Finding Frankenstein In Popular Culture

There are many reoccurring themes that run parallel in both Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and the 1994 film adaptation. We can connect many of these themes to aspects of contemporary society, or in other words, we can "find Frankenstein" in today's popular culture.

The theme: disregard of the consequences of one's actions is heavily apparent in both the novel and 1994 film Frankenstein. The theme was first established by Robert Walton in the beginning of the novel through his fourth letter.

Robert proclaimed that,

"One man's life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of knowledge which I sought, for the dominion I should acquire and transmit over the elemental foes of our race," (Shelley 32).

Walton revealed this side of himself so early on to set the perspective for Victor's forthcoming actions. At the end of both the novel and the film, Walton decided to end his expedition after he had seen how Victor's obsession and lack of care for repercussions had ruined his life.

Victor Frankenstein created the Creature with no regard for anyone but himself during the process. He acted in a selfish and brash manner, which lead to the mental torment of his new creation along with the deaths of many. Though the 1994 version modeled the fact that the Creature was very intelligent much like in Shelley's novel, he was viewed as an abomination by those who encountered him due to his terrifying appearance. The truth that the Creature's turmoil of an existence was directly caused by Victor's personal obsession and carelessness of the consequences of his actions revealed this to be a major character flaw of his. In the film, the Creature asked Frankenstein himself,

"Did you ever consider the consequences of your actions? You made me, and you left me to die. Who am I?" (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)).

In the novel, Victor stated that he was,

"Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created..." (Shelley 105).

One glaring difference between the novel and film was that after Elizabeth was murdered by the Creature, a guilt-stricken Victor wanted to bring her back to life in the film. This brought to light more than ever this selfish and careless aspect of Victor's personality. Once Elizabeth was reanimated by Frankenstein in the movie, she could not come to terms with what she had become. As a result, she set herself on fire, which demonstrated this theme to its highest exponent.

One could "find Frankenstein" in contemporary society via the theme of: disregard of the consequences of one's actions at an individual, interactional, and institutional level of society. Individual people make mindless and selfish choices everyday, however mindless and selfish acts at an institutional level hold more weight.

Big corporations take advantage of people any chance they see an opportunity to gain something from it. A more specific example would be the animal agriculture industry in the United States. Animal Agribusiness operates at an institutional level and runs an industry that has complete disregard of the outcomes of its actions.

The truth of the matter is that at a macro-level, the animal agriculture industry devastates the environment in every way possible. It also ships animals from third-world countries that need the animals for food and ships them to more developed countries such as the US, UK, and Europe where the demand is explosive. As for the land, miles upon miles of it has been destroyed all over the world for either animal grazing or to grow crops for animal feed which has taken away land to grow food from countries that need it more.

Sad but true, this theme in Frankenstein of the disregard of the consequences of one's actions can be found or applied anywhere in today's popular culture.

SOURCES:

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. M. K. Joseph. New York: Oxford UP, 1952. Print.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Dir. Kenneth Branagh. By Steph Lady and Frank Darabont. Perf. Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro, Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter, and Aidan Quinn. TriStar Pictures, 1994.

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