Guillermo del Toro won the Oscar this past Sunday for The Shape of
Water. Del Toro is a fan of classic cinema, and has used them for inspiration, especially The Creature from The Black Lagoon (1954). He is also adept at the use of visual effects such as light and color and strategic camera angles to create a movie that is impressive for its technical features. The movie reverses the roles of the characters in Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid with the male protagonist as the merman and the female, Elisa Esposito as "the princess." I haven’t seen the movie, nor do I plan to, since what I have read about it so far doesn't exactly thrill me.
A review by Christopher Orr in The Atlantic Magazine bills the Shape of Water as an adult fairy tale, a claim which is based on an incomplete premise. In the Disney version, Ariel voluntarily gives up her voice to the sea witch in exchange for legs so that she can marry the human prince and get her HEA (happily ever after) ending. A study of literature provides a different perspective on the film.The mermaid in Andersen's story is told that when she dies, she will become "foam on the surface of the water." Although she does eventually fall in love with the prince, her main objective is to attain an immortal soul and avoid dying, which she can only do by being human, winning the prince's love and getting him to marry her. Andersen's description of the immortal soul seems to be derived from Hindu philosophy. Her grandmother tells the little mermaid: "Human beings, on the contrary, have a soul which lives forever, lives after the body has been turned to dust. It rises up through the clear, pure air beyond the glittering stars. As we rise out of the water, and behold all the land of the earth, so do they rise to unknown and glorious regions which we shall never see.”
A common theme in literature is that the desire for material objects is a dual edged sword.The Bhagavad Gita says that attachment to the fruits of our actions, or desire, brings us pleasure as well as pain.The sea witch in Andersen's story tries to warn the mermaid of the consequences of her actions: "it is very stupid of you, but you shall have your way, and it will bring you to sorrow, my pretty princess." When the mermaid gets her legs, it will not be a pleasant experience. The sea witch tells her, "you will feel great pain, as if a sword were passing through you. But all who see you will say that you are the prettiest little human being they ever saw. You will still have the same floating gracefulness of movement, and no dancer will ever tread so lightly; but at every step you take it will feel as if you were treading upon sharp knives, and that the blood must flow." She also cuts off the mermaid’s tongue as the price of her humanity.
Elisa was found near the water as a baby. She too has no voice, like the mermaid, and must communicate through sign language. Elisa has lost her voice due to an an injury sustained in childhood. She has no family and very few friends. Elisa's disability isolates her, limiting her communication to the few people who understand her method of communication like her co-worker Zelda and her neighbor Giles. She works as a janitor in a government factory during the 1960s, so she doesn't have money either. Along with her muteness, this makes her lonely and vulnerable.
In my last post, I discussed the topic of loneliness and identified Jane Eyre as a character who has similar obstacles: lack of physical beauty, family or money but triumphs over them, managing to achieve a happy and fulfilling life. Mr. Rochester, her romantic interest, is a man who starts out healthy and able bodied but has become crippled by circumstance. Near the end of Jane Eyre, he has been severely scarred in a fire that destroys his family home, losing a hand and the sight in one eye.
A review by Christopher Orr in The Atlantic Magazine bills the Shape of Water as an adult fairy tale, a claim which is based on an incomplete premise. In the Disney version, Ariel voluntarily gives up her voice to the sea witch in exchange for legs so that she can marry the human prince and get her HEA (happily ever after) ending. A study of literature provides a different perspective on the film.The mermaid in Andersen's story is told that when she dies, she will become "foam on the surface of the water." Although she does eventually fall in love with the prince, her main objective is to attain an immortal soul and avoid dying, which she can only do by being human, winning the prince's love and getting him to marry her. Andersen's description of the immortal soul seems to be derived from Hindu philosophy. Her grandmother tells the little mermaid: "Human beings, on the contrary, have a soul which lives forever, lives after the body has been turned to dust. It rises up through the clear, pure air beyond the glittering stars. As we rise out of the water, and behold all the land of the earth, so do they rise to unknown and glorious regions which we shall never see.”
A common theme in literature is that the desire for material objects is a dual edged sword.The Bhagavad Gita says that attachment to the fruits of our actions, or desire, brings us pleasure as well as pain.The sea witch in Andersen's story tries to warn the mermaid of the consequences of her actions: "it is very stupid of you, but you shall have your way, and it will bring you to sorrow, my pretty princess." When the mermaid gets her legs, it will not be a pleasant experience. The sea witch tells her, "you will feel great pain, as if a sword were passing through you. But all who see you will say that you are the prettiest little human being they ever saw. You will still have the same floating gracefulness of movement, and no dancer will ever tread so lightly; but at every step you take it will feel as if you were treading upon sharp knives, and that the blood must flow." She also cuts off the mermaid’s tongue as the price of her humanity.
Elisa was found near the water as a baby. She too has no voice, like the mermaid, and must communicate through sign language. Elisa has lost her voice due to an an injury sustained in childhood. She has no family and very few friends. Elisa's disability isolates her, limiting her communication to the few people who understand her method of communication like her co-worker Zelda and her neighbor Giles. She works as a janitor in a government factory during the 1960s, so she doesn't have money either. Along with her muteness, this makes her lonely and vulnerable.
In my last post, I discussed the topic of loneliness and identified Jane Eyre as a character who has similar obstacles: lack of physical beauty, family or money but triumphs over them, managing to achieve a happy and fulfilling life. Mr. Rochester, her romantic interest, is a man who starts out healthy and able bodied but has become crippled by circumstance. Near the end of Jane Eyre, he has been severely scarred in a fire that destroys his family home, losing a hand and the sight in one eye.
Rochester's deformities cause him to hide away from the world and go into self imposed exile. Played by Doug Jones, the creature, or Asset, as he is called, is similar to Rochester and the title characters in Frankenstein and the Phantom of the Opera in many respects. He shares their intelligence, emotional depth and sensitivity and their desire to fit into the society that rejects them for their appearance. Jane Eyre voluntarily chooses Rochester as her husband because they are soulmates, equals both intellectually and economically who completely understand each other. The movie tries to make a case for the fact that the relationship between Elisa and the humanoid fish is similar, when Elisa says, “The way he looks at me. He doesn’t know what I lack... Or how I am incomplete. He just sees me for what I am. As I am.”
Elisa wants to be loved for herself and is desperate to find that connection. She becomes attracted to the one male who also cannot communicate in the human world. Elisa and the creature are outsiders and prisoners of their circumstances and it is this similarity that draws them together. Mutual alienation, however, is an insufficient basis for a strong and stable relationship.
Moviegoers may remember last year’s live action remake of the
Disney classic Beauty and the Beast as
well as 2004's Shrek 2. Both are films in
which the male protagonist attains a human form by magical
intervention, the former through the reversal of a curse, and the latter by drinking a
magical potion. There is no such ameliorating influence in this movie: the
creature never changes its form. The audience is asked to accept him the way he is. Director Del Toro says that “love is not transformation. Love is acceptance and understanding.” The movie makes the premise of attraction between Elisa and Jones' character more palatable by making him more physically appealing. Designer Mark Hill discloses on Broadly.com that his features include, “a perfect nose, appropriately-spaced eyes, and gills that didn’t look out of place.” Del Toro specifically requested that the creature have big expressive eyes, “kissable” lips, broad shoulders...and a nice butt.
Carli Velocci, the author of the article “Why We're So Obsessed with Sexy Monsters” on Broadly.com writes that the movie “presents a story in which the woman chooses the monster, and the monster remains monstrous.” But Elisa has little choice. Del Toro's film portrays the human men in his film as either hyperaggressive and violent, like Strickland, Elisa's boss, or powerless and emasculated like Giles. The Asset is the best representation of positive masculinity, even though he himself is not a man in the strictest sense of the term.
The #MeToo movement has drawn attention to the sexual harassment and intimidation of women by powerful men, men like Strickland. In a December 24, 2017 article on the Hollywood Reporter.com, writer Kristin Lopez notes that Elisa's handicap, which sets her apart from others, actually attracts Strickland to her. He assumes she will consent to a sexual relationship with him because she has no other options and would welcome his attention.
Carli Velocci, the author of the article “Why We're So Obsessed with Sexy Monsters” on Broadly.com writes that the movie “presents a story in which the woman chooses the monster, and the monster remains monstrous.” But Elisa has little choice. Del Toro's film portrays the human men in his film as either hyperaggressive and violent, like Strickland, Elisa's boss, or powerless and emasculated like Giles. The Asset is the best representation of positive masculinity, even though he himself is not a man in the strictest sense of the term.
The #MeToo movement has drawn attention to the sexual harassment and intimidation of women by powerful men, men like Strickland. In a December 24, 2017 article on the Hollywood Reporter.com, writer Kristin Lopez notes that Elisa's handicap, which sets her apart from others, actually attracts Strickland to her. He assumes she will consent to a sexual relationship with him because she has no other options and would welcome his attention.
In Andersen’s story, the mermaid has the choice to kill the prince and to become a mermaid again, but she refuses to exercise that option. She instead achieves an immortal soul through a complicated plot device called a deus ex machina (literally god from machine) in which an unexpected event resolves a tragic situation. In Andersen's The Little Mermaid, the Daughters of the Air, spirits who lack an immortal soul but gain one through doing good deeds, rescue the mermaid to become one of them.
Elisa never intends to be with the creature permanently. She only wanted to release the creature back into the water where he came from, out of compassion, so that he can be free from exploitation by the humans. Just as the sea witch does in the Little Mermaid, Zelda tries to warn Elisa of the consequences of her decision, before she helps her. In the final scene, Elisa is shot and on the brink of death. The creature has seemingly magical healing powers and creates gills out of the marks on her throat. In a deus ex machina ending, he supposedly saves her life so that she can live underwater with him since he is unable to live on land.
Some might see the ending as romantic. As a male director, Del Toro doesn't seem to consider the implications of a movie that glamorizes denying the female protagonist the ability to choose for herself out of strength rather than weakness, as Jane Eyre does. In A Streetcar Named Desire, American playwright Tennessee Williams depicts the story of Blanche DuBois. She is a young woman from a formerly wealthy family of the Old South who visits her sister in the hedonistic environment of New Orleans. She has pursued pleasure in the form of alcohol and numerous sexual liaisons to escape her guilt and the tragedy of her life. Her behavior and her unequal status ultimately contributes to the subjugation of her will and destruction of her sanity at the hands of Stanley Kowalski, her sister's husband.
Some might see the ending as romantic. As a male director, Del Toro doesn't seem to consider the implications of a movie that glamorizes denying the female protagonist the ability to choose for herself out of strength rather than weakness, as Jane Eyre does. In A Streetcar Named Desire, American playwright Tennessee Williams depicts the story of Blanche DuBois. She is a young woman from a formerly wealthy family of the Old South who visits her sister in the hedonistic environment of New Orleans. She has pursued pleasure in the form of alcohol and numerous sexual liaisons to escape her guilt and the tragedy of her life. Her behavior and her unequal status ultimately contributes to the subjugation of her will and destruction of her sanity at the hands of Stanley Kowalski, her sister's husband.
The Shape of Water isn’t a fairy tale or a movie about the power of true love,
which might redeem it in my eyes. Love
is mocked and denigrated in the depiction of the relationships of all the main
characters. Both Elisa’s co-worker Zelda
and the antagonist Colonel Strickland have dysfunctional marriages where the
love is either missing or toxic. Zelda says of her husband, "All he had going for him was animal magnetism back in the day." Giles cannot have a romantic relationship because
of his sexual orientation, which was just as unsettling in the context of the
times as is the romantic interaction between a human female and a hybridized fish, an interaction which falls perilously
short of outright bestiality.
Del Toro tries to romanticize the sexual content
by representing it as a key part of a narrative about finding love where it’s
least expected. Yes, when we fall in love, we make ourselves vulnerable and
naked to our partner, both metaphorically and physically. But by so graphically emphasizing the sexual elements in the story, the Shape of Water reduces Elisa to a caricature of a passionate and sensitive woman, and the theme of the movie to a parody of sex and love, rather than a celebration of diversity and differences.
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