How do Cohen’s theses show the cultural, social and political importance of monsters in literature and film, specifically the struggles of being a woman in society?
Cohen’s theses have been instrumental in understanding monsters in literature and cinema through time. In each thesis he presents how monsters are significant in different circumstances and how they can be symbols for important social, economic and political issues going on in society at that time. Specifically, I will look into how monsters can shed light upon gender roles in a patriarchal society and how women can be cast aside and looked upon as being inferior by others.
The four theses that I will be focusing on are thesis 1: the monster’s body is a cultural body, thesis 3: the monster is the harbinger of a category crisis, thesis 6: the fear of the monster is really a kind of desire and finally thesis 2: the monster always escapes. These theories all touch upon the fact that monsters reveal the complexities and underlying wishes of society. I will explore this theories through a variety of monsters including modern and ancient vampires, water creatures, and even humans who act as monsters.
The first thesis looks into how monsters embody and reflect the culture of the time that they are created in. Monsters are a safe and creative way for society to project their anxieties, fears and desires about politics, race, sexuality and culture. Particularly, this projection of society’s expectations of women can be seen in the case of the stories “Mother of Monsters” and “The Decapitated Chicken”. Both of the mothers in the stories are the monsters and they reflect and represent the position of women in society at that time. In the mother of monsters, there are two monsters that are presented. One is an unpleasant looking woman and the other beautiful. They both purposefully give birth to deformed children: the first for monetary gain and the second to maintain her youthful and attractive physique.
This example highlights, in an extreme fashion, the fact that if women are not beautiful and elegant in appearance that their only other choices are to either live alone in poverty or become monstrous beings. Specifically for the second mother, even though she does not look monstrous on the outside, her actions are atrocious and selfish. This extreme example of the mother reflects the fact that there was so much pressure enforced on to women to maintain an elegant, thin and beautiful physical exterior that some felt the need to go to unimaginable lengths to obtain acceptance from society.
Another story that shows this inexplicable need to be accepted and viewed positively by society is also presented through the mother in the “Decapitated Chicken”. She and her husband conceived four boys one after the other who all lacked intelligence and were socially disabled. So, the couple continued to try to conceive and finally had a girl who had full functionality. The parents, however, made the decision to cast aside the four boys and rendered them useless. The mother “virtually ignored the (…) children” (Quiroga, 2). They were completely dehumanized by the parents and treated very poorly. This example clearly emphasizes the fact that the mother is very selfish since she should love her children unconditionally but also because she and her husband continue to have children even though they know that they have this genetic condition that could affect their future offspring. This reflects, the fact, that there are so many expectations placed up on families by society, mainly on mothers to have the perfect children.
Cohen’s third thesis “The Monster is the Harbinger of a category crisis” could be used to examine the story as the monstrous acts present in this story such as the parents abandonment and negligence of the boys and the decapitation of the little sister’s head are used as extreme, shock provoking elements to reveal the true crisis of the female repression going on at the time. The fact that all they are useful for is making perfect children and should not be perceived to have any other function.
Hence, in both of these stories, monsters and monstrous actions are used to reveal and warn people of what the patriarchy is doing to women’s roles in society and how negative consequences can arise from that. The mothers in these stories are seen almost as production factories for children and have no other role. Hence, monster’s bodies are also cultural bodies in these stories as they reveal the anxieties and major problems that women were experiencing during that time. As Cohen states “the monster is dangerous, a form suspended between forms that threatens to smash distinctions.” (Cohen, 6)
Furthermore, The Shape of Water is an important cinematic representation of repression of minorities in society as well. The water creature, in this movie, is seen as abnormal due to the fact that he has gills like a fish but can also breathe like a human. Moreover, the central character, Eliza who is a mute and was orphaned has also been cast aside by the patriarchal society of the time as she not only is a woman but also has a disability. A key theme in this movie that is catalyzed through Eliza is her rebellion against the repressive society of the 1960’s. The first scene that she is present in is of her masturbating, which already challenges the taboo subject of female sexuality. From the start of the movie, Eliza is shown to be breaking down society’s boundaries and further on in the movie one can see that even though she may be mute, she is far from quiet or shy. Eliza is intelligent, curious, and even heroic as she navigates her job as a janitor against violent, disrespectful men. This aspect of the movie is also seen through the colors used. There is a beautiful sequence at the beginning of and throughout the movie that exudes colors of green and blue similar to the ocean. Del Toro stated that the greens in the movie were supposed to represent “an unwelcoming, unromantic future as seen in the lab, cars and Jello gelatin."
On the other hand, there are also the occasional flashes of red that consistently appear as well. The color red is symbolic of love and passion, highlighting the power of the love between Eliza and the water creature.
The water creature and Eliza find each other unexpectedly and end up falling deeply in love. This unconventional love of theirs is symbolic of the beauty of acceptance. Del Toro states that “it’s a fairytale for difficult times, an antidote for cynicism, a variation of Beauty and the Beast where beauty is not perfect and will remain imperfect and the beast remains the beast.” (James, 26).
Hence, linking back to Cohen’s thesis, the monster signals a crisis, “the monstrum is etymologically “that which reveals,” “that which warns”. ” (Cohen, 4) So with the presence of the water creature that contrasts exceedingly with Strickland, who deeply refuses to accept it, it can be insinuated that the crisis being exposed is the prejudice and discrimination towards those who are different.
“Thesis VI: Fear of the Monster is really a kind of Desire” is also another important idea of Cohen’s to explore when it comes to analyzing the societal implications of monsters. Also, this thesis is particularly interesting to look at as it challenges what most people believe to be the perception of monsters. In most fairytales, stories and movies, monsters are feared and are looked upon in a negative light. However, this thesis highlights the fact that secretly most people desire to act or be like a monster at least momentarily or when convenient. As Cohen states “the (…) creatures who terrify and interdict can evoke potent escapist fantasies; the linking of monstrosity with the forbidden makes the monster all the more appealing as a temporary egress from constraint.” (Cohen, 17) Hence, monsters break down the boundaries that society has constructed. They are free to be whatever they please and they abide to no rules, be they physical or societal. For example, if we were to look at vampires, they do not follow societies standards. They kill people, they don’t have any substantial employment and they act impulsively. Furthermore, physically they are beyond the realm of normalcy: they are faster and stronger than any human and time does not age them. Hence, even though people may fear them and perceive them as monsters, at the same time there is a form of desire, which lingers within them.
For example, Luella Miller, as a psychic vampire, she is able to compel others to help with her needs. The people that surround her feel a strong need to help her with any of her needs. Even within her own job as a teacher she manages to convince one of the older students to teach the class while she sows. This ability to lure others into aiding her, even though what she is doing is wrong, could be a desire for many as being capable of compelling others can definitely be appealing.
Moreover, looking at this thesis from a social political perspective, monsters represent those who challenge normalcy, hence, people who may feel abnormal in society due to their race, sexuality, culture or political beliefs most likely identify with monsters and wish they could have that sense of freedom. This is why on some occasions the fear of monsters is really a kind of desire.
Thesis two: The Monster always escapes is also very significant because as Cohen states “ the monster’s body is both corporal and incorporeal; its threat is its propensity to shift” (Cohen, 5). This thesis’ main point is that monster’s always have a way of coming back to haunt us. Even if they disappear from a specific story, they come in another. Society will always use monsters in literature to symbolize the ongoing struggles occurring at that specific time. For example, vampires have been used in literature for centuries. From Nosferatus to Damon and Stefan Salvatore in the Vampire Diaries, vampires have had a large presence in literature over time. They represent the most significant conflicts, fears and issues occurring in society regarding religion, gender and politics.
Vampires have evolved immensely over time. In terms of showing the issues surrounding the oppression of females, they were used as creatures that would contrast directly with the sweet, innocent nature of the women present. They used to be depicted as dehumanized, vicious beings that were bloodthirsty and only thought of one thing: to kill. Their emotional capacity was very limited and they were created in literature and film to not receive empathy from readers or the public.
For example, in Nosferatu, the vampire is depicted as a horrifying creature with claw-like hands and sharp features. The movie was also made in 1922 and was deeply influenced by German expressionism (charlottesvilletimes.com). At the time, Germany was not accepting of the public expression of sexuality of women in particularly. They had to remain covered and if not they were seen as promiscuous and impure. Hence, through Count Orlok, the exploration of sexuality is being addressed. Count Orlok is clearly contrasted with Ellen who embodies virtue and innocence whereas he is dangerously sexual and seems to being trying to seduce Ellen. His strong sexual presence differs strikingly to Hutter’s wife who was the perfect example of how a woman should behave. She is completely devoted to her husband, so much so that she used her beauty to distract the vampire and sacrifices herself for him. This highlights the fact that society viewed beauty to be the only quality that women truly had.
Now, vampires are depicted very differently. They are far more human and established in human society. For example, Stefan Salvatore attends high school and has made the choice to drink only the blood of animals. “Stefan has indeed morphed into a sympathetic hero as he wishes to protect human lives, thereby showing his willingness to risk his life by going up against his own race.” (Guðmundsdóttir, 8) In contrast, his brother Damon is still the ultimate depiction of the old vampire; he is ruthless when he kills and completely disregards human emotion and humanity itself. However, throughout the series he does change and evolve into becoming a more modern, humanized vampire. Elena who is the main female protagonist is at first seen as a strong and independent woman who has her own interests and is pursuing her education. However, she is torn between her love for these two vampires and is willing to give up everything for them. This inherently shows that women can still in part be controlled by men and would drop everything to be with them. So overall, this modern series shows that there are still inequalities between genders and women still feel as though they have to be dependent on men to be happy.
Hence, going back to Cohen’s thesis that the Monster always escapes, it can be seen, especially through the vampires previously discussed, that even though monsters die and exit literature and movies that they are not gone for good and that they always come back representing similar societal implications.
In conclusion, Cohens’ Theses are extremely significant in understanding the importance of monsters in literature and in film, especially in analyzing how monsters can show the oppression that women have experienced over time and still to this day. Through thesis one, two, three and six, it is highlighted that monsters are present to illustrate that society imposes an enormous amount of pressure on women but also expects them to remain physically flawless and not to have a voice. Looking into every thesis explored: thesis one demonstrates that monsters are truly the symbols of the societal implications especially within gender roles. The second thesis shows that no matter what century and how much time goes by society will always need monsters, as oppression is an unceasing problem that transpires through individuals’ greed and superiority. The third thesis explores the fact that monsters are the true warning signals of when the world is going through a serious crisis. Finally, the sixth thesis looks into how even though monsters are seen in a negative light they also can be perceived as an escape for those who feel different or are cast out by society. Hence, with Cohen’s theses one can thoroughly understand the importance of monsters when it comes to revealing the apparent gender inequalities still present in our society to this day.