The movie Frankenstein, directed by Guillermo Del Toro, had been released on Netflix on November 7th. After watching it, I had an “Aha” moment, which it got me thinking: How much of what I am today was poured in me during my lifetime? I want to try deducting some key hints by analyzing both Frankenstein and some sociology’s concepts.

Frankenstein and its main themes

The movie showed a faithful adaptation to the book, written by Mary Shelley in 1818: one of the most famous horror storylines intertwined with extremely complex and interesting themes, that question the blind drive of man’s ambition. The main themes displayed in the movie are: abandonment, the “father and son” tie, power, creator’s responsibility, men’s hubris.

Not something. Someone.

Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) is a doctor, whose main aim was to give life to a “perfect” man combining body part from deads. This blasphemous activity created a creature with incredible strenght, who had feelings, thoughts, and had a pure way of thinking. For him everything was new, but he needed some guidance to steer his strong instinctive character into a structured society. When Victor decides to abandon his creation, The Creature (Jacob Elordi) starts a long journey to find himself and his purpose. The two men will encounter each other many times, and during an argument, Victor said: “In you I have created something truly horrible.” and The Creature replied: “Not something. Someone.”

What is pain if not an evidence of intelligence?

A brief romantic connection between Elizabeth (Mia Goth), Victor’s sister in law, and The Creature, gives the audience hope. Finally, since the very first moment, someone truly understood him, without using words. Even though she tries to convince Victor of the intelligence and emotional depth of his creation, he still finds him stupid, inferior to him, undeserving of any attention. Victor fears him, and his jealousy for The Creature’s special bond with Elizabeth, blinds him. Since childhood we are in touch with our peers, and adults: we learn manners, societal norms, we also receive an education. While we appreciate our roots; we develop our critical thinking to question and analyze our reality; through words, we can explain and express ourselves, but most of all, with an open mind we understand each other: all of these steps were missing in The Creature’s background.

Only monsters play God

The topic of power in sociological matters is a extremely wide: there are different ways to perceive it, tactis to adopt, fields where to excercise it, as well as contexts, branches… According to sociology there are two main ways in which we can put the concept of power in practice: using power to obtain something, or eploit power over someone. The first path creates empowerment and highlights the constructive aspects of power itself, while, the second option generates dominance through manipulation. Victor, since the beginning of the movie, wanted to achieve the impossible: outstand even the power of God. His ambition is dangerous but his determinaton is almost inspiring, until he has insights of how much he stepped over the line. However, after experiencing a sense of disorientation, he puts himself higher than The Creature, in order to dominate him with violence and negative reinforcement.

The Creature as a child

Victor’s creation has initially the innoncence of a child, but as he spents longer with men, he becomes violent and seeks for revenge. The love and admiration he once had for Victor, leaves space to anger and pain – while the rest of the world treats him based on his look, using violence out of fear. If Victor demands obedience, and evalutes himself based on his social status, The Creature thinks of kindness and love as the highest values. The cultural power was exercised not only by Victor who shaped firstly the monster’s minds, but also by Elizabeth who showed him the nurturing side of humans.

Socialization for The Creature

Socialization is how individuals learn norms, values and behaviors: it’s a process that occurs during a life span, and it’s conducted by different institutions (such as family, school, workplace, media…). Every role of life requests different tasks and with that it gains different expectations. In the movie, The Creature has the appearance of a man, but his mind is fresh and pure as a child’s. Kids need protection and nurturing figures, rather than being treated like “miniature adults” as they were seen historically. Additionally, kids resemble their role models’ behaviors, with no difference in the movie: The Creature learns that the fittest survives in spite of losing humanity.

A lesson we have to learn

The movie focuses on a many important themes, but the main one is that, as the director disclosed during an interview, “the real monsters are the ones in suits“! The men that grasp huge power in their hands, prioritizing being more powerful, richer and more influent, while abandoning their people’s needs. I greatly appreciate when a movie can portrait universal values that go beyond cultures and eras, and Frankestein is surely one of them!

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