Morality and Monsters

Frankenstein Lesson Number One: Don’t mess with God.

Or try to copy him, at any rate. This concept is made perfectly clear from the start of the movie The Bride of Frankenstein (dir. by James Whale). The whole point of Mary Shelley’s original book was to show how we should know our limits, especially when it comes to science. Its message is that life is something special, that only God should have access to. Even if we are able to pull it off and bring the dead to life, it can only result in death, disaster, and ultimate chaos. Somehow, we’re not ready for this sort of power.

             And the movie just picks up from there, showing how much more wrong and twisted things can get. Focusing more on Frankenstein’s loneliness however, it does put the monster in a better light. Even his “monster-like” way of talking (in grunts and with a few disconnected words) just makes him less like a monster, and more like a lost and confused kid. All this kid wants is a friend, and it is always denied him. In the end he’s even the one who sets the story right, by killing all the villainous people, and even himself.

             So if Frankenstein isn’t the monster, who is?

             The one who created him.

- Clare Tan, 2013-14912