The 1931 film of Frankenstein is about a scientist, named Victor Frankenstein, who wanted to create an artificial humanoid. The artificial humanoid, commonly referred to as Frankenstein’s monster, is created and shunned by his creator for his perceived grotesqueness. Throughout the story, the monster runs across different parts of civilized Europe, being ostracized and thrown out in almost each and every one of them, causing him to question his existence. Meanwhile, Victor Frankenstein pursues the monster in an effort to destroy his creation.
Critical disability studies is an analysis method that focuses on the perceptive of disability, how it is constructed, and how is it understood. In this case, Frankenstein’s monster is an excellent example. Throughout the film, everyone (except Mary) vilified the monster for his monstrous appearance. This rejection warps the monster’s world view, believing that he was unfairly mistreated and comes to hate humanity as a result. This propels the monster to force his creator to create a female humanoid for him, in order to cope with his loneliness and despair.
Frankenstein is an excellent example of how one can use CDS to deconstruct the effects of critical disability. With CDS, one can be able to analyze and interpret society’s perspective of ugliness. This can help broaden the viewer’s view as well as giving him the ability to relate with those discriminated in the present society as well.