Is The Controversy With The Whale Justified?
The Whale starring Brendan Fraser is out in theaters and it is gathering a lot of Oscar buzz. We haven’t heard much out of Fraser in the past decade. And now he comes out swinging for the fences with a stellar performance in this film adaptation of a stage play of the same name. But does The Whale really measure up to other Oscar winners? And is it really as offensive as the so called “journalists” are saying?
Darren Aranofsky’s The Whale seems to have ruffled a few feathers among the hyperminority Twitterati. Even though none of these loud mouths will see the film, we still see that Aranofsky can arouse controversy. Brendan Fraser on the other hand, has received widespread acclaim for his powerful performance as the morbidly obese professor Charlie. I know that Fraser gained quite a bit of weight over the years so it’s hard to tell how much is prosthetics and how much it’s actually Fraser. The so called “journalists” have perceived this film as fatphobic given the title. Had these people actually seen the film, they’d know the title is a reference to Moby Dick rather than perceived bullying. But what can you do? You can’t fight ignorance at every turn otherwise you’ll go mental.
The film is based on a play of the same name by playwright Samuel Hunter. I’ll confess that I hadn’t seen the play prior to seeing the movie but it looks like it does a good job of reflecting the intimacy of a stage performance. The film takes place entirely within Charlie’s apartment as his friend Liz, played by the wonderfully witty Hong Chau, comes to care for him as she is a nurse at the local hospital. Since the passing of his former lover, Charlie has managed to isolate himself from the world. He communicates with his students using zoom but never shows his face.
The crux of the film begins when Charlie decides to reconnect with his daughter, Ellie, played by Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink, who has no interest in him. Charlie agrees to help write her English papers if she spends time with him to which she reluctantly agrees but spends her time aggressively berating him at every turn. Sadie Sink so far in her career has been playing the same character, the rude jaded teenager. This would have been a good role for her to show her dramatic range yet she falls largely short.
Towards the end of the film, Charlie’s world begins to crumble. His ex-wife Mary played by Samantha Morton of Minority Report fame, confronts him about his relationship with Ellie and criticizes him for his failures in their marriage. After being alerted that he has congestive heart failure, Charlie goes on an eating binge which made me not want to eat for a few days. He consumed pizza until he vomited. It’s an emotionally overwhelming scene shown toward the end of the film. And finally, after making a series of inflammatory messages to his students, he’s fired from his job.
As Charlie reveals early on, he was in a relationship with one of his former male students, Alan. Following Alan’s death, Charlie began compulsively eating and becoming morbidly obese. Who knew that stuffing your face with thousands of daily calories and no exercise was bad for your health? Who knew indeed. I guess medical facts escape the anti-reality Twitterati. But I digress. Alan’s sister Liz comes to care for Charlie following these events. As part of their arrangement, Mary forbids Charlie from contacting Ellie. She reacts with rage when she realizes he’s asked her to visit him. While Charlie is apologetic for his failure as a father, he does not apologize for his lifestyle. In one of the most powerful scenes in the movie, Charlies stands up to the weird missionary boy Thomas whose religion preaches hateful messages towards Charlie’s lifestyle.
As we come to find out, Ellie has been bullying people online through a Facebook page. Mary feels that she raised a cruel child and despite how Charlie has hurt the family, Ellie is the true monster in the family. She continues her cruelty by posting both pictures of her father as well as of Thomas smoking to ridicule them. Despite the cruelty, Thomas tells Charlie that he has newfound faith in people as his parents forgave him and asked him to come home. Although he still tries to get Charlie to repent for his lifestyle.
Even though Charlie has been writing her essays for her so she can graduate, Ellie still lashes out at Charlie when she realizes that he sent in an essay that she wrote when she was younger. That’s when we see it was the same essay he was reading toward the beginning of the film. Charlie’s kept this essay for years because it is an honest opinion of Moby Dick. As we continue to see throughout the film, Charlie only wants honesty in the world. It is what he espouses in his final reveal to his online class as well as to Ellie. He tells Ellie how beautiful and talented she is which by the end of the film she finally believes.
This movie is truly heavy. Not because of its main character, but because of the emotional toll it takes on the viewer. It’s certainly not an easy film to watch. Brendan Fraser shows off his dramatic range in what appears to be his big comeback. His career has been wallowing since The Mummy movies which is a shame because back in the 90s, he was a charming and handsome actor. While he’s battled some of his own physical and emotional demons over the years, I truly hope he can use this as his major comeback.
Overall, The Whale was an emotional juggernaut. Darren Aranofsky’s been around for quite some time and has made a habit of making films in an intelligent and nuanced way, with interesting, layered characters and stories that are realistically raw. In my mind, he closely resembles a modern day Anton Chekov. Like Aranofsky, Anton Chekov specialized in portraying deeply flawed characters in very raw and emotional stories. Chekov is one of Russia’s greatest artists which continues to inspire creators like Aranofsky. The Whale may not appeal to everyone. But it’s an extremely intelligent and nuanced film espousing the power of honesty in society. This is definitely a big contender for Best Picture as well as Best Actor for Brendan Fraser. I very much recommend you watch this film!
If you like this review, check out the video review on YouTube: