Remaking the Frankenstein Myth on Film

Caroline Joan S. Picart

Description

Focusing on films outside the horror genre, this book offers a unique account of the Frankenstein myth's popularity and endurance. Although the Frankenstein narrative has been a staple in horror films, it has also crossed over into other genres, particularly comedy and science fiction, resulting in such films as Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Bladerunner, and the Alien and Terminator film series. In addition to addressing horror's relationship to comedy and science fiction, the book also explores the versatility and power of the Frankenstein narrative as a contemporary myth through which our deepest attitudes concerning gender (masculine versus feminine), race (Same versus Other), and technology (natural versus artificial) are both revealed and concealed. The book not only examines the films themselves, but also explores early drafts of film scripts, scenes that were cut from the final releases, publicity materials, and reviews, in order to consider more fully how and why the Frankenstein myth continues to resonate in the popular imagination.

Acknowledgments

1. Frankenstein as Enduring Cinemyth

2. (Un)Leashing Laughter: Gender, Power, and Humor

3. Daemonic Dread

4. On the Edge of Terror and Humor

5. Postmodern Horror-Hilarity

Notes

Bibliography

About the Author

Index

Sujets

• Popular culture
• History of film

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 5
• EAN13: 9780791486665
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

R EMAKING THE F RANKENSTEIN M YTH ON F ILM

SUNY series in Psychoanalysis and Culture

Henry Sussman, editor

R EMAKING THE F RANKENSTEIN M YTH ON F ILM

Between Laughter and Horror

Caroline Joan S. Picart

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2003 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production by Marilyn P. Semerad Marketing by Michael Campochiaro

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Picart, Caroline Joan, 1966– Remaking the Frankenstein myth on film : Between Laughter and Horror / Caroline Joan S. Picart. p. cm. — (SUNY series in psychoanalysis and culture) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5769-9 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-5770-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Frankenstein films—History and criticism. I. Title. II. Series. PN1995.9.F8P54 2003 791.43'651—dc21

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2002045262

Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter One.

Chapter Two.

Chapter Three.

Chapter Four.

Chapter Five.

Notes

Bibliography

Frankensteinas Enduring Cinemyth

(Un)Leashing Laughter: Gender, Power, and Humor

Daemonic Dread

On the Edge of Terror and Humor

Postmodern Horror-Hilarity

About the Author

Index

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Acknowledgments

I thank the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the pho- tographs that appear in this book. I also wish to thank Florida State Uni- versity, specifically the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sci- ences for a First Year Assistant Professor Research Grant in 2001, and the Council of Research and Creativity for a Research Planning Grant also in 2001, which enabled me to finish this book. I also thank the two anonymous readers of this manuscript, whose enthusiastic endorsement and constructive commentary and suggestions have been encouraging and helpful. To all those who have critically engaged with my work and sup- ported me with generosity and kindness, I owe much. In particular, I wish to thank former professors and mentors who have now become friends and colleagues: Thomas Benson and Raymond Fleming, whose thought-provoking comments, subtle humor, and magnanimity I have always admired. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Janice Rush- ing and Thomas Frentz, whose work, friendship, and support have been crucial to the development of my work in film theory and criti- cism. I have also had the good fortune to get to know David Frank, Robert Terrill, and Richard Engnell, who helped put together a spot- light panel on my work at the 2001 National Communication Asso- ciation; I will always remember their cordiality and stimulating com- mentary. I also wish to thank Henry Sussman for having invited me to submit a manuscript for the Psychoanalysis and Culture Series at the State University of New York Press, and James Peltz and Marilyn Semerad for their cordial and straightforward management of the practicalities of getting this book in print. I wish to thank my col- leagues and friends at the English and Communication Departments of Florida State University, James Larner, for his help with chasing down various references, and Tami Tomasello for her conscientious attention to detail in documenting the references for this manuscript.

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A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

I also thank Michelle Commander, Carolina Viquez, and Jonathan Frye for their efficient help with the index. As always, in the words of Nietzsche, I “become who I am” because of the love, generosity, and unflagging loyalty of my two families, the Picarts and the Houcks, and especially my husband, Davis, whose patience, sense of humor, wit, editorial commentary, and groundedness have been of incalcula- ble assistance to closing this project.

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Frankensteinas Enduring Cinemyth

The dark cavern of the cinema is reminiscent of a ceremo- nial sweat lodge, an initiation pit, the dark soul of the night, the belly of the fish, the alchemical grave, or the wilderness of the night journey. —Geoffrey Hill, Illuminating Shadows: The Mythic Power of Film

The origins of this book date back to the 1980s, when I realized that the 1 Frankensteinian cinemyth had spawned far more than classic horror ren- ditions, producing, among others, comedic and science fiction variants. It occurred to me that these “hideous progeny” were an unruly lot, often defying classification, ranging in a continuum across horror and laughter. This ability to elicit a complex range of reactions—from fear, terror, and awe to laughter, ridicule, ironic sympathy, and distance—has fascinated me; these form the heart of this inquiry. I was drawn to how the Invisi- ble Man’s dark laughter that “closes”Abbott and Costello Meet Frankensteinleaves the nature of what laughter signifies, at the end of what had appeared as a standard comedy, disturbingly unsettled. I was ambivalent about how Elizabeth’s (Madeline Kahn) ecstatic and melodi- ous, “Ah, sweet mystery of life, at last I have found you,” as she and the creature engage in an implied rape-turned-seduction, elicits laughter rather than terror. In addition, the attractive-repulsive magnetism of the transgressive sexuality of Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s transvestite mad scientist inThe Rocky Horror Picture Showcries out for further examination.

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