You just got Franken-jamacated
Happy Halloween! In honor of this holiday, let’s talk about Frankenstein.
Let's start out with what you’re probably thinking right now. Your mental image is probably... wrong. No, Frankenstein is not bright green with bolts sticking out his neck. Frankenstein is a normal human guy. Or rather, an insane normal human. Besides his mental state, he's normal. The resurrected corpse thing that was stitched up and given life does not actually have a name. He’s just the Monster or Creature. Frankenstein’s Monster. Oh! Understand? Yes! That’s why people get it mixed up. Because the crazy scientist guy with a body produced from a woman’s womb (like most normal bodes), that is Frankenstein. Now that we’ve gotten that cleared up, let’s move on.
Frankenstein’s Monster is a popular dude, for just being a bunch of dead body parts stitched together. He appears again and again, not only in our Halloween decorations, but also in our movies and literature. Not so much music, I don’t think. But books, yes, and movies, many messes.
Why, out of all possible Halloween topics, did I choose Frankenstein. Besides the fact that it a topic filled with writable misconceptions. Here’s the truth. At some point during 2012 I started downloading ebooks to my phone. But because I’m cheap, I downloaded free ebooks. Many of the free ebooks out there are classics.
I have no problem with classics. Yes, I end up hating most of the stuff that force us to read during school (having to over analyze anything that you’re not personally passionate about is a recipe for dislike in my book). HOWEVER, I thought that Frankenstein was pretty interesting, and I stuck through it. And once I finished, I was told to watch a few particular movies about him. I ended up experiencing a lot of things Frankenstein-related.
Halloween Frankenstein:
This is your average Halloween decoration or costume with the green green with neck bolts and black stitching. You all recognize it. It’s his most prominent form, despite how inaccurate it is.
Frankenstein (or The Modern Prometheus) by Mary Shelly:
In the actual story, he’s described as grotesque to the point that he doesn’t deserve a name and is just called “monster” or “creature.” That’s pretty significant, because all of the dismissals that he receives furthers his anger towards the world and causes him to turn from just an experiment to a true fear of mankind.
This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel:
I love this author a lot, and I thought it was interesting that he created this book where the monster that frankenstein is trying to create is his own dead twin brother. Frankenstein is a lot more relatable here, but the book is a reinvention rather than a retelling and includes a lot more fantasy than the original. Still, it’s a good read.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994):
Of all the Frankenstein movies, this follows the book most closely and is just the most accurate overall. So if you’re wanting a good visual representation of the story, this is the way to go.
Frankenstein (1931):
This one is not as accurate! As a reader, this bugs me to no end. It helps propagate an incorrect version of the story that is different enough to be wrong but not too different that people don’t think it’s the right one.
Bride of Frankenstein (1935):
To be honest, I was so tired that I fell asleep when we watched this movie, so I didn’t see it all. But, it’s the sequel to an inaccurate version of Frankenstein, so if you simply want to see the story Mary Shelly created, there’s no point in watching this. It was made because the first movie made money, basically.
Young Frankenstein (1974):
This movie is funny. It’s not trying to retell Mary Shelly’s story. It’s a total comedic spin-off. It’d be hard to confuse this as the actual storyline. But also, they correctly call the guy rather than the monster Frankenstein, so despite the genre change, there’s respect to the original story.
Dear Edwina (Frankenguest):
I don't think people will know about this one. At Expressions, my 1st grade year, and then my sister’s 4th grade year, we did this musical called Dear Edwina. One of the songs is about this boy named Frank who goes to a party and is a terrible monster than ruins everything and has no respect for anyone at the party. They call him Frankenguest. It’s kinda strange, but it’s funny. Just goes to show how many random places the influence of Frankenstein will pop up.
I, Frankenstein (2014):
I saw the trailer for this one a bunch of times, but didn’t see the actual movie. It was a reinvention rather than a retelling, but it seemed like a bit of a stretch to connect the story to Frankenstein. The movie didn't seem to do to well. Metascore of 30. Ouch.
Victor Frankenstein (2015):
So this movie hasn't even come out, but it's suppose to be in the perspective of Igor the assistant. Hopefully it' won't be super inaccurate. I like changed-perspective storylines though, so I'll probably see it sometime. Not much else to say at this point, except that it continues to show just how fascinated people are with the story, that it’s a movie 197 years after the original book came out. So...
Kudos, Mary Shelly! You’re still being thought of.
See ya!
Let's start out with what you’re probably thinking right now. Your mental image is probably... wrong. No, Frankenstein is not bright green with bolts sticking out his neck. Frankenstein is a normal human guy. Or rather, an insane normal human. Besides his mental state, he's normal. The resurrected corpse thing that was stitched up and given life does not actually have a name. He’s just the Monster or Creature. Frankenstein’s Monster. Oh! Understand? Yes! That’s why people get it mixed up. Because the crazy scientist guy with a body produced from a woman’s womb (like most normal bodes), that is Frankenstein. Now that we’ve gotten that cleared up, let’s move on.
Frankenstein’s Monster is a popular dude, for just being a bunch of dead body parts stitched together. He appears again and again, not only in our Halloween decorations, but also in our movies and literature. Not so much music, I don’t think. But books, yes, and movies, many messes.
Why, out of all possible Halloween topics, did I choose Frankenstein. Besides the fact that it a topic filled with writable misconceptions. Here’s the truth. At some point during 2012 I started downloading ebooks to my phone. But because I’m cheap, I downloaded free ebooks. Many of the free ebooks out there are classics.
I have no problem with classics. Yes, I end up hating most of the stuff that force us to read during school (having to over analyze anything that you’re not personally passionate about is a recipe for dislike in my book). HOWEVER, I thought that Frankenstein was pretty interesting, and I stuck through it. And once I finished, I was told to watch a few particular movies about him. I ended up experiencing a lot of things Frankenstein-related.
Halloween Frankenstein:
This is your average Halloween decoration or costume with the green green with neck bolts and black stitching. You all recognize it. It’s his most prominent form, despite how inaccurate it is.
 |
| He has a sliding scale of cute-to-scary. |
Frankenstein (or The Modern Prometheus) by Mary Shelly:
In the actual story, he’s described as grotesque to the point that he doesn’t deserve a name and is just called “monster” or “creature.” That’s pretty significant, because all of the dismissals that he receives furthers his anger towards the world and causes him to turn from just an experiment to a true fear of mankind.
This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel:
I love this author a lot, and I thought it was interesting that he created this book where the monster that frankenstein is trying to create is his own dead twin brother. Frankenstein is a lot more relatable here, but the book is a reinvention rather than a retelling and includes a lot more fantasy than the original. Still, it’s a good read.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994):
Of all the Frankenstein movies, this follows the book most closely and is just the most accurate overall. So if you’re wanting a good visual representation of the story, this is the way to go.
Frankenstein (1931):
This one is not as accurate! As a reader, this bugs me to no end. It helps propagate an incorrect version of the story that is different enough to be wrong but not too different that people don’t think it’s the right one.
Bride of Frankenstein (1935):
To be honest, I was so tired that I fell asleep when we watched this movie, so I didn’t see it all. But, it’s the sequel to an inaccurate version of Frankenstein, so if you simply want to see the story Mary Shelly created, there’s no point in watching this. It was made because the first movie made money, basically.
Young Frankenstein (1974):
This movie is funny. It’s not trying to retell Mary Shelly’s story. It’s a total comedic spin-off. It’d be hard to confuse this as the actual storyline. But also, they correctly call the guy rather than the monster Frankenstein, so despite the genre change, there’s respect to the original story.
Dear Edwina (Frankenguest):
I don't think people will know about this one. At Expressions, my 1st grade year, and then my sister’s 4th grade year, we did this musical called Dear Edwina. One of the songs is about this boy named Frank who goes to a party and is a terrible monster than ruins everything and has no respect for anyone at the party. They call him Frankenguest. It’s kinda strange, but it’s funny. Just goes to show how many random places the influence of Frankenstein will pop up.
I, Frankenstein (2014):
I saw the trailer for this one a bunch of times, but didn’t see the actual movie. It was a reinvention rather than a retelling, but it seemed like a bit of a stretch to connect the story to Frankenstein. The movie didn't seem to do to well. Metascore of 30. Ouch.
Victor Frankenstein (2015):
So this movie hasn't even come out, but it's suppose to be in the perspective of Igor the assistant. Hopefully it' won't be super inaccurate. I like changed-perspective storylines though, so I'll probably see it sometime. Not much else to say at this point, except that it continues to show just how fascinated people are with the story, that it’s a movie 197 years after the original book came out. So...
Kudos, Mary Shelly! You’re still being thought of.
See ya!
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