The evolution of Frankenstein's monster has evolved so much over the year but has consistently stayed green, bolted, and stitched. While this is the "normal" adaptation of the monster, there are numerous other examples of the monster that are more realistic and make more sense. In the show American Horror Story: Coven, the character Kyle Spencer makes a perfect example of a more modern adaptation of the monster. The character Kyle is killed in a bus accident and is reincarnated through the magic of the coven by sewing together various pieces of different men, with Kyle's face being the only original part of his body that is used. Through creating the "new" Kyle, the girls in the coven use different parts of other men to basically create the "perfect man" just as Dr. Frankenstein attempts to do in the novel. One important note to add is that themes of sexuality come into play in recreating this monster, as the girls use another man's "large penis" to ultimately make him the perfect man. In this adaptation of the monster, Frankenstein becomes sexualized and a fetish for the women to please themselves. After he begins coming back to life, Kyle is essentially brain dead and can barely speak - using grunts, moaning, and screaming to broadcast his being upset that he's alive again. This is much UNLIKE, the monster in the novel and more similar to the monster in the 1931 adaptation of Frankenstein. Kyle lacks the ability to communicate and more importantly has no desire to be alive. Touching on why the name Frankenstein is firmly tied to the monster, I think pop culture would be to blame for the confusion between the two, and up until this class I always thought the monster was named Frankenstein. Movies like the Bride of Frankenstein and halloween costumes that are labelled as "Frankenstein" further this confusion. Rather than considering that Frankenstein is the actual monster of the story, people automatically assume that the monster he created is the actual monster.
Thinking back to the time that I watched this season of American Horror Story I never even thought of Frankenstein. After reading this blog post and thinking about it again I've realized that Kyle is an exact depiction of Frankenstein's monster. I also agree that Kyle is very unlike the monster in the novel and much more like the 1931 adaption in the sense that he is basically just an angry brute that doesn't understand what is going on. On another note I'd like to say that I enjoy that you connected this class to AHS. Several people have done it in the past blog assignments and every time I still find it interesting. I am a very big fan of the show, I always just thought they were good at making scary stories and it was just all around a good show. Until this class I didn't realize how much they pull from the history of different monsters. I think that might be part of the reason the show is so good, because it just creates another connection between the viewer and the show because we are familiar with all the classic monsters and this show throws a twist on them and reintroduces them to us as something new.
ReplyDeleteThat is a really good insight into that part of the show. I love American Horror Story and I did not even consider him when thinking about modern Frankenstein monsters. What is interesting is that while Kyle is brain dead to start out with, the girls of the coven slowly bring him a little closer to who he used to be. He never fully regained his humanity however he did learn to control his angry outbursts and eventually to function on his own. I am a big fan of the way that this particular monster was represented as it has the identity of Kyle due to the fact that this monster has his head but due to the confusion of not recognizing his own body, he immediately begins to hate his own existence. It gives some good insight into the characters identity and how that is such an important part of his life.
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