Week 3 Blog 2

I’ve always loved Young Frankenstein. I mean, who wouldn’t? It’s still as hilarious as the first time I saw it. Gene Wilder is a brilliant actor. Much of the beginning of YF is very similar to the beginning of the previous Frankenstein movie, although it’s much more amusing. The reaction of Frederick (Frodrick according to Igor, although maybe it’s Egor…) is very different from Victor’s upon the realization that he created life. Frederick is very happy, whereas Victor is disgusted and horrified. Although, that may have something to do with how horrible Victor’s monster looks as opposed to Frederick’s completely human-looking monster. Another difference between the movies is the problem with the monster’s mind. Victor’s monster had a brilliant brain. However, the bump, or rather slamming hit on the head along with near strangulation probably ruined the brain a bit, allowing the evil bits of the body to influence the creature’s actions. In YF, Igor grabbed a bad brain, an “Abby Normal” brain. At the end of YF, the monster’s brain has been fixed by correcting the chemical imbalances in the brain. In both movies, the monsters’ mental problems are not their own faults, caused by either a smack in the head and horrible treatment by humans, or a naturally occurring mental retardation. Unfortunately for Victor’s monster, there was no fix available for the monster’s evilness and ugliness.