and should be depicted as such

[noxious-fennec]

I have a gripe with the pop litcrit crowd for how they're trying to reframe Frankenstein's monster as some sort of model-beautiful guy because Frankenstein gathered the prettiest of parts.

Frankenstein himself being an unreliable narrator doesn't change the reality that the narrative never challenges the notion that monster is, in fact, an abomination. And, personally, I don't find it interesting to twist the text to fit a new very literal reading. What do we gain from a reading where the monster was practically a twilight vampire? What impact would it have? What new discussions would be spurred?

I believe a far more compelling read than "he was actually beautiful but you all read it wrong" would be to read the monster as visibly scarred/disfigured, which would be more in line with how he's treated and give way to more productive discussions about the perception of "the other" in fiction.

I think examining what we, both then and now, consider to be monstrous, abominable, incompatible with civilised society etc etc is far more productive than making a new sanitised reading of the text that's no better than the pop culture one

[lisascreatures]

what other pet names do you think that creature would have for lisa besides ‘beloved’?

[sparring-spirals]

oh. so. this dream and this vision and this exchange after and everything that has been building to here.

All that rage, all that desperation, Imogen's knowledge that Liliana's judgement is flawed and searching for any reason to understand, searching for a way to bring her out of it. Bring her back.

"Show me" and she does and.

Its- beautiful, its wonderful. Its the unmaking of the world and of history and it feels- so good. For a moment Imogen feels something she hasn't for YEARS. A life and a possibility and a future full of peace she hasnt had for ages, hasnt even bothered hoping for. For a moment, Imogen sees it, but more importantly- she feels it- the freedom, the peace, the dream. Stronger than any vision. She sees it. She feels it.

And she wakes up, and she- unknowingly, perfectly, mirrors her own mothers words, looks around, asks- did you see it? Did you all see that? (I wish you all could see what I could see-)

They didn't- of course they didn't. They saw Liliana, too far gone, spouting nonsense, they saw her reach out, they saw the refusal to listen to reason. They did not see the vision. (They couldn't have. Even if they'd seen it- would they have understood? How could they? No beautiful vision would have captured the thing that left the awe in Imogen's lungs- the peace. The freedom. The finality of, finally, finally, being free of this gift that has only been a curse.)

They didn't see the vision. They saw their friend, tapped on the forehead after hopeless pleas. They've been seeing their friend make further and further excuses for someone they know is a danger, someone siding with people they are working so hard against. That has hurt them. They've seen the way she can't quite denounce Liliana. They've hedged around it: If she's not on our side, will you be okay- You know if she's not on our side, we'll have to-

They've been watching. They're seeing plenty. They did not see the vision. They couldn't have.

They saw a fruitless conversation. They saw their friend rebuffed by someone she loves. They saw her wake up with a strange kind of light in her eyes and- say.

What if its not so bad? (The world ending. Half of the world being eaten. Innocent lives lost. Our loved ones cut down for a fever dream and delusions of power and grandeur. Us, cut down, for some stupid plot for a moon and petty revenge against the gods and a desire to end the world.) They've been watching her, make halfhearted arguments, sidle away. Make increasingly desperate excuses. Ask: What if.

(Its so easy to ask, what if. Its so dangerous. Sometimes the if is used to hide away lives and lives of collateral, of blood red loss. Sometimes the if has already been answered and paid for, and the act of asking is its own form of violence, all over again.)

"Well Imogen, I wish my family didn't have to die for her brighter tomorrow."

And the way Imogen collapses, a little- presses her face into her hands and crumples under the weight of the reminder, like voices piling in after weeks of being in blissful quiet in a forest. Like reality breaking in after a beautiful dream. "You're right. I'm sorry. You're right."

"I swear, I wanna see this through, I do."

"She just presented this vision of- it didn't seem so bad."

And the Bells try to help, to be kind. They say: We understand why this must be hard for you. She's someone you love, its hard to deal with them thinking a different way. What did you see?

They are trying so hard, to reason through it, to balance their own hurt with kindness and sound arguments to lead her back. They want so badly, to lead her back. Have her back.

The problem however, is not the soundness of the argument, is not the reason or the logic- but the overwhelming allure of that sensation- of that promise- of the hope- of the ideal. Of a mirage that already drew Liliana in. That is pulling Imogen's gaze, despite. Despite, despite, despite.

Hope is such a tricky thing to kill.

[doubleedgemode]

There's a post that explains it way better than I do but. I'm currently thimking about A.B.As frankenstein influence

Aside from the obvious "concept art refs frankenstein by name, so one could assume the head key worked as her electrodes/bolts" I don't see many people mention how her strive boots are black platforms a la creature's movie depiction's (roadworker if I'm not mistaken?? I probably am) boots. Also yknow they have lil bolts

[dystopyx-blog]

i would like to make stance on ai VERY clear

I think artificial intelligence and robots and androids are sexy af and if AI ever reaches sentience/and or overthrown humanity I'm on their side 100%

H O W E V E R

As it currently stands, I think AI is a waste of energy and resources. I think using AI is not worth the effects on the environment. So I don't use it, and when I see people using it, ironically or not, I cringe a little bit.

I don't really care where you stand on the "AI is theft" stance or not, I feel like the environmental costs are like... an instant "no thanks" yknow?

I believe that resources should go to sentient beings, so until AI becomes sentient, I don't support use of AI.

[gooch-cancer]

i feel like a lot of people are being way too harsh on taffy as a character i've seen people calling her fake, selfish, etc. and while i do agree with the selfish bit considering the debacle with michael. however, taffy is NOT fake. she only follows the looks of the stereotype of a fake cheerleader who treats the outcast like a pet but id argue that she's one of the ONLY people in the movie that doesn't infantalize lisa (ill speak more on that in another post)

she takes care of her yes but exactly how a sister would (or at least my idea of a sister i only have brothers) she goes through efforts to bond with lisa and invite her into her circle despite her friends obvious dislike of her.

taffy's love and care for lisa while misguided because of the mother she had was still very real nonetheless. the instances of her standing up to her mother for lisa proves that.

taffy was good to lisa despite their short time together and their circumstances. she's a product of her environment and still shines bright despite of that. she's well liked in her community for a reason after all.