Critical Disability Studies investigates the experiences of people with disabilities in society, and how disabilities are viewed through different aspects of society. Critical Disability Studies focuses on what those with illnesses and disabilities experience culturally, socially, economically, and politically, and how they are treated as people who don’t align with what is considered the norm. The 1931 Frankenstein movie can be analyzed using this theory since the Frankenstein monster has what is called a “bad brain”.
After accidentally dropping the jar with the “good brain”, Dr. Frankenstein uses the “bad brain” for his monster. Dr. Waldman (a professor) explains that there are physical differences between the brain of a normal, moral human, and a criminal. The Frankenstein monster, later in the film, ends up killing Fritz, Dr. Frankenstein’s assistant, and a little girl. So the film alludes to the idea that he is truly a monster because of his abnormal brain, but treated as one because of his physical appearance. Fritz, for example, locks the monster in a cell, and insults and provokes him. If the monster did not appear abnormally tall, pale, and with features like a screw in his neck and head, Fritz and Frankenstein might have looked to have a more human interaction with him. But because he looked different than a normal human, they weren’t able to sympathize with him, and instead locked him in a cell and were unkind.
Dr. Frankenstein’s creature is also considered a monster because of his brain. Because he has the brain of a criminal, he lacks morals and mindfulness. This results in him impulsively murdering Fritz and drowning a little girl. If the monster would have been given the “good brain” of what the film considered a normal person, then the monster would likely have reacted differently to the situations that caused him to react and commit these murders. In the film, the city ends up demanding the death of the Frankenstein monster because of his behavior.
The horror genre has endured popularity for nearly 100 years because it takes the realities of our everyday lives, and adds thrill, a scare, and suspense to them. Horror films tap into things that are familiar to us such as science, dolls, religion, etc. This makes them more terrifying because these horrors seem close to being possible. This is why our culture is preoccupied with horror. People consider a variety of things to be scary, but typically, anything suspenseful, startling, and gruesome, elicits our fight or flight. And we equate fear with entertainment because watching horror stimulates both our minds and bodies. We feel anxiety, excitement, etc. Horror films elicit reactions that bring us out of our normal state of being.
The critical Disability study is factual on stating that society looks at those with disabilities differently. The film Frankenstein shows how society isn’t able to cooperate with those that don’t fit their criteria.
Your analysis on Frankenstein helped me realized the amount of references used to slander people with disabilities.
This was such a good connection to the critical disability study. I haven’t thought about the “bad brain” being the cause of his outbursts.