The Monster in The Cinematic World
Professor Meghan Sutherland shares her insight on the portrayal of Monsters in cinema and lists some film recommendations for this spooky season
The monster is a figure known for evoking fear throughout history. For most the concept of the monster is associated with anxiety about something unknown or scary and this association has carried throughout history.
The Medium spoke with Professor Meghan Sutherland of the Visual Studies department. She previously taught the course VCC205H5 Monsters which studies monster films and television alongside examples from literature to see how they are symbolic of anxiety. When asked about the origin of the course Professor Sutherland stated that she first taught it in the English department at Oklahoma state university and she had to teach a course on adaptations of films from literature. “I thought I would teach something that moved through some of the great monster novels but that was also because all of them are involved or preoccupied with media technology.”
She goes on to say many of these novels, modern monster literature and the films they inspire are preoccupied with technological advancements and film itself is a new technology thus reflects this idea. “And so I started to think about monsters in relation to the problem of mediation and the anxieties of new technologies and how they shift our understanding of the world and what’s human and what’s not.” Professor Sutherland notes she developed a more thorough understanding of monster movies and didn’t need to teach the novels when she left English and began teaching the topic outside at UTM. “Monster movies were really essential to the founding of cinema.” she says as it was one of the first studio genres to become popular and important figures for defining what cinema technology was and how it would change our sense of knowledge and humanity.
When asked about specific portrayals of Monsters in cinema Professor Sutherland noted Frankenstein as ones in both cinema and literature. “One of my favorite films to teach in the class is James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931).” She notes the core story reflects the course’s idea since it came when electricity and modern technology was emerging and raised implications on what using it meant for what humanity means. “I think the film really adapts this idea about animating a human to the very conceit of cinema as a technology which sets images of humans in motion and gives what appears to be an artificial life.” She also notes the mindless zombie archetype reflects this idea of mediation as well as it functions like a machine as it just going around consuming things. Finally she notes Dracula’s Daughter (1931) which deals with the anxiety surrounding recording devices and psychiatry. This combo showcases how monster films emphasize anxiety about modern advancements by drawing attention to both a new method of possessing someone’s voice and accessing someone’s mind.
Professor Sutherland ends noting Monsters have been around since the early days of Philosophy and writing with figures like Medusa evoking fear of the unknown. However once it entered the domain of modern science it could no longer be considered natural or of this world.
