As a child I was always fascinated with monsters. I loved anything with monsters, the creepier the better. I would, instead of playing with friends, wander about the recess play yard pretending to be a monster. They never scared me, rather they were my friends. I loved monsters in movies. The best part of any movie was the monster. I loved the trash compactor scene in Star Wars because of the monster. I loved Mumra in Thundercats. I loved Skeletor in Masters of the Universe. But my favorite monsters were the Universal Horror monsters. At our local library there were a selection of books from the classic monster movies with a truncated version of the plot and movie stills. I would check out as many of these as I could each time I went. I would pore over them every day until regretfully I had to return them to the library. Our home video collection contained many of these classic monster movies and I watched them repeatedly. As I look back, I wonder at what my family must have thought of this little toe-head who was obsessed with monsters. I wonder a little at it myself. Villains are so much more interesting than heroes and monsters are even more so. Movies like Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Invisible Man give us monsters that are uncanny and yet relatable. Of these Frankenstein is the best. What makes the monsters of Classic Horror so interesting and powerful is that they are empathetic. I remember my mother complaining about the monsters of 80’s horror as lacking the pathos of the classic monster. We need to feel that we have something in common with the monster. The monster is a reflection of our own selves, that which we are most afraid of, our power to destroy. This is why Frankenstein is so effective. The film presents a monster that is destructive of life and also a victim of circumstance. That is how we see ourselves.
There are two moments that I would like to discuss in this regard. The first is near the end of the film. As Victor and his bride are preparing for their wedding word arrives that the monster has infiltrated the house. Victor locks her in the bedroom for her safety. The monster comes in through the balcony window. He confronts her and snarls. It is clear that his intentions to her are violent and sexual. While this is in itself horrifying, it also speaks to our darkest desires. The sexual act in its perfection is a moment of unity, love, and devotion, however the mirror of this is desire for control and consumption. We recognize in this moment our dark (Freud would say repressed) desire to consume, or use the other through sex. We condemn the monster and simultaneously feel indicted by our reflection in him.
The second event is the most tragic and pathetic. In the scene with Maria and the monster we see reflected our duality as lovers and destroyers. The monster finds the child Maria playing by the lake and she invites him to play. He obliges and they throw flowers into the lake. The monster is jubilant in this simple moment. When the flowers are gone, he opts for Maria and throws her into the lake. Immediately realizing the error of his ways the monster flees and the girl drowns. Our relationship with children is one that is uniquely trusting. We love them and serve them and care for them. We also lose our tempers or simply screw up out of ignorance. Regardless of the innocence of our actions, they can have lasting destructive consequences. (e.g. Suzy is pretty, Sarah is bright). We feel enormous guilt for our actions and simultaneously want to absolve our guilt. We flee and leave the child to drown. So upon seeing the monster do the same we feel empathy for him for we see ourselves reflected in his actions.
This is why the monsters of Universal worked so well. It was a villain we could root for and still seek retribution. We want the evil to be punished but are sorry that it has to happen to them. This comes from our dual desire for justice and mercy. We want the monster to stop being bad, but we want forgiveness for our similar sins of destruction.
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