"Frankenstein": Who is the Monster?

It is common knowledge that the riveting and terrifying novel "Frankenstein", by Mary Shelley, is the mother of the monster many people see adorning the walls and windows of the homes decorated for Halloween.  However, that astonishing piece of literary brilliance and pop culture's ideas of "Frankenstein" are as different in details as night and day. A young child could point to and identify the media's perception of the monster: a tall and bulky creature, with pale green skin, typically black hair, a very pronounced brow bone, and metal bolts protruding from either the neck or the forehead. That same child would name the previously described creature as "Frankenstein". This is a common misconception, bred through children's movies and television shows; the beast in the novel is so horrific that it never receives the grace of a name.  The confusion stems from the name of the monster's creator, Victor Frankenstein. He is oftentimes seen in pop culture as a mad scientist, with gray hair standing on its ends as if he had been electrocuted. He is portrayed as someone diabolical with the intent of creating a monster to terrorize the world. In the novel Frankenstein is kind, intelligent, tranquil, and very ambitious, but not in an insane way. He creates the monster in an attempt to further scientific knowledge and place himself within the leagues of respected scientists of his time. When he realizes the atrocity he unknowingly gave birth to, he flees in terror and then falls ill due to depression and remorse. The novel never mentions the actual scientific reasoning behind the monster's spark of life, as Frankenstein refuses to repeat it in fear someone trying to recreate his hideous experiment. It does make reference to the power of electricity and a massive lightning bolt that destroyed a tree in Frankenstein's yard, which is where I assume the media took the idea of the monster being born through lightning. The monster the media names "Frankenstein" is known to be slow, dull witted and has difficulty moving the limbs that were strung together for him. The monster in the novel is intelligent, agile and has a depth of feelings equal to man. The creature teaches himself to speak and comprehend the humans he is surrounded by because of his deep desire to fit in amongst them. He is constantly faced with prejudice and fear at every attempt to assimilate himself into the society of man, and feels completely abandoned by his creator. This steers him towards violence and aggression, and he vows to destroy all those that mean something to his creator because he does not have anyone in his life to value and respect him. The media's monster is something that seems fragile in form and easy to constrain and deal with. However, in the novel the monster was created from carefully selected body parts and joints, making him stronger and faster than a human. His cadaver skin allows him to survive in extremely cold environments and he does not require as much sustenance as man for survival. He is truly a threat and a fiendish creature to be feared, unlike the dimwitted and friendly creature the media constructed for children. The media intended to make the monster into a passive and likable creature for children to dress up as for Halloween, that is why the name of the creator was given to the monster. "Frankenstein", due to pop culture, will forever be seen as the green, misunderstood monster, instead of the creator of a creature so dreadfully heinous that he could not even bring himself to name it.

"The Mortal Instruments- City of Bones": Murdering a Fantastic Book with a less than Fantastic Movie

"City of Bones", book one in The Mortal Instruments Series, is a novel with plot twists so dramatic and genuinely surprising that it will leave you feeling as if you had just stepped off of a cliff, landed in a rollercoaster and then somehow ended up dangling from your ankles out of a tree. The first time I read through this book I had to close it multiple times and let what had just happened sink in. Cassandra Clare, the seriously brilliant and witty author of the series, has talent that surely cannot be understated. The Mortal Instruments still sits proudly on it's pedestal as one of my top three favorite series of all time, so it is blatantly obvious that this was a movie I had anticipated for years. The disappointment I felt throughout the film was a heavy blow to both myself and the massive part of my heart that is reserved for Jace and Clary. I understand time constraint is a pressing issue for movie adaptations, but the entire film felt rushed and so many beautiful details were completely ignored. Those details that were not ignored were altered in hideous ways, changing them from marvellously crafted pieces of art into boring background noise. One main destructive change was setting of the final fight scene, which was supposed to happen at Valentine's lair but for some unimaginable reason was set in the Institute. This threw the entire story off and, if there even is another movie made, it will pose challenges in connecting the rest of the books to that first awful movie. The book defined the theme of good and evil in a way that seemed palpable, yet the movie made the line between those extremes seem blurred and unclear. The novel also painted Clary as an ideal role model because of her strength, sense of equality and her moral belief system. However, the movie made these ideas hard to grasp by cutting out many of her heroic and selfless actions. Finally the biggest heart- crushing disappointment was the cavalier way that the most important plot twist of the book was revealed. It was almost as if mentioning that Jace and Clary were siblings was an uninteresting side note to the story. It did complete injustice to the incredible, jaw-dropping reveal that Cassandra Clare had so expertly devised in the novel. The film as a whole proved to be an injustice to the magnificent book that "City of Bones" is and it should have never been produced.

"The Great Gatsby": A Film Adaptation Actually Worthy of the Novel

The history of humanity proves time and time again that the written word is the most effective way to portray a story. However with the technological advances we have today, the world of film can sometimes bring a story to life in a way that comes to par with it's literary brother. The cinematic interpretation of “The Great Gatsby” is an excellent example of Hollywood “doing it right”. It is a rare treat when you watch a movie adaptation and by the end of the film have that same satisfied feeling that accompanied finishing the book. “The Great Gatsby” by Scott Fitzgerald tells the enticing story of Mr. Jay Gatsby through the eyes of the very tolerant and observant narrator, Nick Carroway. The book deals with the ideas of the hollow ethical and moral values of the upper class and the difficulty of kindling a love between people of different social classes. The novel created the illusion that the reader was actually living and breathing in the bustling, growing city of New York in the 1920's. Surprisingly the film adaptation managed to bring the same feeling to life. The director chose the ideal actors and actresses to become the characters of Gatsby, Nick, Daisy, Tom and Jordan. The Gatsby manor in the film was everything that a reader could dream, massive and elegant, managing to be ostentatious in a way that still came across with class and grace. It was stupendously easy to fall for Leonardo DiCaprio's sophistication and charm as "The Great Gatsby" himself, within minutes of his introduction one could be convinced that he actually was the confident and generous Gatsby. The decision to lift quotes directly from the novel itself and place the identical copy into the script is a small detail that actually means quite a lot to those who adore this book. The choice of music for the film was something of an issue at first, replacing the alluring and sensual music of the 1920's for something much more modern. However, it was soon easy to recognize the famous artist Jay-Z throughout the movie and that made the change in music a little easier to swallow. Jay-Z is the icon of New York City, and including him in a film set in “his” city seemed right in a way that superseded the lack of vintage music. Overall, the film adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” was impressive and extensively detailed. Any book fanatic would have difficulty finding something to complain about for this movie; if every cinematic adaptation could be so wonderfully done as this one the world would be a much better place.