{"id":5944,"date":"2012-11-21T18:12:20","date_gmt":"2012-11-21T23:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=5944"},"modified":"2012-11-21T18:12:20","modified_gmt":"2012-11-21T23:12:20","slug":"the-monster-is-father-of-the-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-monster-is-father-of-the-man.html","title":{"rendered":"The Monster is Father of the Man"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As I warned you, I\u2019m taking some time before I write anything specifically about being received into the Catholic Church. In the meantime, I hope my thoughts on the National Theatre\u2019s production of<\/a><\/em> Frankenstein will do. After all, it\u2019s also about the surprise of becoming a new creation<\/em><\/p>\n

England\u2019s National Theatre tapes some of its performances and allows them to be shown around the world<\/a>. This past summer, I was lucky enough to see their production of Frankenstein<\/em> twice through this program (one evening Benedict Cumberbatch played Frankenstein, and one evening he played the monster).<\/p>\n

Mary Shelley\u2019s Frankenstein<\/a><\/em> is such a classic that there were moments that I felt frustrated with how hackneyed the play seemed to be. It\u2019s hard to stage a trope namer without straying into camp or irony. And one part of the story felt terribly worn out, until I\u2019d seen it twice.<\/p>\n

As directed by Danny Boyle (who also managed the gonzo opening ceremonies for the London Olympics), Frankenstein is emotionally stunted. When he meets his monster, he mostly marvels at himself; every beauty in the monster is the result of his art, no credit accrues to the individual standing before him. He pushes aside his fianc\u00e9e for his work and recovers from the death of his brother by becoming more clipped and fixated on hiding what he has made. When the creature confronts Frankenstein\u2019s wife, it\u2019s not surprising that there\u2019s more warmth and charity in that encounter (well, before it turns violent) than in any scene Frankenstein has shared with her.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So, I was rolling my eyes a little in my seat. A story about how a person is divorced from their own humanity, but finds an unexpected tutor in the person assumed to be inhuman who turns out to excel him in charity? Together, they fight crime!<\/a><\/em> But, then, something the creature said while pleading for a mate, brought me up short on the second viewing.<\/p>\n

Frankenstein asks what the creature would do with a wife. \u201cI would cherish<\/em> her!\u201d the creature blurts out. Even in his ugliness, the creature assumed his fervent worship would compel love. I was reminded of the relentless, grotesque love of Fosca from Passion<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The creature turns his attentions to his creator after his hopes of a companion of his own kind are destroyed. If they\u2019re both unfit for the company of the rest of the world, perhaps they should be brothers. Frankenstein weeps and seems to have an epiphany, finally understanding the dignity and beauty of companionship. But if we don\u2019t grant his conversion as positive, it becomes more tragic and less clich\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Like us, Frankenstein knows the story of the Unexpected Tutor, and he\u2019s relieved to finally find and accept his role in it. But the creature isn\u2019t up to the role Frankenstein and our pattern-matching brains are casting him in. The ultimate proof of Frankenstein\u2019s brokenness is that he mistakes differently broken<\/em> for whole<\/em>. A victim of Dunning-Kruger<\/em>, Frankenstein doesn\u2019t know enough about his deficiency to be able to find a physician.<\/p>\n

What came to mind, watching Frankenstein, wretched, experience the relief of his false epiphany was the words from Isaiah 55:2, \u201cWhy spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?\u201d Or Aaron Sorkin\u2019s gloss on this sentiment in The American President<\/em>:<\/p>\n

People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they\u2019ll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They\u2019re so thirsty for it they\u2019ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there\u2019s no water, they\u2019ll drink the sand.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I warned you, I\u2019m taking some time before I write anything specifically about being received into the Catholic Church. In the meantime, I hope my thoughts on the National Theatre\u2019s production of Frankenstein will do. After all, it\u2019s also about the surprise of becoming a new creation England\u2019s National Theatre tapes some of its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":5947,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[51,39],"class_list":["post-5944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviewsrecommendations","tag-at-the-theatre","tag-freedom-means-choosing-a-master"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Monster is Father of the Man<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As I warned you, I\u2019m taking some time before I write anything specifically about being received into the Catholic Church. 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