Macabre Monday: M is for Monsters
“Monsters are the patron saints of imperfection.” — Guillermo del Toro
“Found-Footage February” is coming to a close, which means a new theme for March. While planning for it, I had a couple of different ideas. One would be to write about the film Malignant for “Malignant March,” or do “Mutant March,” where I talk about mutants until I came to the obvious answer “Monster March.” It would also provide me with a good wealth of media to discuss outside of being the obvious idea. Cause, after all, monsters are a staple within the horror genre.
I feel a kinship with Guillermo del Toro and how he views monstrosity. To me, there is a beauty to monsters and them serving as vessels exploring fears and anxieties. A monster is the other, after all. A monster is never truly just a monster. Instead, it symbolizes a multitude of fears. In their book Skin Shows, Jack Halberstam describes that “The monster’s body, indeed, is a machine, that, in its Gothic mode, produces meaning and can represent any horrible trait that the reader can fit into the narrative. The monster functions as monster, in other words, when it is able to condense as many fear-producing traits as possible into one body” (Halberstam 21).
I do not solely want to discuss the fear that the monster represents but also what it symbolizes. Outside of the typical notion of fear, the monsters can represent empowerment. A symbol is a two-handed sword; it greatly depends on its wield. And that’s what is fascinating to me about monsters; it all depends on one’s perspective. Like monsters, the other becomes the other due to how others perceive and view them.
I previously alluded to this in my piece about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but I think a good test dummy would be The Amphibian Man from The Shape of Water. While primarily based on the Gill-Man from Creature of the Black Lagoon, del Toro’s film does not demonize The Amphibian Man. While he is othered or described as a monster by others, there is ultimately more to him below the surface. He eats a cat and attacks Giles, but the monstrous qualities do not define him as inhuman. Instead, he appears to be more human than the human antagonist of Richard Strickland, who is more grotesque.
Granted, this does not apply to all monsters. The Xenomorph from Alien is more akin to a bug desiring food and reproduction than anything human. Yet, this makes this discussion so fascinating on what is and what is not a monster. I am primarily interested in discussing that for this upcoming month.
Along those lines, I want to do a variety of monster media. I do not want to do the same creature repeatedly, so I will probably pick one monster and property to go along with it for examination. I will probably be saving aquatic horror for another month and the same for slashers, ghosts, zombies, and similar creatures. I want to throw in some marine monsters cause that is always a good time. In addition, I want to do more than just American or English films. I want to broaden the horizon of what media I will be discussing. It feels like an excellent way not only to try to expand my horizon but others as well.
So what do I mean by monsters? I envision creatures like vampires, werewolves, kaiju, aliens, and similar monsters. I want this to be fun while also discussing the works within a critical context. That’s the balance I want to strive for. I want to go further within my critiques to wrestle with the work on a deeper level. Aside from making this a fun blog, I want to demonstrate and promote critical readings of works.
As for what I will be discussing first, I decided to pick Alien and The Shape of Water. I picked these two films due to how they examine gender and sexuality and their being favorites of mine. Alien especially oozes gender and sexuality with its monster of the Xenomorph, while the Amphibian Man from The Shape of Water has more of a queer reading based on his relationship with Elisa as outsiders. Alien will be dropping Thursday, and The Shape of Water will be released on Saturday/Sunday.
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I plan on trying to watch Studio 666 on Tuesday and then get a review out that night in place of the regular “Trailer Tuesday.”
