Jacob Elordi plays the Creature in Frankenstein, the latest movie from director Guillermo Del Toro.Ken Woroner/Netflix
Earlier this month, auteur director Guillermo del Toro released his much anticipated adaptation of Frankenstein to Netflix. The movie is closer to Mary Shelley’s sympathetic portrayal of the monster than other film and pop culture adaptations, though it does dial back on his overtly murderous tendencies. Another aspect del Toro changed: This incarnation of the monster is objectively good-looking.
It’s a topic of discussion from both fans and critics. A BBC review described the monster – played by Jacob Elordi, the 6’5″ actor known for his roles in The Kissing Booth and Euphoria – as “just too handsome.” A CNN critique echoed the sentiment, stating that “even with his suture-less scars, he is kind of hot.” On social media, there are dozens of post reaffirming the idea, many of which are inappropriate for print in this publication.
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Viewers’ reaction to the original literary version of the monster likely wouldn’t be the same.
“Shelley has a single paragraph description of the monster laid out in the book’s volume. She describes the creature as a catastrophe,” said Chris Koenig-Woodyard, a professor of literature with a focus on the gothic and monster studies at The University of Toronto Mississauga.
In the novel, the monster doesn’t have enough skin to cover the muscles, sinew and arteries underneath. It has watery eyes and straight black lips, implying dead flesh. People are so repulsed by its appearance that they shoot at it on sight.
Del Toro’s visual depiction strays from the idea of the monster as grotesque, instead using lingering close-ups and beautiful lighting to highlight a svelte frame and lean muscles. The monster’s skin tone is a bit unworldly, but that’s an easy trade-off for razor-sharp cheekbones and a piercing gaze. It’s easy to understand the attraction.
Mia Goth as Elizabeth and Elordi's Creature. Director Del Toro strayed from the description of the monster in Mary Shelley’s book.Netflix
“The creature wasn’t repulsive to look at in the movie. Jacob Elordi has really nice dark eyes and very full lips. … The camera loves his face,” Koenig-Woodyard says.
The idea of people being romantically drawn to literary monsters is hardly a new idea, he adds.
“It’s not by accident that Mary Shelley has the monster read Milton’s Paradise Lost. Satan is one of our early paradigms taking what should be demonic, giving them feelings and making them human.”
Showing creatures through such a lens gives readers (or viewers) permission to project feelings onto them. And it allows the characters to move beyond the one-dimensional portrayal of “the other,” opening the audience up to the idea of romance.
“If the monsters were capable of having feelings, then they were also capable of having desires,” Koenig-Woodyard says.
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Today you can find incarnations of the romantic monster everywhere from vampire films to Disney movies. Think the Beast in Beauty and The Beast, the titular character of King Kong or the amphibian creature in del Toro’s The Shape of Water.
One could argue that the romantasy books dominating bestseller charts are a continuation of what Milton started.
So, if you’re one of the viewers feeling a certain kind of way after watching Frankenstein, know that you’re not being a weirdo. You’re participating in a grand literary tradition.