“Young Frankenstein”, a film directed by Mel Brooks, shows the relation between man and his creation. With scientific advancements and the manipulation of nature, man steals the idea of creation and uses it for his own purposes. Unfortunately, even with Victor’s creation of Frankenstein, man is cruel to those that are different. Through the production that Mel Brooks put into the film, “Young Frankenstein” exhibits just that. Many critics argued that “Young Frankenstein” was just another spin off of the same old story that we have all come to know. Mans manipulation of nature through science, in order to create something unnatural and that was the life of Frankenstein. Being unnatural himself, Frankenstein is introduced early on to the cruelty of man. Not belonging in a man’s world, the human injustice that he must endure is what breeds the violent nature of this creature. Mel Brooks was able to show this relation of solidarity through both Frankenstein himself and his creator. Brooks did a beautiful job of keeping a very lonely feel to the film, while still incorporating more humor then the traditional dark setting that shrouds the story of Frankenstein. Is it the loneliness that drives creatures and man to loose compassion or is it simply the desire to manipulate the laws of nature?
Ignorance is bliss. That has been the human motto for longer than many of us would like to admit. Just as many people say that it is better to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission. Victor Frankenstein was a prime example of each of those mottos throughout the film “Young Frankenstein”. He started to become more like the monster that he sought out to create, through the many moral things that he must do in order to attain the right ingredients for his masterpiece. Brooks depicted Victor as falling into the same insane footsteps as his grandfather before him. Victor began to slowly loose his humanity himself by grave robbing, neglecting his family, and tortures animals for his test subjects. Through this process he not only lost many of his morals but his health also began to decline. In his process of creating the unnatural, his humanity is lost and becomes more of a monster than Frankenstein himself.
In order to personify the character of Victor Frankenstein, actor Gene Wilder stated that he had to put himself in that individuals situation in order to fully understand what it meant to create this monster and to slowly loose your own humanity. As I stated earlier, many people believed that this film was more comedic than horror. This was partially due to the cast that was involved in the production of the film, individuals such as Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle. Regardless of the comedy that was present in the film, Brooks was able to develop a sense of looniness and loss of humanity throughout the duration of the film. With Victor loosing much of his morals and treating his monster with cruelty, both were also very isolated from the rest of the world. With little outside human interaction, Frankenstein had none other than Victor to base his behavior and character off of. This is problematic because it continues to build a false depiction that creatures do not have the mental capacity to feel compassion when that is hardly the truth.
“Young Frankenstein” is a film of comedy, horror, and the usual life lesson that is portrayed throughout the various stories of Frankenstein to be careful in our manipulation of nature and disregarding the female role in creation. Many subtle nuances are found throughout the film, you just simply have to look for them instead of simply focusing on the comedy that is present. I feel that Mel Brooks beautifully portrayed mans interest in the manipulation of nature while still showing the cruel and devious nature of man.
Structure of Frankenstein throughout the Years
‘Young Frankenstein’: THR’s 1974 Review
Young Frankenstein… Gene Wilder (The Making)
Young Frankenstein (1974) International Trailer