For decades, popular (or pop) culture has created many facets of society. From well-loved video games to favored music genres, the entire entertainment industry is constructed on the building blocks of consumer interest and curiosity. This sect of culture is constantly praised by customers and critics alike, but its reinvention has destroyed multiple stories and ideas.
For example, “Frankenstein”, a classical novel written by Mary Shelley during the 19th century, has become a tragedy, rewritten time and time again for patron satisfaction. Instead of sticking with the original storyline, a tribute to the appreciation of the human world, pop culture remodeled the monster, stealing his genius and compassion.
From the fictional pages of the “green-bolted monster”, we as a society remember Shelley’s masterpiece as a work of horror: a thesis on the unusual and odd, and one where the elements of nature are not appreciated.
Instead, a work of science and discovery builds the basis of the faux story, where the scientist is admired for his achievements in genius, and the monster is despised for his “brutality” and “violence”. While some parts of the original story have been kept intact, most of “Frankenstein” has been tattered at the seams, leaving viewers following the traces of a lie.
The novel offers readers a question, one that has haunted generations for centuries: what happens if the protagonist is the real villain of their story? The scientist, Victor Frankenstein, is insane, through and through.
I can’t help but appreciate how complex the novel turned out to be. Instead of prose dripping with monotony, as many high school students would expect, Doctor Frankenstein interacts with his audience multiple times throughout the novel. Hidden in paragraphs are sentences where the presumed protagonist admits to readers he can see the excitement light up in their eyes at the notion of his creation, the monster.
Nowhere in pop culture is this found, robbing this classical story of its original genius. Breaking the fourth wall, character interaction with the reader, it makes Shelley’s work come alive.
Frankenstein and his monster cease to be merely words on paper, and instead morph into this idea of humanity and the lack of it.
The monster expresses a beautiful gratitude toward the system of family and contact, a perspective that was stolen when the entertainment industry dragged its claws through Shelley’s tapestry.
He has this zest for life, this immense admiration for the world he lives in. For a world that will never accept him. It’s the greatest tragedy literature has known.
I was surprised to find the monster talks, with even more eloquence than Frankenstein, and his capacity of understanding and love completely floored me as I continued to read the novel.
I don’t know what was more surprising, to find that “Frankenstein” is not truly “Frankenstein” at all, or to realize this perceived monster is more humane than individuals in modern day.
From movies, to video games, to Halloween costumes, year after year, “Frankenstein” has been massacred in order to gain viewership. So much so, that this pop culture fabrication has become the real deal.
It is a sacrifice not needed, and should not be necessary to sate the hunger of consumers and patrons.
“Frankenstein” might be a work of fiction. The novel might touch on topics argued constantly.
The green-bolted monster might be more entertaining than Shelley’s original story.
But the absolute empathy expressed through the book should not be overlooked, especially when we as a society need this satisfaction for life and each other, now more than ever.