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October is primetime for Horror films. The image of iconic monsters has changed over the years. Why that has happened is the theme of a course at Virginia Tech. WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno has more.
You know of Frankenstein and Dracula but do you know their origin stories. It’s often very different from the versions of recent movies and shows. Ingrid Johnson is an advanced instructor in the English Department of Virginia Tech. She teaches Monster Madness and the Macabre, it’s an introduction into short fiction.
“Frankenstein created the monster, but wisdom tells you that Frankenstein is the monster. Frankenstein’s monster is also a monster and he does bad things. We get to a character like Dracula, who in the original book, I mean, there’s no redeeming quality about him. And in fact, he’s not even in the book that much. He kills indiscriminately. There’s no reason to hang this sympathetic edge on him. And that character has certainly evolved over time.”
In the 1960s and 70s Frankenstein became the likable Herman Munster and Dracula started to be portrayed as a more sympathetic, romanticized character. Johnson says the story changes over time to sell it to more consumers and
“We feel the need to find that thread of humanity in these characters to maybe relate to them better or to feel better about ourselves for loving these characters.”
Our love story with monsters doesn’t appear to be ending any time soon. Denise Allen Membreno WFIR News.
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The stories of Frankenstein and Dracula have been told and reworked so many times that the origin of these monsters is lost to those who have not read the original works. WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno on a Virginia Tech course focused on why these characters have changed over the years.
Monster Madness and the Macabre, an introduction into short fiction is a course taught by Ingrid Johnson, an advanced instructor in the English Department of Virginia Tech. She says Frankenstein’s Monster started out as a sympathetic character.
“He develops consciousness and intelligence, and then the human beings that he interacts with or comes across also shun him. You start that story with feelings for this creature who is lonely and has been rejected, and yet he goes on a revenge tour, but that sympathetic version or that part of Frankenstein’s monster is something that has been proliferated. I mean, we have, you know, Herman Munster, who’s, you know, the lovable guy.”
Dracula on the other hand was a different story. Johnson says in the book Dracula was irredeemable, killing indiscriminately.
“And then we get into the 60s, 70s where we start seeing these versions of him where he’s got this tragic backstory, a lost love. And I think that as much as we enjoy those movies and those stories and that character, we also maybe have a need to find some sort of good in that character to not feel that we just like evil things.”
Johnson says she challenges her students to examine the way they feel when they encounter these characters and why these stories continue to resonate with audiences. Denise Allen Membreno WFIR News.
The post When did monsters become likeable? first appeared on News/Talk 960-AM & FM-107.3 WFIR.
