Last night I watched Guillermo del Toro’s new version of Frankenstein. As I frequently point out on this blog, I’m not a big horror fan, but I’ve frequently been impressed with del Toro’s work, and Frankenstein is a classic. And it strikes me as more of an existential exploration than one invoking horror just for horror’s sake.
We all know the story. A mad arrogant doctor creates a creature out of parts from many dead bodies, becomes horrified by his creation, and tries to kill it. But the creature escapes and ends up learning to read while hiding from and protecting a family, although tragedy strikes and he is eventually driven off. He confronts his creator and additional tragedies ensue.
This movie draws a lot from the classic story, but also heavily from the 1931 movie, as well as a lot of other gothic fiction. del Toro makes use of modern technology to show a creature much more mobile than the lumbering thing of classic cinema. We also see the creature’s humanity and childlike innocence very early on, and can feel the sense of betrayal and hurt when Victor Frankenstein turns on him.
del Toro makes it very clear who the villain is here. Throughout much of the 1900s, the name “Frankenstein” was used to refer to the creature, rather than the doctor himself, with some pedants occasionally pointing out that we should use “Frankenstein’s monster” to refer to the creature. But this movie makes clear that the real monster here is the doctor. In this movie, when the creature does lash out, we can fully understand where he’s coming from.
Frankenstein seems to tap into a primeval fear of our species. I don’t think Mary Shelley created it, and maybe wasn’t even the first to identify it. But the idea that we might, in hubris, create something that turns on us, seems to be a constantly reoccurring theme. Later science fiction got a lot of mileage out of it with robot and computer revolts. Isaac Asimov called it the “Frankenstein complex.” And of course we see it today with all the fears about what will happen with AI.
We also see the flip side of that concern, which Shelley also tapped into. What about the creation itself? If we bring into existence other sentient beings, we have a responsibility toward them. The tragedy in Frankenstein doesn’t come, in an of itself, from the doctor creating life, but from the way he and others react to the resulting being. A lot of philosophers are worried about something similar happening with AI, that we may fail to recognize what we’ve created and inadvertently commit an ethical atrocity on a scale never before imagined.
The movie conveys both of these fears very well, but I’d say it focuses on the latter one. It’s a seriously good show which I recommend.
I also recently watched the fourth season of The Witcher. The reviews for this one have been pretty scathing, but I still mostly enjoyed it. I’m sure a lot of the dissatisfaction is from the change in the lead actor. Liam Hemsworth isn’t Henry Cavill, but the character of Geralt is such a creation of makeup and exaggerated mannerisms that I didn’t find the change that jarring. I might have felt it more if it hadn’t been two years since the previous season.
That said, I can’t say it was great. While it had its moments, the reasons some of the characters do things seem to obviously just be for the plot. And there weren’t enough big developments to make this season really interesting. It seems like a lot of positioning for the final season, which I guess we won’t see until 2027, since the industry seems to have convinced itself waiting two years and only providing eight episodes a season is acceptable.
Personally, at this point, I’d prefer to see cheaper production values with reliably annual seasons and more episodes. But I’ve always had the ability to see past limited production values. It’s why I find classic Doctor Who better than the modern version. The production values were terrible, but many of the stories were far more interesting and coherent.
Speaking of Doctor Who, it’s now been confirmed that the partnership with Disney+ is dead. No real surprise there. And that we won’t see anything new until Christmas of 2026, so another year. At this point I feel like the show needs a complete overhaul, maybe with new talent all around. I hope the BBC takes the opportunity to do it, and finds someone who will bring back the types of stories that originally made Doctor Who a household name.
That’s pretty much all I’ve been watching lately. Have you seen either of these shows? If so, what did you think? Watching anything else interesting?
SelfAwarePatterns 
We’re in the midst of watching Poldark, which is not too bad, though it does start feeling like a soap opera as it progresses. I do like the scenery. It takes place in Cornwall.
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oh I meant to ask, where did you watch Frankenstein? I might be able to get my husband interested in it, since it’s a classic, though he’s generally not keen on monster movies.
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Thanks for the Poldark mention. The description sounds interesting from a historical period view, but the description does sound a bit soap opery for my tastes.
I caught Franksenstein on Netflix. Even though it had a theatrical release a few weeks ago, it looks like Netflix funded it, so they’re able to stream it early. Netflix doesn’t have a great track record with their movies, but getting someone like del Toro was the right move.
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Ah, good, we have Netflix. We’ll have to look for it once we’re done with Poldark. Yeah, Poldark might not be your thing, at least not all the way through, though the first season is pretty good. I have a very low tolerance for romance, and in that respect there were only a few times where a scene lingered for a bit and I thought, “Yeah yeah, they’re in love, whatever, get on with it.” It’s primarily about a clash of worldviews as seen through a personal battle between a couple of high status guys (Poldark is always in debt, but has a noble name and the other is new money and envious of Poldark and title). What’s interesting is how their decisions and retaliations affect the lives of so many others beneath them.
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It does have pretty good ratings. Maybe at some point.
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Terminal List, Dark Wolf was watchable.
Doc is tolerable.
Witcher’s production quality seems higher than previous seasons, but they’ve stilted Garalt’s humourous quips. He’s deadpan now. Lame.
Diplomat is there in a pinch.
A House of Dynamite was worth the watch.
Mary Shelley Wollstonecraft was a marvel. The Last Man was a slog but I’m glad for having read it. Writing Frankenstein at age ~20… Wow.
I’ll look for del Toro’s version. Imdb 7.7, interesting.
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I haven’t heard of those. I’ll check them out. Thanks!
Definitely Mary Shelley’s accomplishment is amazing. She was married to Percy Bysshe Shelley and in a very literary circle, which I imagine helped. The 1818 edition was published anonymously, likely to hide the fact that the author was a young woman. And the 1818 edition is said to be the most radical, with the later editions reportedly pulling back on some notions.
Interesting that the movie is only getting 7.7 on IMDB. It has 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, with 95% from the audience. I would rate it somewhere in the 80s myself.
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The first few seasons of the Last Ship were watchable.
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Hadn’t heard of that one. Looks interesting. Thanks!
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Royal flying doctor service, prime, turning out pretty watchable.
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PBS has many excellent offerings… not only nature, history and science shows but excellent drama and crime shows such as Endeavour and Unforgotten.
Netflix has Dept. Q, A House of Dynamite, K-Pax, The Dig and 3 Body Problem
And Apple TV has the Silo, For All Mankind (although the last season is not so good) and the highly rated Slow Horses, which I have not watched yet.
I have Frankenstein on my list. Thanks
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Agreed on PBS! I love 3 Body Problem and Silo. I struggled with For All Mankind, but it might be worth trying again to see if my hang ups have faded. I’ll check out the rest. Thanks!
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I heard J. Michael Straczynski (the creator of Babylon 5) is trying to get in as the next show runner for Doctor Who. Not sure how seriously to take that rumor, but if he did get the job, I’d be excited to see what he’d do.
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He has a history of putting his name out for it. It would be amazing if they gave him a shot. Probably too much to hope for. And I wonder if he’d be prepared to accept BBC pay rates. But he is a UK resident now, so who knows?
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